Questions for Amazon

AlexBell · 04-15-2010, 02:50 AM

I can't find a way to register complaints on Amazon's website or to ask them questions about Kindle ebooks, and have three important things I need to know. I'll ask them here instead, though if anyone can tell me how I can ask Amazon directly I'll do that too.

Firstly, are the free samples an exact port of the full books? I downloaded a free sample of a book I was thinking of buying 'Zionism, the Enemy of the Jews vol 1' but the formatting was so awful that I decided not to buy the book. But Clarity Press says that Amazon must have produced the sample ebook themselves, since Clarity Press did not supply a sample. So it is possible that the full ebook may be readable. But of course I can't tell before I buy, and the sample was so awful that I'm not willing to take the risk.

Secondly, is there any way of identifying books in Topaz format before I buy them? I have problems managing them as I would wish on my Kindle for PC account, and would not buy an ebook in Topaz format if I knew beforehand.

Thirdly, is Amazon moving towards making the Topaz format their standard? If so they'll lose me as a customer. The last two books I downloaded from them were in Topaz format, though the file suffix was .prc

Regards, Alex

poohbear_nc · 04-15-2010, 08:27 AM

There is a "Contact Us" button on the Kindle Support page. You can also email Jeff Bezos directly at Jeff@amazon.com.

koland · 04-15-2010, 09:51 AM

As I also sent you via PM in reply to your msg:

There is a Contact Us button on the Kindle pages (or start with HELP in the upper right corner of any page) - you can email if outside the US or have them call you in the US. Make sure you tell the form that it is concerning the Kindle, as you want Kindle support, not 'regular' support.

Samples are auto-generated from the full book. I've found that almost without exception they are a good indicator of the format of the book. Some features may not work (a table of contents will jump to pages not in the sample, for example), but otherwise they are pretty true to the original.

When you download a sample of a topaz book to your PC, or look in the Kindle's \documents directory, it will end it .TPZ or .AZW1, not .AZW (the mobi formatted books). An indicator, but not a sure thing, as the above is, is that the listing will only have a number of pages, not a file size.

I also dislike the topaz format and hope it dies. It is, however, what is used if Amazon scans a book for a publisher. More publishers are doing their own formatting, so with any luck it will fade away.

Karen

JMikeD · 04-15-2010, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koland

I also dislike the topaz format and hope it dies. It is, however, what is used if Amazon scans a book for a publisher. More publishers are doing their own formatting, so with any luck it will fade away.

Interesting. Is there a discussion or other information on the scanning somewhere? I'd like to get more info. I've sent several emails to Amazon expressing my displeasure with Topaz. I always get samples of books before I purchase.

Thanks.
Mike

HarryT · 04-15-2010, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koland

Samples are auto-generated from the full book.

Not necessarily. When you upload a book to Amazon, you have the choice of EITHER having a sample generated automatically OR uploading a sample yourself. Of course most books use the auto-generated sample, but it is worth knowing that this doesn't necessarily have to be the case.

AlexBell · 04-16-2010, 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

There is a "Contact Us" button on the Kindle Support page. You can also email Jeff Bezos directly at Jeff@amazon.com.

Thanks Pooh Bear and Koland. Since I don't have a Kindle the thought of going to the Kindle support page didn't occur to silly me. Lookout, Kindle, here I come.

Also, the Topaz books I paid for and downloaded through my Kindle for PC account had .prc endings.

Regards, Alex

pboss · 04-20-2010, 01:39 PM

You can also look at the filesize. Topaz samples are several 100KB in size while mobi files are much smaller.

04-15-2010, 02:50 AM	#1
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	Questions for Amazon I can't find a way to register complaints on Amazon's website or to ask them questions about Kindle ebooks, and have three important things I need to know. I'll ask them here instead, though if anyone can tell me how I can ask Amazon directly I'll do that too. Firstly, are the free samples an exact port of the full books? I downloaded a free sample of a book I was thinking of buying 'Zionism, the Enemy of the Jews vol 1' but the formatting was so awful that I decided not to buy the book. But Clarity Press says that Amazon must have produced the sample ebook themselves, since Clarity Press did not supply a sample. So it is possible that the full ebook may be readable. But of course I can't tell before I buy, and the sample was so awful that I'm not willing to take the risk. Secondly, is there any way of identifying books in Topaz format before I buy them? I have problems managing them as I would wish on my Kindle for PC account, and would not buy an ebook in Topaz format if I knew beforehand. Thirdly, is Amazon moving towards making the Topaz format their standard? If so they'll lose me as a customer. The last two books I downloaded from them were in Topaz format, though the file suffix was .prc Regards, Alex

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04-15-2010, 08:27 AM	#2
poohbear_nc Now what? Posts: 58,870 Karma: 135181808 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	There is a "Contact Us" button on the Kindle Support page. You can also email Jeff Bezos directly at Jeff@amazon.com.

04-15-2010, 09:51 AM	#3
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	As I also sent you via PM in reply to your msg: There is a Contact Us button on the Kindle pages (or start with HELP in the upper right corner of any page) - you can email if outside the US or have them call you in the US. Make sure you tell the form that it is concerning the Kindle, as you want Kindle support, not 'regular' support. Samples are auto-generated from the full book. I've found that almost without exception they are a good indicator of the format of the book. Some features may not work (a table of contents will jump to pages not in the sample, for example), but otherwise they are pretty true to the original. When you download a sample of a topaz book to your PC, or look in the Kindle's \documents directory, it will end it .TPZ or .AZW1, not .AZW (the mobi formatted books). An indicator, but not a sure thing, as the above is, is that the listing will only have a number of pages, not a file size. I also dislike the topaz format and hope it dies. It is, however, what is used if Amazon scans a book for a publisher. More publishers are doing their own formatting, so with any luck it will fade away. Karen

04-20-2010, 01:39 PM	#7
pboss Evangelist Posts: 408 Karma: 646 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: none	You can also look at the filesize. Topaz samples are several 100KB in size while mobi files are much smaller.

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