The ebook experience

[DiapDealer]

It seems a lot of people wish advertisers would stick to only pushing things at you that they already know you want to buy, instead of trying to push things at you that they wish you would also buy. That doesn't seem likely to me.

[Deskisamess]

Just because there seems to be a "push" towards audiobooks, why does it have to mean it's to drive people away from print/ebooks? Audiobooks aren't new, but if they are being marketed in more ways, how does it hurt books?

[leebase]

I'm happy that audio books are doing well. True, I like them, but even if not...here are reasons all of us (ebook lovers) should be happy about this.

I'd wager with their higher prices, audiobooks are bringing in more profits. More profits means more books will continue to be made.

I can't imagine that there is ever such a thing as an audio book that is not first an ebook. So even if you don't buy the audio book, audio book sales ensure the ebooks are created.

Books have long been a "minority activity" - and I doubt in today's world of social media, streaming tv, plus the usual music, sports, tv and movies - that books have it any easier in vying for people's time, attention and money.

Audibooks are books. They aren't movies or tv shows. Audiobooks helps more people remain consumers of book. It's good for all of use who like book to have our segment of the entertainment market be financially healthy and grow.

[mitford13]

Originally Posted by leebase

I'm happy that audio books are doing well. True, I like them, but even if not...here are reasons all of us (ebook lovers) should be happy about this.

I'd wager with their higher prices, audiobooks are bringing in more profits. More profits means more books will continue to be made.

I can't imagine that there is ever such a thing as an audio book that is not first an ebook. So even if you don't buy the audio book, audio book sales ensure the ebooks are created.

Books have long been a "minority activity" - and I doubt in today's world of social media, streaming tv, plus the usual music, sports, tv and movies - that books have it any easier in vying for people's time, attention and money.

Audibooks are books. They aren't movies or tv shows. Audiobooks helps more people remain consumers of book. It's good for all of use who like book to have our segment of the entertainment market be financially healthy and grow.

It seems you are a little short on imagination...
This is actually quite the mushrooming trend on Audible.

https://www.audible.com/ep/audible-originals

Audible Originals are exclusive audio titles created by celebrated storytellers from worlds as diverse as theater, journalism, literature and more, all produced in the Audible studios.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Do you have any proof of this or is this more “it’s a fact because Jon says it is”. And no the happenstance of the events occurring near each other isn’t proof of causation

No, I don't have proof. But it's what happened. It was posted by the sites that they could no continue their discounts/clubs/etc. because Agency didn't allow them to discount.

Ask others who used to shop at these stores what happened.

[theducks]

Glitch
Stores have a few ways to attract business:

Availability
Price
Service

The Internet made the Availability wide open
Service: well, you see our offerings. You can pay and DOWNLOAD it any time.
Price: Agency killed that difference as well

Customers are fickle. It has become all about the price TODAY and forget about the business that served you for years.
I used to shop at Future Fantasy because of 2 things:

1)they had selection.
2)They were (very) LOCAL

Still, that was not enough to keep the doors open. Rent and Utilities and wages for non-family members.
It still takes time and effort to maintain an online presence. Communications, Bills and taxes paid and all the rest, still need to be processed in a timely manor.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by mitford13

It seems you are a little short on imagination...
This is actually quite the mushrooming trend on Audible.

https://www.audible.com/ep/audible-originals

Audible Originals are exclusive audio titles created by celebrated storytellers from worlds as diverse as theater, journalism, literature and more, all produced in the Audible studios.

Touche' -- as of a year or so, a few Audible Original titles have appeared. Enough to change the point that the success of Audible books is good for the whole "book category"? I don't think so.

BTW, having listened to a couple of the Audible Originals...to me, they feel more like radio shows than audio books. Audio plays perhaps.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by leebase

Touche' -- as of a year or so, a few Audible Original titles have appeared. Enough to change the point that the success of Audible books is good for the whole "book category"? I don't think so.

BTW, having listened to a couple of the Audible Originals...to me, they feel more like radio shows than audio books. Audio plays perhaps.

Audiobook first is not all that uncommon for many of the older backlist books. Zelazny's Amber series came out first as audiobooks and are only about half way through being released as eBooks.

[HLS]

Why do they need a discovery process? I search the net to see what books my favorite authors like to read and go by that to look for a new book or new author to explore

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HLS

Why do they need a discovery process? I search the net to see what books my favorite authors like to read and go by that to look for a new book or new author to explore

That's one discovery process. Everyone has a discovery process, be it recommendations of favorite authors, friends, whatever. If yours works for you, great.

[ZodWallop]

My wallet tells me that Amazon's discoverability is pretty good (or my standards are low).

[binaryhermit]

I find Amazon's search function to provide... somewhat questionable results frequently. Especially when you sort by price, it'll randomly put books that cost money in the middle of the books that are free.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

I find Amazon's search function to provide... somewhat questionable results frequently. Especially when you sort by price, it'll randomly put books that cost money in the middle of the books that are free.

A significant part of Amazon’s revenue these days involves advertisements, and books are not excluded. Sellers pay for better placement. It’s probably especially critical for self published authors trying to get discovered to experiment with price drops on the one hand and paying for better placement on the other.

As a rule I never click through on ‘promoted’ books, but that’s more of a habit from years of web surfing. There is probably no inherent reason that they would be of less interest to me than the more or less random list of books I’m scrolling through. I assume it is targeted by my past ‘interests’.

I am not a fan of free books, myself. I think Amazon has figured this out and tries to get pricing between $2-5. I pretty much ignore anything outside of that range. I’d rather author got something for a book I may not even read, much less recommend to others, and if I spend more it is with the expectation that it will get to the top of my stack of reading.