New survey for Harry Potter books on Pottermore Insider

[pastanley]

Seriously who cares about the Harry Potter ebooks? JK is done with the franchise. The printe books are bountiful and much cheaper.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I am sorry, but it would have been very easy to sell the e-books at the existing bookstores as soon as she decided to sell the e-books. I don't know why she choose this path all I know is that her continued delays are annoying to many folks, myself included.

All she has done in increase the number of folks who gave up and downloaded the pirated copies and probably increased the number of folks who are not going to be willing to exchange their pirated copies for legitimate copies.

True. If she ever made a very stupid mistake, it is by connecting the sale of the books to the pottermore website thingie. It should have been disconnected. Sell the **** books already! Pissing off your potential customers isn't a wise thing to do...

Originally Posted by pastanley

Seriously who cares about the Harry Potter ebooks? JK is done with the franchise. The printe books are bountiful and much cheaper.

Plenty of people, I'd say. And how do you know the print books are much cheaper as the ebooks aren't even there? Also, while I do own the pbooks, I'd have bought the ebooks at the same time where they available. Simply because I prefer reading ebooks.

[tubemonkey]

At least the video books are out there. One of these days, I'll have to "read" them

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by vxf

I was actually talking about SONY - although that might have not been clear.......

Ah, sorry, O.K.

QUOTE:Shopa..
I don't think that was Sony's fault.........They wanted the Christmas market. I wouldn't be surprised to see a breach of contract suit or some type of major compensation demanded by Sony of Pottermore. QUOTE.

Interesting thought - watch a space I think !

QUOTE:Hellmark...... To say Sony is a victim, is like saying it isn't your fault that you're hung over when you and your friends go drinking at the bar.QUOTE.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

I will be honest and say up front that I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books. I did go to the first 2 movies out of curiosity and because a friend was interested.

I decided that Harry Potter was too cute and silly for me. Now don't get me wrong. I love Kung Fu Panda movies, and those movies with the maniacal psychotic penguins and the zoo animals that go back to the wild. Harry Potter, though, leaves me cringing.

Now with that disclaimer, I will say if you ever think KT Rowling is anything other than a self serving greedy egomaniac that struck it rich, you are deluding yourself. She is just playing to her self serving high brow friends with this pap about paper books, old book stores, and musty libraries being somehow holy.

Remember she owns a castle or two now. She ain't ordinary people no more if she ever was. No way, no how.

Uhm, your off on several counts.

First off, It is J.K. Rowling.

As far as the whole only paper books thing, well, you're wrong again. While JKR was hesitant to migrate to ebooks, it wasn't because of things having to be tangible. She is a kindle user herself. Part of the reason she's held off on ebook copies of Harry Potter, is because she wants control over them, and also format stabilization. When things are all finished with Pottermore, it will be one site to buy the books from, and she'll get full control over how the ebooks appear. It is widely known she is very protective of her work, and due to past experiences, demands final approval over new projects using her intellectual property.

One thing she wanted was that the ebooks look the same, regardless of format. Considering the "meatgrinder" that some of the ebook retailers use, that isn't always possible, plus many publishers don't give a high level of polish to ebooks, especially in regards to graphics and illustrations. Pottermore is something she's been working on for the past ~2 and a half years, getting the legal matters and logistics sorted out, so her wishes can be respected. Considering how whored out Harry Potter has been so far, would you blame her for wanting to be careful about agreeing who can do what with her work now?

Originally Posted by anamardoll

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011...launch-delayed

The fans are "forcing" the website to remove a game and push back the books. Nice.

As I said, though, the spin may be the fault of the article writer.

Yeah, that's from the Article. JKR, Pottermore, etc have not slagged the fans at all. Generally they've been apologetic, and saying that they were underprepared for the onslaught they received, because they didn't expect the demand to be quite what it was. Considering how much server side work needs to be done, it really isn't surprising, because it can be very easy to be overwhelmed when you have hundreds of thousands of people trying to access things all at the same time.

Originally Posted by SeaKing

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shopaholic - quote -
How on earth can you possibley make such a statement when you admit you know nothing about the woman?? You're simply crucifying her because she has money & made good. Wow! Unbelievable.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
What you say is untrue. I never said (or admitted as you say) I "know nothing about the women." I said I hadn't read her books, just seen 2 of the movies. I have read a lot about the author herself. It is kind of hard to avoid it.
Lots of authors have made tons of money. Not a problem to me. Lots of people have made tons of money. Not a problem to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
miguel1626 - quote -
This is... biased, to say the least. Apparently you don't like HP, and you don't like rich people, so JK Rowling must be the wicked witch of the west.
That's not to say that I agree with her flimsy excuses regarding HP ebooks, though...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"biased" of course! It is my opinion about the author summing up everything I have learned about her. HP was worth 2 movies to me. After that I shut the door. I have done that on many subjects.
Rich people. I discussed that above. However, my point was that Rowling is being elitist and kowtowing to the "high brow literary set."
And we agree on her excuses being flimsy. Just look at it in the light of her being an elitist. My guess is that if the iPad had been out when she made her initial decision about eBooks, she might have accepted the idea. The iPad has been accepted by many ot the "elite" like the New York Times and Book Review so that may have moderated her thoughts.

The problem is, there is lots going around about JKR that isn't true. Because she is so well known, she is a bigger target for BS. It seems like every few weeks, I'm seeing an article claiming she said this or that, that pretty much immediately contradicted by something she says or does. For instance, for years there have been articles about how she hates eBooks, that paper books are the only way to read, etc because of the lack of Harry Potter eBooks, and then she states that she's a kindle user, and loves the convenience of ebooks.

Originally Posted by vxf

I was actually talking about SONY - although that might have not been clear. Promising and making a big deal out of a HP ebook reader and then failing to deliver and never mentioning it, like it never happened - that is insulting to customers.

But I guess it applies to the Pottermore site as well - and, by extension, to Rowling, since she made a big deal out of cutting out the middlemen. But that's a different story.

She has wanted to cut out the middlemen, but, you can't really cut them out 100%. Really, it is just boiled down to being only Sony. Still, one point of control for quality is better than several dozen. Look at how people are complaining about issues with King's 11/22/63 having issues with the fonts and spacing, and how it seems to be limited to Kobo.

Originally Posted by pastanley

Seriously who cares about the Harry Potter ebooks? JK is done with the franchise. The printe books are bountiful and much cheaper.

Cheaper than what? No ebooks are currently for sale, and while a timeframe has been established for when they will go on sale, no prices have been set.

[ilovejedd]

Filled out the survey. Just hope they stick to the no DRM/social DRM thing as per original announcement.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Uhm, your off on several counts.

First off, It is J.K. Rowling.

As far as the whole only paper books thing, well, you're wrong again. While JKR was hesitant to migrate to ebooks, it wasn't because of things having to be tangible. She is a kindle user herself. Part of the reason she's held off on ebook copies of Harry Potter, is because she wants control over them, and also format stabilization. When things are all finished with Pottermore, it will be one site to buy the books from, and she'll get full control over how the ebooks appear. It is widely known she is very protective of her work, and due to past experiences, demands final approval over new projects using her intellectual property.

One thing she wanted was that the ebooks look the same, regardless of format. Considering the "meatgrinder" that some of the ebook retailers use, that isn't always possible, plus many publishers don't give a high level of polish to ebooks, especially in regards to graphics and illustrations. Pottermore is something she's been working on for the past ~2 and a half years, getting the legal matters and logistics sorted out, so her wishes can be respected. Considering how whored out Harry Potter has been so far, would you blame her for wanting to be careful about agreeing who can do what with her work now?

...

Looking at this from my point of view (I enjoyed the books, and don't really care about the details of how they get out in ebook form), JKR screwed it up.

She waited too long. The publishers would bend over backwards and sign any contract she wanted. She could have gotten them (the ebooks) out a long time ago if she wanted.

So she whored out the paper books, whored out the movies, whored out the audio books, buy wanted the ebooks to be perfect?

The first thing I'll do with the ebooks (if I get them), is reformat them the way I like.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by miguel1626

And all this DRM concern is particularly silly, since illegal digital copies of all HP books are ridiculously easy to find. What is it that they're trying to protect here? This kind of intrusive DRM is only going to hurt their sales.

How is it intrusive to have your name watermarked in the book? MP3 retailers have been doing this for years. I've also never heard anyone complain about WOWIO doing it.

[SeaKing]

Didn't realize I was going to hit a nerve with my statements.

Didn't realize that Rowling was a Mother Theresa as well.

I will be a little clearer in my opinion about Rowling. She wrote some cute children's' books that by the touch of fate's fickle hand became very popular. All this made her more than an author in some people's eyes. She became an idol. Like a baseball player or soccer star.
Her comments and thoughts were picked up, researched and plucked for important meanings and insight.
Now she has been elevated to near Sainthood by her fawning public.

But remember all she did was write some cutesy, and in some people's opinion dumb children's books. I think Dr Seuss did a better job.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by John F

..... She could have gotten them (the ebooks) out a long time ago if she wanted.

So she whored out the paper books, whored out the movies, whored out the audio books, buy wanted the ebooks to be perfect?

The first thing I'll do with the ebooks (if I get them), is reformat them the way I like.

---------------
1) Yes, but Ms Rowling didn't want to, did she - for whatever reason you want to make up or give.

2) Classy.
But, I take it your implication is she just signed of on the books for a quick buck "as they were" i.e. not very good, without making sure they were as good as she could make them ? (Even though you enjoyed them ? )

And signed off on the movies "as they were" for a quick buck i.e. not very good, without making sure they would be as good as they could be ?

Whereas she really wants to make sure the ebooks are perfect - or, not just as good as the paper books, or the films....... ?

And again, the other implication being that she offered the franchise around for money - in my world, it's just called getting paid a decent price for your work....

I'm afraid you're in an odd group here.
Not rabid anti-JKR, liked the books
Don't know your opinion of the films. but they were "moderately" successful - but because this highly successful author got a good deal initially, and now wants her ebooks to be as good, or perhaps more "perfect" you call it "whoring".
Mmm.... need to think about that......

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

How is it intrusive to have your name watermarked in the book? MP3 retailers have been doing this for years. I've also never heard anyone complain about WOWIO doing it.

I blogged about it at the time, but I'm not happy with the "tagging" aspect. I don't like being treated like a potential criminal, and I don't like the fact that if my computer was hacked or stolen, it would be impossible to prove that it wasn't ME that put one of my ebooks on a torrent. Likely to happen? Of course not. Possible with 'social' DRM? Yeah.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by pastanley

Seriously who cares about the Harry Potter ebooks? JK is done with the franchise. The printe books are bountiful and much cheaper.

Referring to pastanley's excellent point, I did a quick look at Amazon for printed book prices. I don't know which names belong to which number of book so if the book wasn't listed by number, I left it out. (i.e. #3 and #5)

pastanley: "printe books are bountiful and much cheaper."

sweetpea: "... And how do you know the print books are much cheaper as the ebooks aren't even there? Also, while I do own the pbooks, I'd have bought the ebooks at the same time where they available. Simply because I prefer reading ebooks. "

Hellmark: "Cheaper than what? No ebooks are currently for sale, and while a timeframe has been established for when they will go on sale, no prices have been set."

From Amazon:
Paperback Box (1-7)
$43.46 New free shipping
(divide by 7 and it is just slightly above $6 per book new.)

Even cheaper used, the +3.99 is for shipping and handling.
Individual
1 0.01 +3.99 used paperback
2 0.01 +3.99 used paper
3
4 0.19 +3.99 used paper
5
6 2.99 +3.99 used paper (actually a little higher than in the new set)
7 1.00 +3.99 used hard

I would say that pastanley is correct!

[SleepyBob]

Well said. I would be very surprised to see them priced below $7.99 (perhaps with a marketing exception for the first one).

[John F]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

---------------
1) Yes, but Ms Rowling didn't want to, did she - for whatever reason you want to make up or give.

I did not give a reason why she did not. I was replying to someone who was giving reason(s) why she did not.

2) Classy.
But, I take it your implication is she just signed of on the books for a quick buck "as they were" i.e. not very good,...

Nope.

I thought the books were fine. I thought the movies were fine (although the black level detail could have been better, but it may just be my TV).

And I think the ebooks would have been fine too if she really wanted them to be.

And again, the other implication being that she offered the franchise around for money

Well she is relatively rich, so, yes. I'm assuming she didn't just take the first offer she got.

in my world, it's just called getting paid a decent price for your work....

Everyone seems happy with the result, so I agree.

Don't know your opinion of the films.

I enjoyed them.

but they were "moderately" successful - but because this highly successful author got a good deal initially, and now wants her ebooks to be as good, or perhaps more "perfect" you call it "whoring".

Nope.

Hellmark, bought up the "whoring" part, and I disagree with it, hence the slap on the head icon.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by pastanley

Seriously who cares about the Harry Potter ebooks? JK is done with the franchise. The printe books are bountiful and much cheaper.

I want to re-read the whole series. My hardback copies have already been read more than once, and I want to keep them in good condition. Plus, my ereader weighs much less than one of those hardback books! I was traveling in Chicago when the last book was released. Of course, I had to buy it and start reading right away, and it was not that much fun traveling home through the airports with such a big book. I much prefer to read ebooks.

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

True. If she ever made a very stupid mistake, it is by connecting the sale of the books to the pottermore website thingie. It should have been disconnected. Sell the **** books already! Pissing off your potential customers isn't a wise thing to do...

I agree. Why can't they open a separate storefront or go through existing bookstores? It's pretty simple. People want multiple formats. You need at least MOBI and EPUB. I really don't care what kind of DRM they use as long as it's compatible with my ereaders. I took the survey anyway.

Originally Posted by Skydog

Ditto here. I've lost patience and any interest in purchasing them.

Losing my patience, sure. But, we've already waited years at this point and not too long ago the stance was no ebooks ever... I'll still buy them however long it takes because I won't be able to resist them!