Why so many versions of books up at Smashwords?

crich70 · 07-09-2014, 10:29 AM

Has anyone else noticed the over abundance of versions that some books over at Smashwords seem to have? Isn't there a way to remove old versions that have an error? I mean I went to re-download a book that I'd bought a few yrs back and it had been re-edited and uploaded to Smashwords no less than 34 times! And each version was listed there on the page for that book.

cromag · 07-09-2014, 04:44 PM

I just checked a few book I bought at Smashwords over the years and couldn't find any with a trail like that. Sounds like an author with a bit of an OCD/perfectionist streak going on. Letting go can be hard for some folks, I guess!

VydorScope · 07-09-2014, 07:22 PM

No there is no way to kill them. So every time I update back matter, or front matter, or whatever it makes a new edition and you cannot remove it. Ever. Even if I delete the book and kill my account, they stay.

cromag · 07-09-2014, 08:34 PM

Yeah, I just updated my two oldest to add author info and improve on-screen readability, but that still got me to three or four editions. Before I updated anything 34 times I think I'd try to write something new!

VydorScope · 07-09-2014, 08:46 PM

Most of the time the "edits" will be to update front / back matter for most authors. So like when I added a mailing list, I updated. When I added facebook page, I updated. When I added a twitter account I updated. When I had to change the cover because Apple said it was too big, it updated. When new books/bundles come out, I update. I have only updated the actual text maybe 1-3 times but Enemy of an Enemy on smash probably has a long trail now. I have not actually paid any attention to it.

It is what it is.

crich70 · 07-10-2014, 03:40 AM

Interesting. I wonder why it is like that. Why Smashwords has it set up like that. Is it something basic to their software that they can't change or just something they can't change out now but which they might be able to at some future time.

VydorScope · 07-10-2014, 07:30 AM

Based on reading their documentation years ago, it appears to be a feature they intentionally designed. I have no idea WHY though.

eschwartz · 07-10-2014, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Based on reading their documentation years ago, it appears to be a feature they intentionally designed. I have no idea WHY though.

Because of thread: Dangerously e-books: How do I know if my ebooks have been altered?

VydorScope · 07-10-2014, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Because of thread: Dangerously e-books: How do I know if my ebooks have been altered?

That thread was started on " 03-25-2014, 03:37 AM" so - no, Smash has been doing that for years before that thread existed.

eschwartz · 07-10-2014, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

That thread was started on " 03-25-2014, 03:37 AM" so - no, Smash has been doing that for years before that thread existed.

It was a joke.

ApK · 07-11-2014, 10:03 AM

I think it's a good policy of SW. The book you bought, the book you read, will always* be there for you. It mitigates attempts at revisionist history, repudiation, censorship, etc.

Authors just need to be less George-Lucas-y and stop fiddling with their creations so much.

ApK

*to the extent that 'always' means anything in our transient world.

Tex2002ans · 07-13-2014, 12:03 AM

There are certain cases where "newer" versions are WORSE than the old versions.

I have a few books that I purchased where they shoved in much lower resolution/crappier images in the later versions.

crich70 · 07-14-2014, 04:16 AM

My only bone to pick with it is that you are supposed to be able to download the books you have purchased from your purchase page but when multiple revisions of a book are up and you click on the link for a given book the following happens.
1. You are directed to the page with the revisions
2. You have to choose which revision you want
3. After starting the download of the chosen revision you have to click the back button to get back to the purchase page (if you want to download more than one of your purchases). And when you do that you have to wait for the page to finish loading up again so that you are then able to start downloading the next book that you want to download. That takes longer than downloading the actual book. Books without multiple revisions don't do all that. They just start to download and you can scroll down to the next one that you want to download. Why not add something to the coding of the page so that you can access old revisions (if you want) and just download the newest version if that is your choice?

07-09-2014, 10:29 AM	#1
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	Why so many versions of books up at Smashwords? Has anyone else noticed the over abundance of versions that some books over at Smashwords seem to have? Isn't there a way to remove old versions that have an error? I mean I went to re-download a book that I'd bought a few yrs back and it had been re-edited and uploaded to Smashwords no less than 34 times! And each version was listed there on the page for that book.

07-14-2014, 04:16 AM	#13
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	My only bone to pick with it is that you are supposed to be able to download the books you have purchased from your purchase page but when multiple revisions of a book are up and you click on the link for a given book the following happens. 1. You are directed to the page with the revisions 2. You have to choose which revision you want 3. After starting the download of the chosen revision you have to click the back button to get back to the purchase page (if you want to download more than one of your purchases). And when you do that you have to wait for the page to finish loading up again so that you are then able to start downloading the next book that you want to download. That takes longer than downloading the actual book. Books without multiple revisions don't do all that. They just start to download and you can scroll down to the next one that you want to download. Why not add something to the coding of the page so that you can access old revisions (if you want) and just download the newest version if that is your choice? Last edited by crich70; 07-14-2014 at 04:18 AM.

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07-09-2014, 04:44 PM	#2
cromag Surfin the alpha waves ~~ Posts: 24,305 Karma: 459220161 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: New Jersey Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids	I just checked a few book I bought at Smashwords over the years and couldn't find any with a trail like that. Sounds like an author with a bit of an OCD/perfectionist streak going on. Letting go can be hard for some folks, I guess!

07-09-2014, 07:22 PM	#3
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	No there is no way to kill them. So every time I update back matter, or front matter, or whatever it makes a new edition and you cannot remove it. Ever. Even if I delete the book and kill my account, they stay.

07-09-2014, 08:34 PM	#4
cromag Surfin the alpha waves ~~ Posts: 24,305 Karma: 459220161 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: New Jersey Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids	Yeah, I just updated my two oldest to add author info and improve on-screen readability, but that still got me to three or four editions. Before I updated anything 34 times I think I'd try to write something new!

07-09-2014, 08:46 PM	#5
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Most of the time the "edits" will be to update front / back matter for most authors. So like when I added a mailing list, I updated. When I added facebook page, I updated. When I added a twitter account I updated. When I had to change the cover because Apple said it was too big, it updated. When new books/bundles come out, I update. I have only updated the actual text maybe 1-3 times but Enemy of an Enemy on smash probably has a long trail now. I have not actually paid any attention to it. It is what it is.

07-10-2014, 03:40 AM	#6
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	Interesting. I wonder why it is like that. Why Smashwords has it set up like that. Is it something basic to their software that they can't change or just something they can't change out now but which they might be able to at some future time.

07-10-2014, 07:30 AM	#7
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Based on reading their documentation years ago, it appears to be a feature they intentionally designed. I have no idea WHY though.

07-11-2014, 10:03 AM	#11
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,318 Karma: 67930154 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	I think it's a good policy of SW. The book you bought, the book you read, will always* be there for you. It mitigates attempts at revisionist history, repudiation, censorship, etc. Authors just need to be less George-Lucas-y and stop fiddling with their creations so much. ApK *to the extent that 'always' means anything in our transient world.

07-13-2014, 12:03 AM	#12
Tex2002ans Wizard Posts: 2,297 Karma: 12126329 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kobo Forma, Nook	There are certain cases where "newer" versions are WORSE than the old versions. I have a few books that I purchased where they shoved in much lower resolution/crappier images in the later versions.

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