Kindle users give 1 star rating to book with delayed ebook release

[Pushka]

Originally Posted by ficbot

But Pushka, this is exactly the point---if publishing as a business is really set up in such a way that it *can't* respond to changing trends in a timely manner............

My dad, who is in The Industry, has often chuckled and told me that publishing is the only modern business he can think of that is still being run on the finest business practices that the 17th century has to offer. Things need to change---for everyone's benefit.

Surely you would also agree though, that this situation (for the print industry) is not simply responding to an issue in a timely manner, but rather, trying to respond to an explosion? Your father rightly points out the tradition of printing. And I have agreed, things need to change and they are changing. But at this very moment, it is the author who is wearing all this orchestrated and damaging revolt, not the publisher!

[DawnFalcon]

Not at all. They have had years and the example of the music industry as where not to go and publishers like Baen and O'Rilly doing the right thing right in front of them - and those are not recent developments!*. They're behaving like the dinosaurs they, unfortunately for their authors, are.

*Webscriptions is over a decade old!

(They're also ensuring, by their actions, that the authors get trampled. At this point, it's the longer term interests of readers which matter, it's too late for the publishers afaik).

Heck, go back a year and they were not pushing georestrictions. They're deliberately lining themselves up for a fall. I know at least one author who put a clause about respecting his moral rights into his contract, and has broken off with the publisher due to DRM on the ebooks of his works blatantly breaking that (and another with the same clause is currently very close to doing the same) - not big authors, but they thought ahead!

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by Pushka

Surely you would also agree though, that this situation (for the print industry) is not simply responding to an issue in a timely manner, but rather, trying to respond to an explosion? Your father rightly points out the tradition of printing. And I have agreed, things need to change and they are changing. But at this very moment, it is the author who is wearing all this orchestrated and damaging revolt, not the publisher!

No Pushka, it is quite the opposite. Ask yourself what happens when someone with an ereader wants to buy your husband's book. Do they say "Oh darn, it's not available as an ebook. I guess I'll buy the hardcover." Or do they say, "Oh well, I'll buy something else." I can tell you that I personally, and many like me, choose the latter option. This means your husband gets 0% royalties from us.

The best thing for your husband, and other authors, is for us to get publishers to abandon this delayed ebook release practice that is most definately hurting these authors.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

Well, depending on what you were actually asking...

a. I make it plain I won't buy the eBook if it's DRM'ed when I send the author the picture of the second hand book w/receipt. Or...
b. You are confusing an action I think is a entirely valid for people to do with something I actually do.
Oh, and in both cases:
c. Why are you assuming that it'll only affect the offerings at Amazon?

I'm not assuming anything. You said you do not buy eBooks with DRM. All the books so far affected with a delayed release have DRM. So you are going to be buying them even if they came out at the exact time or even sooner then the hardcover. So why does the delayed release bother you on a product you aren't going to be buying? Why not work towards trying to get DRM eliminated and then worry about delayed released?

[JSWolf]

Personally, I would only give a 1-star rating if I've actually read the book and truly did not like it. I think this whole "give a 1-star rating for a delayed eBook" only hurts the author. Also makes you look foolish for reviewing a book you've never read.

[Flub]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why not work towards trying to get DRM eliminated and then worry about delayed released?

I'm not sure why you think he can't do both at once.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm not assuming anything. You said you do not buy eBooks with DRM. All the books so far affected with a delayed release have DRM. So you are going to be buying them even if they came out at the exact time or even sooner then the hardcover. So why does the delayed release bother you on a product you aren't going to be buying? Why not work towards trying to get DRM eliminated and then worry about delayed released?

b. You are confusing an action I think is a entirely valid for people to do with something I actually do.

Also, why are you assuming that they're only releasing ebooks with DRM? The delay is universal, and not just on Amazon.

[KenK]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Personally, I would only give a 1-star rating if I've actually read the book and truly did not like it.

But the Amazon review is a product review, not a book review. It's perfectly legitimate to complain that the book is printed on cheap paper, or the font is too small, or that you don't like the formats it's sold in.

[astra]

Originally Posted by KenK

But the Amazon review is a product review, not a book review. It's perfectly legitimate to complain that the book is printed on cheap paper, or the font is too small, or that you don't like the formats it's sold in.

Some people just don't get it.
Quite a few times I wanted to buy a special edition or something similar and wanted to read reviews about it. Not about the content of the book, something I could find if I read reviews for hardback edition or paperback edition. Alas, they would rave about the book's content and not a word about quality of the edition.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Daithi

No Pushka, it is quite the opposite. Ask yourself what happens when someone with an ereader wants to buy your husband's book. Do they say "Oh darn, it's not available as an ebook. I guess I'll buy the hardcover." Or do they say, "Oh well, I'll buy something else." I can tell you that I personally, and many like me, choose the latter option. This means your husband gets 0% royalties from us.

The best thing for your husband, and other authors, is for us to get publishers to abandon this delayed ebook release practice that is most definately hurting these authors.

And one thing we also do is browse the eBook shops to see what's new and what's on special and if the book isn't there, we don't see it and may not know it even exists. So we don't buy it because we don't know it's out there. I'm not saying we would buy it because it;s an eBook. But we won't if we don't know it exists.

Since getting my 505, I've bought very few paper books. And the paper books I have read have mostly come from the library. So really, Daithi is quite correct.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by KenK

But the Amazon review is a product review, not a book review. It's perfectly legitimate to complain that the book is printed on cheap paper, or the font is too small, or that you don't like the formats it's sold in.

Those sorts of reviews are actually reviewing the product. These 1-star reviews on delayed eBooks are not doing anyone any good. It's not saying there's a problem with the product once you get it. And besides, I think it's just as silly as if I was to go to Amazon and 1-start every eBook because they don't come in ePub.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

b. You are confusing an action I think is a entirely valid for people to do with something I actually do.

Also, why are you assuming that they're only releasing ebooks with DRM? The delay is universal, and not just on Amazon.

Stop assuming that I am assuming. I know the delay is not just on Amazon. But all these eBooks that are being delayed will be sold with DRM. Not one of the delayed eBooks is DRM free. You told us that you do not by eBooks that have DRM. So the fact that these eBooks are delayed should not matter to you at all because you won't be buying them. Your words told us this. So why are you caring if an eBook with DRM is released before, at the same time, or after a pBook? Do you care about these delayed eBooks enough to have bought any of them if they had come out at the same time as the pBook? We already know you won't buy them. So why are you giving a 1-star review to an eBook you would never have bought had it even been released early?

[Daithi]

People routinely rate products based on objective criteria unrelated to the content. For example, I have purchased books that have used cheap glue in the binding process and the pages started falling out of the book. The content of the book was excellent but the construction was not. This was reflected in my review. I've bought ebooks that were badly formatted and nearly unreadable. These books received a bad review that appears even when you look at the paper based version of the book. I've bought music where the song ends abruptly at the end due to some kind of conversion issue from CD to mp3. Once again I gave a bad review, and this review shows up whether you are planning to download the CD or purchase a physical copy.

These reviews all highlight problems caused by the publishers and not the authors. The reviews are related to production and not the content, but the reviews are valid. A review that knocks a publisher for producing a product that cannot be read on an ereader is no less valid. In fact, I'd say my opinion in this regard is far more relevant than the individual who gives Game Change a 1-star-review because they disagree with the authors political views.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Stop assuming that I am assuming. I know the delay is not just on Amazon. But all these eBooks that are being delayed will be sold with DRM.

And that is yet another assumption, without knowing where else they will be sold. And, again, afaik the point is putting pressure on the authors and informing the public. Those goals are irrespective of your point.

And again, I AM NOT DOING IT. I AM SAYING THAT IT IS A VALID AND REASONABLE THING FOR PEOPLE TO DO. TY FOR READING THAT THIS TIME.

[CyGuy]

If you ask me, this is going to drive some people to go ahead and download the DarkNet version, since they simply have no other choice if they want the eBook. Delaying the availability of the eBook is shooting yourself in the foot, people who want the book are going to find it one way or the other. Just make it available so people can purchase it, period.

P.S. If the author had input on the decision to delay, and voted for a delayed delivery of the eBook, he/she deserves the negative feedback, it was earned.