Titles disappearing from Connect? - Page 4

Dr. Drib · 07-25-2007, 09:23 AM

We all know how difficult it is to find a book, but my question has to do with a title being removed because of some reason OTHER than flakey code.

I thought I saw this title a few months back, but can no longer find it: Empire Falls, by John Russo. This is not the SF writer, but a literary author who won the Pulitzer Prize.

I wonder if there are contractual, legal issues that allow the ebook to be available for only a short time.

Does anyone have any knowledge or thoughts on this?

(Remember, I'm not talking about quick-fix code like intestinal, ropey Cobol; nor am I talking about underpaid and/or inept programmers.)

Don

_________________________________________

Give me GUI or give me death! -- [mad laughter]: Hahahahaha

Nogg · 07-25-2007, 06:49 PM

Theoretically there could be contract stipulations that would limit it, but since the current market is so small, that seems like a weird choice to make.

Publishers could arbitrarily choose to pull any of their books for any number of reasons, but I'd bet it was due to their fickleness about the format if that were the case.

JSWolf · 07-25-2007, 09:58 PM

Dr. Dib, what I would do is call Sony Connect and talk to them about this book.

I have to call them tomorrow to get them to unauthorize my wife's computer. She cannot log into my account on it as it says it's already authorized to another account. They solved one problem and caused another. LOL!

Dr. Drib · 07-26-2007, 07:01 AM

I appreciate that.

At the least, everyne wil know if I've indeed lost my mind - cause for a big oops!

, or else they'll confirm it and allow me to buy it.

I have the hardback First Edition, but for this book it would be nice to have as an ebook.

Thanks again!

Don

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Dr. Dib, what I would do is call Sony Connect and talk to them about this book.

I have to call them tomorrow to get them to unauthorize my wife's computer. She cannot log into my account on it as it says it's already authorized to another account. They solved one problem and caused another. LOL!

Cthulhu · 07-26-2007, 11:28 AM

I wonder if any of the anomalies that have been observed have anything to do with the updated layout of the Connect site. There's another post....umm...started by Monkeywrench (Sorry, I'm not so savvy that I can inbed links to other threads) that points out some of the Connect stores new features.

I like the new layout, but it was annoying to have a review at the bottom of the page point out how great an author's first book was, then have a search reveal that Connect does not have said book.

Oh well, ad libris electronicus per apera.

Phebe · 07-27-2007, 10:06 AM

Yes, I think they are indeed removing titles from the Connect bookstore.

Because I made a list FROM the Connect e-mails advertising their stuff, and 13th Apostle by Heller was on it, and when I looked for it about four days later, not there.

On the other hand, when I looked it up on Amazon, that entry said it wasn't to be released till Aug. 1, so it may be the Connect e-mail was premature and they couldn't sell it yet.

Anyway, I ordered it from Amazon. Probably Connect shouldn't do other peoples' advertising for them......if they advertise it, they should have it to sell.

Nogg · 07-30-2007, 01:35 PM

A quick follow up, with more to come soon, hopefully.

I called Sony today to inquire about why books seem to be leaving the site. The representative told me that it's very unlikely that books would actually be taken out of their catalog. She said that the most probable reason is that the books suffered some kind of corruption and so needed to be removed temporarily in order to fix the issue. After I mentioned that it had been over a month that The Color of Magic had been missing, she got a tech involved. They weren't able to resolve anything while I was on the phone, but she asked me to email the details for her to follow up on.

I know that there were other Pratchett titles that have gone missing, but I don't know which ones, and it seems other authors have suffered the same problem on the Connect store. I'm hopeful that this uncovers a fundamental problem they can fix, but I'm concerned that they'll just find my one specific book and hope that satisfies me. I already bought it back in June, so really what I want is the next book in the series anyway. I'm not sure if that one was ever on the site, but I hope so. Paper books are so 2005.

Nogg · 07-30-2007, 01:36 PM

When (if) I get a response, I'll mention the Heller and Russo books as well.

JSWolf · 07-30-2007, 02:37 PM

The do seem to try to help. I mean I told them of my problem with having two accounts and wanting to merge into one and they managed to sort it.

Phebe · 08-03-2007, 10:06 AM

As some of you have probably noticed, the Connect bookstore does have a wishlist now, recently added. I get the e-mails from them and I usually do go over there and check out the new additions.

I think they must be making improvements if they have added a wishlist, but that may not affect the database per se. At this point I am assuming that if I search for a book by author and title and it doesn't come up, they either have it or they don't, but *I* can't buy it because if they have it, it's hidden.

The idea of trying by ISBN number is a good one; I'll try that.

I think it surprises all of us that the database just doesn't work, because -- even the old DOS databases like Nutshell WORKED --- I mean, you put in a search term, and all instances of that term were reported. It wasn't rocket science. So if you put in King, King novels should all come up.

But in Connect, who knows?

I am hoping they fix it. I have enough to read right now, and I figure they must surely be working on it and will have it work like a normal database within a year. How hard can it be, you know?

I'm a little surprised they don't read this forum and see that they have problems here. People are waving money at them and they won't take it.

Nogg · 08-03-2007, 06:38 PM

Just noticed that The 13th Apostle is now on the site:

http://ebooks.connect.com/product/40...000053281.html

Phebe · 08-10-2007, 10:48 AM

Thanx, Nogg. My copy came from Amazon, dreadful plot, too many elephants, too slick and superficial.

JSWolf · 08-14-2007, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nogg

I could be crazy. In fact, it's quite possible.

However, I think I remember seeing Terry Pratchett's first Discworld novel The Colo(u)r of Magic on the Connect store not too long ago. I finally decided to go ahead and buy it, but now I can't find it.

Has anyone else experienced books dropping off the store, or am I just misremembering what I saw?

I've been looking at most of the name ebook sites including Connect for Terry Pratchett books. I've noticed they seems to have the same ones and The Color of Money is not one of them. They have some Discworld books, but are missing most of them.

Nogg · 08-14-2007, 02:04 AM

Yeah, it looks like it's most of the more recent ones. The Color of Magic was available for a while (on ConnStore. I was able to get it then.) by clicking directly on Pratchett's name, but even that doesn't even work any more.

Nogg · 08-23-2007, 01:13 PM

I have to hand it to Sony. It took a long time, but they finally got back to me about this. Here's the email I just received:

Quote:

Thank you for contacting Sony Connect!

The book "Terry Pratchett - The Color of Magic" has been removed from our site by the publisher request. We have placed a credit to your account for the price of the book ($6.39).

Unfortunately we do not have a time frame of when the publisher will allow us to re-post this book back to our site.

I'm not sure why they credited my account, since I did get the book when it was available, but whatever.

It's a little disappointing that the publisher pulled it (if that is indeed true), but I'm holding out hope that maybe it's just a clerical issue.

07-25-2007, 09:23 AM	#46
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 45,458 Karma: 59592133 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	Has anyone recieved any confirmation about a book actually being removed? We all know how difficult it is to find a book, but my question has to do with a title being removed because of some reason OTHER than flakey code. I thought I saw this title a few months back, but can no longer find it: Empire Falls, by John Russo. This is not the SF writer, but a literary author who won the Pulitzer Prize. I wonder if there are contractual, legal issues that allow the ebook to be available for only a short time. Does anyone have any knowledge or thoughts on this? (Remember, I'm not talking about quick-fix code like intestinal, ropey Cobol; nor am I talking about underpaid and/or inept programmers.) Don _________________________________________ Give me GUI or give me death! -- [mad laughter]: Hahahahaha

08-03-2007, 10:06 AM	#55
Phebe Connoisseur Posts: 85 Karma: 124 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony PRS 500 and Kindle 2 and iPad and iPhone	Wishlist As some of you have probably noticed, the Connect bookstore does have a wishlist now, recently added. I get the e-mails from them and I usually do go over there and check out the new additions. I think they must be making improvements if they have added a wishlist, but that may not affect the database per se. At this point I am assuming that if I search for a book by author and title and it doesn't come up, they either have it or they don't, but I can't buy it because if they have it, it's hidden. The idea of trying by ISBN number is a good one; I'll try that. I think it surprises all of us that the database just doesn't work, because -- even the old DOS databases like Nutshell WORKED --- I mean, you put in a search term, and all instances of that term were reported. It wasn't rocket science. So if you put in King, King novels should all come up. But in Connect, who knows? I am hoping they fix it. I have enough to read right now, and I figure they must surely be working on it and will have it work like a normal database within a year. How hard can it be, you know? I'm a little surprised they don't read this forum and see that they have problems here. People are waving money at them and they won't take it.

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07-25-2007, 06:49 PM	#47
Nogg Literate! Posts: 256 Karma: 2247 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: PRS-500	Theoretically there could be contract stipulations that would limit it, but since the current market is so small, that seems like a weird choice to make. Publishers could arbitrarily choose to pull any of their books for any number of reasons, but I'd bet it was due to their fickleness about the format if that were the case.

07-25-2007, 09:58 PM	#48
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,796 Karma: 146391129 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Dr. Dib, what I would do is call Sony Connect and talk to them about this book. I have to call them tomorrow to get them to unauthorize my wife's computer. She cannot log into my account on it as it says it's already authorized to another account. They solved one problem and caused another. LOL!

07-26-2007, 11:28 AM	#50
Cthulhu Technologist Posts: 488 Karma: 585237 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: I'm between Cities Device: SONY Reader PRS-500	I wonder if any of the anomalies that have been observed have anything to do with the updated layout of the Connect site. There's another post....umm...started by Monkeywrench (Sorry, I'm not so savvy that I can inbed links to other threads) that points out some of the Connect stores new features. I like the new layout, but it was annoying to have a review at the bottom of the page point out how great an author's first book was, then have a search reveal that Connect does not have said book. Oh well, ad libris electronicus per apera.

07-27-2007, 10:06 AM	#51
Phebe Connoisseur Posts: 85 Karma: 124 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony PRS 500 and Kindle 2 and iPad and iPhone	Yes, I think they are indeed removing titles from the Connect bookstore. Because I made a list FROM the Connect e-mails advertising their stuff, and 13th Apostle by Heller was on it, and when I looked for it about four days later, not there. On the other hand, when I looked it up on Amazon, that entry said it wasn't to be released till Aug. 1, so it may be the Connect e-mail was premature and they couldn't sell it yet. Anyway, I ordered it from Amazon. Probably Connect shouldn't do other peoples' advertising for them......if they advertise it, they should have it to sell.

07-30-2007, 01:35 PM	#52
Nogg Literate! Posts: 256 Karma: 2247 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: PRS-500	A quick follow up, with more to come soon, hopefully. I called Sony today to inquire about why books seem to be leaving the site. The representative told me that it's very unlikely that books would actually be taken out of their catalog. She said that the most probable reason is that the books suffered some kind of corruption and so needed to be removed temporarily in order to fix the issue. After I mentioned that it had been over a month that The Color of Magic had been missing, she got a tech involved. They weren't able to resolve anything while I was on the phone, but she asked me to email the details for her to follow up on. I know that there were other Pratchett titles that have gone missing, but I don't know which ones, and it seems other authors have suffered the same problem on the Connect store. I'm hopeful that this uncovers a fundamental problem they can fix, but I'm concerned that they'll just find my one specific book and hope that satisfies me. I already bought it back in June, so really what I want is the next book in the series anyway. I'm not sure if that one was ever on the site, but I hope so. Paper books are so 2005.

07-30-2007, 01:36 PM	#53
Nogg Literate! Posts: 256 Karma: 2247 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: PRS-500	When (if) I get a response, I'll mention the Heller and Russo books as well.

07-30-2007, 02:37 PM	#54
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,796 Karma: 146391129 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The do seem to try to help. I mean I told them of my problem with having two accounts and wanting to merge into one and they managed to sort it.

08-03-2007, 06:38 PM	#56
Nogg Literate! Posts: 256 Karma: 2247 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: PRS-500	Just noticed that The 13th Apostle is now on the site: http://ebooks.connect.com/product/40...000053281.html

08-10-2007, 10:48 AM	#57
Phebe Connoisseur Posts: 85 Karma: 124 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony PRS 500 and Kindle 2 and iPad and iPhone	Thanx, Nogg. My copy came from Amazon, dreadful plot, too many elephants, too slick and superficial.

08-14-2007, 02:04 AM	#59
Nogg Literate! Posts: 256 Karma: 2247 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: PRS-500	Yeah, it looks like it's most of the more recent ones. The Color of Magic was available for a while (on ConnStore. I was able to get it then.) by clicking directly on Pratchett's name, but even that doesn't even work any more.

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