Tor - Page 3

Taylor514ce · 05-19-2008, 11:07 AM

If anyone does email, please be respectful and polite. We want to be customers. We want to have a good relationship with a publisher that wants our business. Yes, I'm pissed at them, but pissing ON them likely won't improve the situation.

MsAnthrope · 05-19-2008, 11:27 AM

Just an FYI -
I received this email on 5 May in response to a 2nd email I had sent thanking them for the free ebooks but pointing out lost TOR sales when other series books weren't available for purchase in ebook format:

RE: Mercedes Lackey, Free ebook The Outstretched Shadow
Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 10:59:55 -0400
From: "Tor Questions" <questions@tor.com>

Dear ...
Thanks so much for your encouraging words! You'll be happy to know
that we plan on shortly having a wide list of titles available for
purchase on the Tor-Forge site. So hang on tight, we hear you!

Cheers,
The tor.com Team

Taylor514ce · 05-19-2008, 11:33 AM

That's good to know, but doesn't address the "Kindle-only" complaint.

HarryT · 05-19-2008, 11:38 AM

Doesn't it? Presumably they sell their Kindle books via Amazon. If they're setting up their own e-Book site, that will - one might reasonably suppose - be for formats other than Kindle. Let's wait and see before jumping to conclusions.

wallcraft · 05-19-2008, 11:44 AM

If they are going to sell "exclusively" through the Tor-Forge site, but with DRM, then releasing for the Kindle (and the Sony) separately makes some sense, because these won't be compatible with the site. I hope they follow the long standing Sci-Fi trend of DRM-free ebooks, and then the Kindle versions on Amazon represent lower margins to the publisher but perhaps more sales.

Taylor514ce · 05-19-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Doesn't it? Presumably they sell their Kindle books via Amazon. If they're setting up their own e-Book site, that will - one might reasonably suppose - be for formats other than Kindle. Let's wait and see before jumping to conclusions.

Absolutely. But there are already sites available, which sell TOR books, for other formats. Why does Amazon get preferential treatment to the exclusion of other vendors, formats, and customers?

I've had my rant; posting here won't solve the problem. I've emailed TOR and am now in your suggested "wait and see" mode.

AnemicOak · 05-19-2008, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsAnthrope

Dear ...
Thanks so much for your encouraging words! You'll be happy to know
that we plan on shortly having a wide list of titles available for
purchase on the Tor-Forge site. So hang on tight, we hear you!

Cheers,
The tor.com Team

Just as important as making stuff available I hope they start to "get it" where price is concerned. Most of the titles they've given away free can now be purchased in Mobi format for only $14 a piece

(much more than the pbook). I don't know how much of it is a Tor problem and how much of the problem is their parent company since their other labels seem to have the same pricing & availability problems.

TheLongshot · 05-19-2008, 04:45 PM

Another thing you might want to try is go to Sony's book store and fill out a request that they carry TOR books and specifically the titles you want. Doing a search that returns no results brings up a link where you can send a request for books and authors you want them to carry.

Considering that no one outside of Sony sells DRMed Sony books, I would think that they would have to start up a relationship with Sony.

Jason

Taylor514ce · 05-19-2008, 05:37 PM

Sony doesn't have a "search" that ever brings up no results. If there are no results, you get to wade through vaguely semi-related, as seen through the eyes of a faulty fuzzy logic system, results, making the entire Sony Connect experience as pleasant and crisp as a summer day in Houston.

But, yes, I frequently use the "Request Titles" link, like dropping pennies down a bottomless well. You never even hear an echo. Talk about your "Psychological Well Beings"...

Donnageddon · 05-19-2008, 06:42 PM

Taylor, I am glad you started this thread. I noted the same absence in the original TOR free ebook thread. And for the same title. I previously owned (through the SFBC) a copy of The Last Colony by Scalzi, and then found the TOR ebook fee edition of OMW. I really would like to get an ebook version (non Kindle) of Ghost Brigades.

It only makes sense for TOR to follow through on this, I mean, they have to want my money, but then little makes sense in corporate land.

I am also in Wait And See mode.

TheLongshot · 05-19-2008, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Sony doesn't have a "search" that ever brings up no results.

Well, I managed to do it, tho that may be on the web site, which is only useful for browsing. Again, another mark of the grand experience of shopping with Sony.

Jason

emellaich · 05-19-2008, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsAnthrope

Just an FYI -
I received this email on 5 May [from Tor]
...
You'll be happy to know that we plan on shortly having a wide list of titles available for purchase on the Tor-Forge site.
...

I think I may have figured out a point of confusion. I read a post on another web site where it appears that Tor does not see the Tor web site as a big source of books. Its more of a fan site. However, this post does distinguish between the Tor fan site and the tor-forge corporate site.

Combining this post with the email above, it may be that we want to keep our eye on www.Tor-Forge.com if we want to purchase actual e-books. Below is an excerpt of the post I am basing this conclusion on, as well as a link to the full post.

Michael
================================================== ====
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight...s/2008_03.html
go to the section just under halfway down titled: Phase one: collect underpants

The post purports to be from a Tor representative:
... this offer [for free books] has caused a lot of people to jump to the conclusion that the new site will be all about selling and/or giving away digital books. This isn’t the case, although Tor does have a bunch of future plans for the selling and/or giving away of book-length digital works, some of which plans may even involve this particular project. But the actual point of this site ... Is to be a Focal Point Fanzine

p.s. the post has other interesting stuff like a way to sign up for a beta launch on the actual Tor web site (that's the fanzine site, not the book site if my interpretation is correct).

Taylor514ce · 05-19-2008, 09:02 PM

Yes, that is the site on which I search for ebooks and found none. Further searching turned up a Kindle Edition of a book I want, but can't have, because it's a Kindle Edition.

05-19-2008, 11:27 AM	#32
MsAnthrope Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 52 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Kindle 2, EB-1150	response that I received from TOR: Just an FYI - I received this email on 5 May in response to a 2nd email I had sent thanking them for the free ebooks but pointing out lost TOR sales when other series books weren't available for purchase in ebook format: RE: Mercedes Lackey, Free ebook The Outstretched Shadow Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 10:59:55 -0400 From: "Tor Questions" <questions@tor.com> Dear ... Thanks so much for your encouraging words! You'll be happy to know that we plan on shortly having a wide list of titles available for purchase on the Tor-Forge site. So hang on tight, we hear you! Cheers, The tor.com Team

05-19-2008, 05:37 PM	#39
Taylor514ce Actively passive. Posts: 2,042 Karma: 478376 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: US Device: Sony PRS-505/LC	Sony doesn't have a "search" that ever brings up no results. If there are no results, you get to wade through vaguely semi-related, as seen through the eyes of a faulty fuzzy logic system, results, making the entire Sony Connect experience as pleasant and crisp as a summer day in Houston. But, yes, I frequently use the "Request Titles" link, like dropping pennies down a bottomless well. You never even hear an echo. Talk about your "Psychological Well Beings"... Last edited by Taylor514ce; 05-19-2008 at 06:44 PM.

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05-19-2008, 11:07 AM	#31
Taylor514ce Actively passive. Posts: 2,042 Karma: 478376 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: US Device: Sony PRS-505/LC	If anyone does email, please be respectful and polite. We want to be customers. We want to have a good relationship with a publisher that wants our business. Yes, I'm pissed at them, but pissing ON them likely won't improve the situation.

05-19-2008, 11:33 AM	#33
Taylor514ce Actively passive. Posts: 2,042 Karma: 478376 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: US Device: Sony PRS-505/LC	That's good to know, but doesn't address the "Kindle-only" complaint.

05-19-2008, 11:38 AM	#34
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Doesn't it? Presumably they sell their Kindle books via Amazon. If they're setting up their own e-Book site, that will - one might reasonably suppose - be for formats other than Kindle. Let's wait and see before jumping to conclusions.

05-19-2008, 11:44 AM	#35
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,977 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	If they are going to sell "exclusively" through the Tor-Forge site, but with DRM, then releasing for the Kindle (and the Sony) separately makes some sense, because these won't be compatible with the site. I hope they follow the long standing Sci-Fi trend of DRM-free ebooks, and then the Kindle versions on Amazon represent lower margins to the publisher but perhaps more sales.

05-19-2008, 04:45 PM	#38
TheLongshot Groupie Posts: 190 Karma: 7758 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Sony Reader	Another thing you might want to try is go to Sony's book store and fill out a request that they carry TOR books and specifically the titles you want. Doing a search that returns no results brings up a link where you can send a request for books and authors you want them to carry. Considering that no one outside of Sony sells DRMed Sony books, I would think that they would have to start up a relationship with Sony. Jason

05-19-2008, 06:42 PM	#40
Donnageddon Now you lishen here... Posts: 2,494 Karma: 479498 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Seattle-ish Device: Sony PRS-650. Kobo Touch, Kindle Fire	Taylor, I am glad you started this thread. I noted the same absence in the original TOR free ebook thread. And for the same title. I previously owned (through the SFBC) a copy of The Last Colony by Scalzi, and then found the TOR ebook fee edition of OMW. I really would like to get an ebook version (non Kindle) of Ghost Brigades. It only makes sense for TOR to follow through on this, I mean, they have to want my money, but then little makes sense in corporate land. I am also in Wait And See mode.

05-19-2008, 09:02 PM	#43
Taylor514ce Actively passive. Posts: 2,042 Karma: 478376 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: US Device: Sony PRS-505/LC	Yes, that is the site on which I search for ebooks and found none. Further searching turned up a Kindle Edition of a book I want, but can't have, because it's a Kindle Edition.

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