Another Author Signs Kindle Exclusive - David Morrell

[frquixote]

There are plenty of other authors out there and more books than I can ever read. Goodbye, David.

[SensualPoet]

Boy, lots of opinions here.

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Exclusivity deals just encourage piracy, IMO. It engenders a *&#!-you attitude in everyone who doesn't have that format.

I admire your postings and normally agree with you (and share admiration of Kobo). But I do not agree that exclusivity encourages piracy. Being out-of-print encourages piracy -- not being on this platform or another.

Originally Posted by EricDP

So I have three choices:

• 2. Learn how to break amazon DRM (free, and once I've done it I can apply my skills into the future.)

<snip>Five seconds of googling and I discover that #2 is quite trivial, so now I just need to decide if I won't support this author anymore on moral grounds, or if I'll still buy the books, but break the DRM (which is currently legal in Canada - at least until parliament next sits, at which point I might become a criminal for trying to read the book I bought on the device I bought.)

I hope I didn't misunderstand you -- are you implying you'd steal a copy of the book, remove the DRM, and then give it away after? Just because the author has signed an "exclusive" deal?

Amazon reports 20% or so of its ebook sales go to customers who do not own a Kindle. They are reading on iPads, Blackberry's, Macs and PCs. I imagine some are reading on Sony eReaders who have bought the title, removed the DRM, converted to ePub and read on on their Sony eReader.

Authors sign "exclusive" deals with their puiblishers all the time -- often appearing under different imprints around the world, and "not sold" in specific territories as a result. This isn't any different, IMHO.

With tons of stuff to read, and an author chooses a platform you don't want to participate in ... read something else. Or, legitimately buy the thing and read it on the free apps for devices you own (or even move it to your Sony eReader in this case -- which is what I hope you are saying).

[kennyc]

I think this is great.

[EricDP]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

I hope I didn't misunderstand you -- are you implying you'd steal a copy of the book, remove the DRM, and then give it away after? Just because the author has signed an "exclusive" deal?

Nope, never said that. I would either a) buy the book(s) and strip DRM so that I can format shift for my own purposes or b) decide that the irritation I feel now would spoil the enjoyment of the books for me, so I wouldn't buy it or do anything with it.

It irritates me because in the near future, it might be illegal for me to format shift it (in the USA it's already illegal), so I'll have no choice but to buy a device I don't want just for these books - and I feel it's morally wrong to try to manipulate me that way.

If they would sell books in an open-standard format, I would have no issue with this exclusive deal. I have no issue with exclusive deals for paper books because I can read them without having to buy some proprietary reading device. If Amazon would sell ePUBs I would buy books from them. Because they don't, I don't. If Kindle could render ePUBs I would have considered buying one. But it doesn't. And I won't lock my books to my device and I won't lock by purchases to one store because of the device I bought.

So I bought a device that can read books from the broadest variety of stores. Which rules out Amazon for my future purchases until they decide to support my device.

[JSWolf]

Exclusive deals with Amazon is just going to lose you sales. Even if you eventually sold outside of Amazon, there is no way in hell I'd ever buy your book(s). And I would not mind telling you to take your contract and shove it.

To be honest, it's any exclusive eBook deals that are a problem. But the real problem is that when Amazon does it, it gets press.

As for exclusive deals, they are as bad as audio CDs with copy protection. For a CD with copy protection, once that is defeated, please pirate the hell out of it. Same thing with eBooks that are under an exclusive deal. Pirate the hell out of them too.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by mish

I would even be okay with a limited time exclusivity, like 3 or 6 months maybe, then open it up to all formats. But this complete exclusivity deal just rubs me the wrong way.

Okay, off my soapbox now (but I'll just leave it here in the corner in case it is needed again).

Terry Goodkind made an exclusive deal with Amazon for his first book and it was supposed to be only for six months. Lots of time later, it's still there and not anyplace else.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

I understand why the exclusivity of the deal is a concern to readers who don't use Kindle. However, I'm excited that a bestselling author has decided to self-publish. The more this happens, the more acceptable it becomes. I just negotiated with my publisher to get my e-book rights back, and I'm moving in the direction of being completely independent. So I can't help but like this news.
L.J.

Sorry, but if his self-publishing means he is telling a lot of us that we don't matter, that we cannot have his book, that we bought the wrong reader, that our money is no good, that we are second class readers, he can go take a flying leap into a typewriter.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by emellaich

Well, this exclusive deal has gotten him two pages of free publicity hear on MR, and who knows how much promotion elsewhere. And, I didn't see a term for this deal. He gets another publicity punch in a few months when he 'discovers' the wider world and announces his formerly Kindle-only books are now available at B&N.

And if he goes from Amazon to B&N only, then he can still kiss our asses. He should be getting good publicity for having self-published. But he's getting shat-on because he did a stupid thing and went exclusive. Exclusive is a bad idea no matter who you do it with.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by EricDP

So I have three choices:

1. Buy a kindle (but I already have a reader and don't want to have another, and don't want to spend a $139.99 surcharge for the privilege of reading this author)
2. Learn how to break amazon DRM (free, and once I've done it I can apply my skills into the future.)
3. Don't buy any more books from this author

Hmmm... I rule out #1 right away. Five seconds of googling and I discover that #2 is quite trivial, so now I just need to decide if I won't support this author anymore on moral grounds, or if I'll still buy the books, but break the DRM (which is currently legal in Canada - at least until parliament next sits, at which point I might become a criminal for trying to read the book I bought on the device I bought.)

Just try to find a pirated copy and format shift. Don't give any money to him.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by carld

4. Read the book on Kindle4PC or one of the other Kindle apps.

There's nothing unusual or evil about exclusives, they occur everywhere digital media is sold.

This is not like an exclusive deal made at Target for a CD with an extra track or two. They can still be bought and played on any CD player.

But an eBook is not like a CD. If you make a deal with just one company and that ends up with only one format, you alienate everyone who cannot read it. And that also brings bad press and lots of people will ignore you and your future work.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by EricDP

I would either a) buy the book(s) and strip DRM so that I can format shift for my own purposes or b) decide that the irritation I feel now would spoil the enjoyment of the books for me, so I wouldn't buy it or do anything with it.

It irritates me because in the near future, it might be illegal for me to format shift it (in the USA it's already illegal), so I'll have no choice but to buy a device I don't want just for these books - and I feel it's morally wrong to try to manipulate me that way.

I buy books from DRM ePub sources but (often) read them on my Kindle because I do not care for the standard ePub formatting I encounter. I rejig them so the text is full justified, no para line space, and with a nice para indent. Is this really illegal in the US? Then it's a lousy law which simply cannot be enforced. Trafficing of copyright material -- different story. But that's not what either of us is advocating.

Originally Posted by EricDP

If they would sell books in an open-standard format, I would have no issue with this exclusive deal. I have no issue with exclusive deals for paper books because I can read them without having to buy some proprietary reading device. If Amazon would sell ePUBs I would buy books from them. Because they don't, I don't. If Kindle could render ePUBs I would have considered buying one.

To each his own -- I have no issue with that.

I don't understand it either. Amazon's Kindle format means Kindle customers never have to worry about ePub or PDF ... the AZW works as is. It's confusing as heck to go to some of the independent stores that carry MS Reader, Mobi with a special ID DRM, ePub, PDF and apparently B&N has its own flavour.

Maybe, someday, Kindles will play DRM ePub as well as AZW, but AZW as default. Would that satisfy you? Even if they continued to sell only AZW format?

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Just try to find a pirated copy and format shift. Don't give any money to him.

This is nonsense: if a content owner decides to sell where you can, but choose not to, purchase, and your response is to steal it, or encourage its theft, shame on you.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Boy, lots of opinions here.



I admire your postings and normally agree with you (and share admiration of Kobo). But I do not agree that exclusivity encourages piracy. Being out-of-print encourages piracy -- not being on this platform or another.

While that is more true in the Kindle's case as they sell to more people than anyone else - if you do a deal with Barnes and Noble to be exclusive for example, then no-one in any other country can ever buy your book, so it certainly will encourage piracy then.

[EricDP]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

While that is more true in the Kindle's case as they sell to more people than anyone else

This is an assumption since Amazon won't release any sales figures... they have the best marketing and everybody thinks they have the highest sales, which may result in a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it might not be the case yet. Nobody knows (except Amazon executive).

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

...if you do a deal with Barnes and Noble to be exclusive for example, then no-one in any other country can ever buy your book, so it certainly will encourage piracy then.

I've never heard of B&N doing an exclusive deal that extended outside their territory... It would most likely be exclusive within the borders of the US.

[carld]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This is not like an exclusive deal made at Target for a CD with an extra track or two. They can still be bought and played on any CD player.

But an eBook is not like a CD. If you make a deal with just one company and that ends up with only one format, you alienate everyone who cannot read it. And that also brings bad press and lots of people will ignore you and your future work.

No, but it's exactly like an exclusive for a video or computer game (and I'm pretty sure blue-ray), and there are hundreds of those every year. Exclusives are nothing unusual at all.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by EricDP

This is an assumption since Amazon won't release any sales figures... they have the best marketing and everybody thinks they have the highest sales, which may result in a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it might not be the case yet. Nobody knows (except Amazon executive).

No one in the industry has disputed it. No one has challenged Amazon's sales figures (when they have, in fact, released them) on specific titles like 1 million Stieg Larsson or 870,000 of 1.2 million James Patterson. So ... more than Amazon executives know the truth: so do the mainstream publishing houses.

You can debate Amazon's degree of leadership but surely there is no credible evidence or credible industry source saying Amazon is not way out ahead. Even sources like Forrester place Amazon 3 or 4 times ahead of Sony or B&N.