Frustrated with all the recent posts by Kindle-only authors

[Kevin Gerard]

Greetings!

Am I correctly understanding that if one publishes an e-book on Kindle, then they are prohibited from publishing through Smashword?

Thank you

[HarryT]

No. The Kindle publishing agreement is non-exclusive.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No. The Kindle publishing agreement is non-exclusive.

Is that also true of Smashwords?

BOb

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Is that also true of Smashwords?

BOb

Yes; I know of some books at Smashwords that are available at other sites. Several small ebook publishers have started offering their books at Smashwords in addition to their own websites.

[Kevin Gerard]

Thanks for your responses!

Cousin ITT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BearMountainBooks]

Well, I took the advice I learned here and published one of my "Kindle" books on Smashwords, which makes it available to Sony readers as well as PDF, HTML and Stanza. Wow. I can tell you that perhaps some authors don't do other formats because it really isn't all that easy...

Even after getting it uploaded and looking fairly decent in the formats I can see, there's definitely inconsistencies between various formatting.

So I'll see how it goes. If anyone is interested, the book is Sage: Tales from a Magical Kingdom. It's an anthology of long shorts or novellas and is priced at 1.00.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3625

Here's a bit more about the book:

Sword and Sorcery meets Agatha Christie. Three novellas introduce the Kingdom of Sage and those who protect its boundaries. Join Demetria and her husband Ward in their adventures as they protect Sage from evil: Rats, Snakes and perpetrators from within.

Sometimes it takes a more experienced hand to save an entire Kingdom.

The first of these stories, "Toil, Trouble and Rot," was published in "Coyote Wild Magazine." The other two are all new, original stories.

"Toil, Trouble and Rot" finds the Kingdom of Sage under attack from a deadly and mysterious enemy.

In "Dungeons and Decay" find out just how far a mother will go when her child is in danger--and how much magic it takes to keep him safe.

In "Call to Arms" every hand is needed when a ghost invades the kingdom demanding old wrongs be righted.

Maria Schneider has published stories in Coyote Wild Magazine, Dunesteef.com, TownDrunkMag.com and ClonePod.org. Her latest short story, "Top Secret," was published at "Over My Dead Body" in August 2009.

If you have any feedback, I welcome that sort of thing.

Thanks for your advice on all this stuff, all who participated.

Maria
www.BearMountainBooks.com

[starrigger]

why do you think html is so high on the list? With all those formats there, does html as third choice mean that many people prefer to read on their laptop or desktop?

That's my guess. In fact, in a related vein, I should have said that many people seem to prefer to open PDFs, over downloading any format. The pattern of the PDF hits suggests that more people open the files in their browsers than right-click and download.

Yesterday (before I read this forum) I would not have known what that means. May I suggest:

PDF (printing)
PDF (eBook)

That's worth considering. But keep in mind that I was trying to get many formats listed in a confined space. That's why I used the mouse-over tips to explain the differences. If you feel like taking a look at my downloads page, you can let me know if you think it's clear.

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

That was advice. Never mind, I certainly won't offer you any again.

I'm more than happy to accept advice, when it's offered in a respectful and constructive manner. Indeed, it was advice from some of the smart folk here on MR that helped me configure the presentation on my page as it is.

[BearMountainBooks]

Smashwords did a survey to figure out which formats were downloaded the most often. Here is a link:

http://blog.smashwords.com/2009/03/w...ks-matter.html


The surprising thing to me was the high number of txt downloads.


Note: I am *not* the Maria Schneider in the interview and of no relationship. We just happen to share the same name!

Maria
Sage: Tales from a Magical Kingdom

[krischik]

Originally Posted by starrigger

If you feel like taking a look at my downloads page, you can let me know if you think it's clear.

You fly over help is super duper clear. My fear is that not may actually read them.

Ahh, and I screwed your stats by downloading multiple formats.

Martin

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

FB2: I don't know much about this format. I know there are ebook readers that take it, and some that prefer it; I think it's much more popular in Russian ebook comms than English-speaking ones.

If there were Spanish books, I think it owuld be the most popular format. Mainly because neither Sony nor Amazon want to sell their readers here, and Hanlin do.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I'd agree that those are the major formats. There's also FB2 and IMP, and PalmDOC PDB would be nice (and is very easy to make).

We don't need FB2. All the devices I've heard of that support Fb2 also support one of the other listed formats. IMP yeah. That can be made from the Mobipocket copy. We already have eReader in the list. No need for it yet again.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by krischik

Yesterday (before I read this forum) I would not have known what that means. May I suggest:

PDF (printing)
PDF (eBook)

not different formats but different names to describe them

Martin

PDF (eBook) is incorrect. PDF is not an eBook format. It's a print format.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

PDF (eBook) is incorrect. PDF is not an eBook format. It's a print format.

So-the-heck-what? Just because it wasn't specifically designed for e-books, doesn't mean it can't be suitable for e-books (just like txt, rtf and html).

Jeffrey is right in observing that PDF is already embedded in people's daily usage, it can be (and, as his stats indicate, is regularly) opened in a browser without additional downloads or app fussing, and it gives newbies immediate access before having to figure out all the rigamarole we e-book vets go through, to read a single book. I see absolutely nothing wrong with considering PDF a format for introductory usage, and for those without the ability or patience to download and install other apps and formats as required (or without the money to buy a Kindle).

If, at some point, ePub becomes ubiquitous, is installed in every browser or preloaded on every PC for daily use, we may see the kind of ePub download numbers that we see for PDFs now. Until then, let them eat PDF.

[BearMountainBooks]

I actually considered doing a PDF for my own website because so many devices can read it (or it can be read on the computer.) The weird thing is that I don't think that many people actually want to read that format for pleasure/fiction reading.

Maybe I'll know more if there is any demand for my books over at smashwords, but of course it is but one book. I've found the biggest barrier is...just finding people that care that the book exists! Once you get past that, the format issue can be overcome. Probably.

Maria

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

So-the-heck-what? Just because it wasn't specifically designed for e-books, doesn't mean it can't be suitable for e-books (just like txt, rtf and html).

Jeffrey is right in observing that PDF is already embedded in people's daily usage, it can be (and, as his stats indicate, is regularly) opened in a browser without additional downloads or app fussing, and it gives newbies immediate access before having to figure out all the rigamarole we e-book vets go through, to read a single book. I see absolutely nothing wrong with considering PDF a format for introductory usage, and for those without the ability or patience to download and install other apps and formats as required (or without the money to buy a Kindle).

If, at some point, ePub becomes ubiquitous, is installed in every browser or preloaded on every PC for daily use, we may see the kind of ePub download numbers that we see for PDFs now. Until then, let them eat PDF.

This is so true. You know the vast majority of new posters here don't ask hey can i read ePUB/MOBI/LIT,etc.. on an eReader. Most folks come here asking if they can read PDF on ereaders. My brother who is not a techi also has a PRS-505 but perfers to get books in PDF over ePUB/LRF.

You know the irony of ePUB is that PDF does today what ePUB has failed to deliver. I've come full circle with PDF it truly is the least fuss format with the greatest flexibility.

The biggest grip people have about PDF is that it cannot be easily read on smaller devices. This can easily be resolves by two feasible methods.
1) Publishers start making PDF for smaller ereaders, like Ahi did (Jeff if you removed your white space your PDF they would be readable on the SONY with no user modification needed or --no reflow needed)
2) PDF re-flow. There are some really good PDF reflow engines out there today. Adobe WindowCE is almost flawless in rendering PDF fro 3" screens. I recently purchased RepligGo for my BlackBerry and the rendering is almost as good as Adobe's.