My take on the Kindle Store (AU Customer) :(

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Sorry - don't know about what?

I told you how it is here, and I don't see anything in your post that actually has any bearing on what I said, other than to apparently be assuming that i was blaming geographical restrictions on Amazon. Prof, I recognise everything that you've said, but Amazon is responsible for the deal it negotiates for Australia with the publishers who own the distribution rights in this region. Those publishers have generally declined the terms of Amazon's deal, which is why many books that are available in the US (even Australian books) aren't available for purchase here.

And the "Girl with the Tattoo" books were written in Europe, and first published in English in Britain. Why do you think it's significant they were available there before they were available in the US?

So they'd prefer to sell fewer books and make less money overall? Seems to be their 21st century idea, in general....

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Oh please. It wasn't about agreeing with me.

I wasn't posting about the geographic restrictions. Yes, they're created by publishing deals, though not deliberately by the publishers. It's because companies, anywhere in the world, have limited territoriality. Trying to phrase that as being the publishers' "fault" is verging on churlish.

Given that there are restrictions, I was posting about why Amazon hadn't negotiated past those restrictions here in this region. It's all down to Amazon's 500-pound gorilla tactics. The Prof saying "I don't know about that" and then posting about a different aspect of the issue as if that invalidated what I'd said, meant that he, and now you, are saying oranges invalidate apples.

Or what you are really saying is the publishers don't want to sell books at the price they charge in the US or UK, but at double (or triple) the price that we usually pay here instead, so they won't sell at all...

Given some books are being sold from various publishers, doesn't make a lot of sense....

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

That must be very frustrating as an author, and I guess a lot of other authors are in the same situation. One thing that strikes me though, wouldn't it be easier as an author to just keep the e-book rights and offer them directly to Amazon and all the other big distribution channels or is this prevented when signing an agreement with publishers for the print edition.

Or to put in your contract - if you take the electronic rights and don't publish within a week or a month or whatever of the print book - in all the markets I gave you rights to - then the rights revert to me. Not hard to work that one out.

[Pushka]

Hubby signed off electronic rights to his paperback book when he signed the contract a couple of years ago. The publisher said they other day they are just starting to transfer their titles to ebook format.

[Blue Tyson]

Sounds like a poor contract if you sign over rights to something for 2 years and it isn't used and it has not reverted?

[Pushka]

The book is still being published, and at the time, ebooks were hardly the thing. We know better now.

[Josieb1]

I know nothing about the AU store, but have been frustrated by geo restrictions. And (this is my view only) bloodymindedness by publishers. Sharon Penman had up until Friday 10 books in the US store and one in the UK. I rang the publishers (Penguin) who told me they were only releasing books in ePub format, for their own website, and had no intention of releasing anything on Amazon. I jumped through hoops and made out I was a US resident and got all they had. And now all but one of her books has disappeared from the US site.

I also emailed the author, and she said she was powerless as the publishers control everything. I have no idea who owns the rights to her back catalogue and it sounds like she doesn't know either!

It's all one gigantic mess

[Pushka]

Calibre will convert epub to mobi. But you need to deal with drm I guess. Google.

[djambalawa]

Originally Posted by xnowimcoolx

I don't mean to be rude but I have a hard time feeling sympathetic. The internet gives people NO excuse for writing comments like this on any forum. There are countless forums, chat rooms, and websites devoted to e-readers and discussion on them. A week in this forum before buying the device would have saved you the headache (I noticed you joined today ... just to rant?) You had every opportunity to do the due diligence before buying the device but you obviously didn't.

Return it. Amazon has a good return policy.

I'm done my rant now.

To actually help with your rant there are DRM-stripping option available if you find a store that sells more books than Amazon in your region. And there is Calibre, which will do a good job of converting them into the proper format.

Or you could choose the evil method...

I dont think this is totally fair. I am having the same issue in Australia. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know and perhaps it was quite a reasonable assumption that there wouldn't be these type of limitations - i had no idea there were US kindle books and otherwise.

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Or what you are really saying is the publishers don't want to sell books at the price they charge in the US or UK, but at double (or triple) the price that we usually pay here instead, so they won't sell at all...

Given some books are being sold from various publishers, doesn't make a lot of sense....

No, I really wasn't saying that. But the percentage of the sale price that Amazon takes is very high, and the publishers that I'm aware of making a comment on this would rather sell the things themselves and (they feel) give a better deal to both themselves and the writers.

I wasn't advocating a particular position or putting forward my imagined opinion; I was just contributing what had been said to me as an example of the thinking of some people involved in the interaction, and as evidence that, in some cases ar least, it's not just a case of the publishers being selfish and bastardly.

[djgreedo]

Originally Posted by SpirosGyrosAU

Hello,

I've just purchased a Kindle3 WIFI edition in Australia and I'm extremely annoyed with the AU Kindle Store and what is provides book readers.

The titles I want to purchase aren't on the AU Kindle Store but they reside on either the UK or the US Kindle Store.

If I wanted a book traditionally, I would purchase it through Amazon and it would get delivered to me from wherever the book was printed, and I would gladly pay the additional fee to have it transported to me so I could read it
SG

If you don't mind jumping through some hoops it is possible to buy books from US (or elsewhere) book stores using certain tricks. You may need to acquire a US credit card (or prepaid credit card, which you may be able to source online), and you will need to remove DRM in most cases.

I have successfully bought a couple of books not available on the Australian Kindle store via the Sony store and somewhere else I can't remember...Books on Board I think...by providing a US payment method and/or address.

It's depressing to think that in 2010 there are still arbitrary restrictions on such things. I understand why it happens (rights, etc.), but I don't understand why it hasn't been fixed yet. I suppose there isn't the financial incentive to organise the contracts, etc. to allow selling overseas. Can't they just let authors sell directly to anybody in a country not covered by their contracts?

It is absurd that I can get a paper book delivered across the oceans (using polluting fuels and taking days of time), yet I can't buy a digital copy of that same book.