Why do some authors only offer their ebooks on Amazon?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

That's good to know. I've seen the site, but wasn't 100% sure if it was actually legit.

I was kind of leery also, until I started using them. They now provide apps for mobile devices and you can read your books online. They even explain how to use Wine to install ADE on a Linux computer (I don't know if the instructions are up to date or not). And you can filter specifically for non-DRM books if you want. They have some kind of self-publishing agreements with Lulu Press, iUniverse and Ingram Spark. (I've heard of Lulu, haven't heard of the others.)

[DiapDealer]

I still haven't heard you say you vet all businesses as thoroughly as you do Amazon for questionable business practices. Surely the goal is to not do business with anyone with questionable practices, right?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I still haven't heard you say you vet all businesses as thoroughly as you do Amazon for questionable business practices. Surely the goal is to not do business with anyone with questionable practices, right?

Of course I "vet" local businesses for shoddy services. If they're dishonest or provide poor products, or poor service I let people know. Am I supposed to post my experiences about a local restaurant on MobileRead?

[DiapDealer]

Again.... I didn't say "shoddy services". I said "questionable business practices". Do you investigate how they (local businesses) treat their employees? Do they dance around local taxes? Do they stiff vendors? Compare apples to apples, please. My question is: regardless of size, do you hold ALL businesses to the same standards you expect Amazon to adhere to, or is it OK for small business owners to lie, cheat and steal so long as you don't know about it? If not, do you stand on the street corner every day screaming for all to hear about how a local business is evil incarnate like you seem to do here with Amagoogle every chance you get?

[gmw]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm basing my stance on the fact that none of the many people I know in real life who tend to boycott Amazon for "bad business practices" give the slightest crap about vetting the practices of any of the local businesses they frequent. They don't know and they don't care. They only tend to get all "enlightened" about business practices with businesses like Amagoogle. Maybe everyone here is different, but I'd be willing to bet it's merely some. [...]

I know that there are local "name and shame" groups on Facebook, which are basically just a more structured version of what has always happened to local business (and individuals).

Certainly it is "merely some" that participate, but it's not an insignificant some.

I grew up outside a town that gained a big proportion of its income from tourism. If you believe some of the locals, there were businesses there that survived only because the tourists weren't privy to local knowledge.

As has already been pointed out, a big reason why complaints in forums like this are about big business is because those are the businesses we have in common. There's little point talking about "Joe Blow's Pizza" because it wouldn't find much interest here. There seems little to justify assuming that complainants here only ever complain about Amazon.

[DiapDealer]

I don't expect people to talk about Joe Blow's local Pizza Emporium on Mobileread. But I would like my general question answered: do those who spend as much time railing against the evils of Google/Amazon as they do here, get just as vehement about local businesses who play fast and loose with the rules? Say "yes," and I tip my hat to you. Say "no," and I'll ask "why not?"

It is my contention that for many of the most vocal (and frequent) Amazon haters here, the only possible thing Amazon could do to make them happy would be to roll over and die. And that's not rational in my opinion.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I don't expect people to talk about Joe Blow's local Pizza Emporium on Mobileread. But I would like my general question answered: do those who spend as much time railing against the evils of Google/Amazon as they do here, get just as vehement about local businesses who play fast and loose with the rules? Say "yes," and I tip my hat to you. Say "no," and I'll ask "why not?"

It is my contention that for many of the most vocal (and frequent) Amazon haters here, the only possible thing Amazon could do to make them happy would be to roll over and die. And that's not rational in my opinion.

In as far as my complaints against Amazon go, yes. If a service tries to make it difficult for me to get work from other services in the area I’m less likely to give them my custom. I don’t expect either entity (Amagoople or mom and pop) to bend over backwards in allowing me a fluid experience, but if it becomes a headache to say get a history for my dog from a veterinarian to a dog daycare because of the non law based rules of either business I’ll seek out a different business to fill the need. If a pizza place constantly raises its prices but delivers sub par pizza regularly I’ll find a different pizzeria (I’m a bit spoiled for choice living in a major city).

Not that it’s mom and pop by any means but I also stopped buying ebooks from Barnes and Noble because they removed the ability to download ebooks from their website, essentially discontinued the nook for computer apps (Nook Study, Nook for PC, and I believe Nook PC from the Windows store from the brief partnership between BN/MS), and removed the SD card slot which previously along with a third party hack allowed BN purchased books to be accessible. They also needlessly (IMO upgraded the version of Android on I think the Nook Glowlight Plus; it was the white one with a pebbled front bezel. Which added friction into my typical use of the nook. And initially it had all sorts of issues borrowing ebooks from overdrive, though I believe this was remedied later in a firmware update.

Now while BN isn’t a mom and pop store it’s certainly significantly smaller than Amazon. And if anything I’m harsher on BN than I am Amazon. Likely because I’ve lost count of the hoops one needs to jump through with BN to get epub files while Amazon is comparably straight forward if still aggravating and far from frictionless.

And I’d judge Kobo the same way (and be rather frustrated trying to find a device I like as much as the Kobo line) were they to lock down their devices and make accessing purchases as difficult.

Seemingly ironically I like Apple. Yes it’s a walled garden. But it’s a walled garden that works well with itself and gives me what it promises and what I want from it.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rcentros

If something is on sale at Amazon, it's usually on sale at Kobo and sometimes on sale at eBooks.com. But sometimes eBooks.com just has a cheaper standard price. Amazon has a many reprints of old books that aren't easy to find — although they're starting to show on eBooks.com now. I no longer buy anything from Google. That's basically because I despise the corporation.

I suspect the prices of ebooks for my country are somewhat different than the prices in the US. For one thing, there are fewer sales (or perhaps I just don't see them because I don't keep track of such things; when I want to buy something I do so immediately, as I have no patience for waiting), but often the price is quite low even so.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Yep. That's why I tend to disassociate. I'm not giving tacit approval to every bad business practice my favorite pizza shop might engage in (whether tax evasion, or unsafe work environment) by buying a large deluxe every Friday. I'm buying a pizza. Likewise, the junk I buy from Amazon. I'm shopping, not virtuous business seeking.

Precisely!!! I'm not interested in saving the world, or minding EVERYONE/ANYONES elses business. In short....I DON'T CARE! So long as I can get my stuff at a price I'm willing to pay, that is ALL I care about.

Those of you that care about who is doing what/ripping whom off etc need to get a life since the ones we got are way too short to get all wrapped up in this kind of crap.

[Sirtel]

As to the big corporations vs small local stores, I must admit I prefer the corporations. For purely selfish reasons - they have the biggest selection. The small stores almost never have the thing I want. And I want to be able to pick and choose (yeah, I'm spoiled, I know). Which is not to say I buy everything from Amazon, of course not. I buy most of the physical goods I need locally, but even those local businesses are by no means "mom and pop" stores.

What can I say. I'm a selfish, unprincipled, immoral bastard.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

In as far as my complaints against Amazon go, yes. If a service tries to make it difficult for me to get work from other services in the area I’m less likely to give them my custom. I don’t expect either entity (Amagoople or mom and pop) to bend over backwards in allowing me a fluid experience, but if it becomes a headache to say get a history for my dog from a veterinarian to a dog daycare because of the non law based rules of either business I’ll seek out a different business to fill the need. If a pizza place constantly raises its prices but delivers sub par pizza regularly I’ll find a different pizzeria (I’m a bit spoiled for choice living in a major city).

Not that it’s mom and pop by any means but I also stopped buying ebooks from Barnes and Noble because they removed the ability to download ebooks from their website, essentially discontinued the nook for computer apps (Nook Study, Nook for PC, and I believe Nook PC from the Windows store from the brief partnership between BN/MS), and removed the SD card slot which previously along with a third party hack allowed BN purchased books to be accessible. They also needlessly (IMO upgraded the version of Android on I think the Nook Glowlight Plus; it was the white one with a pebbled front bezel. Which added friction into my typical use of the nook. And initially it had all sorts of issues borrowing ebooks from overdrive, though I believe this was remedied later in a firmware update.

Now while BN isn’t a mom and pop store it’s certainly significantly smaller than Amazon. And if anything I’m harsher on BN than I am Amazon. Likely because I’ve lost count of the hoops one needs to jump through with BN to get epub files while Amazon is comparably straight forward if still aggravating and far from frictionless.

And I’d judge Kobo the same way (and be rather frustrated trying to find a device I like as much as the Kobo line) were they to lock down their devices and make accessing purchases as difficult.

Seemingly ironically I like Apple. Yes it’s a walled garden. But it’s a walled garden that works well with itself and gives me what it promises and what I want from it.

Fair enough. But if I'm being honest, I don't consider you one of the Don Quixotes that grab their lances and tilt away every time A is mentioned (without criticism). Crusades are rarely justified.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

Precisely!!! I'm not interested in saving the world, or minding EVERYONE/ANYONES elses business. In short....I DON'T CARE! So long as I can get my stuff at a price I'm willing to pay, that is ALL I care about.

Those of you that care about who is doing what/ripping whom off etc need to get a life since the ones we got are way too short to get all wrapped up in this kind of crap.

Tbf we already can see the impact mega corporations are having on the economy, and spoiler alert it’s generally not a positive one. Look at Walmart, those cheap prices are made up by their employees earning poverty wages resulting in increased government assistance. Now sure Walmart has to pay the state minimum wage same as other employers however they also schedule to avoid full time employees, while being able to schedule for full time. The mom and pop shops don’t have the same luxury.

[hildea]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Surely the goal is to not do business with anyone with questionable practices, right?

Of course not, that's not a realistic goal.

I try to be a good person, and to make the world a little better. But I'm no hero, and I'm far from immune to the temptations of laziness, selfishness, and convenience. So I give some money to charity and to beggars, but I also keep plenty money to buy things for myself I don't strictly need but enjoy. I take the train for long-distance travel when I have time, but fly when that's significantly more convenient, despite the environmental impact. I eat less meat for both environmental reasons and because of animal welfare, but I'm far too fond of the taste of meat to go complete vegetarian. And so on.

And yes, I do sometimes avoid local businesses if they have immoral business practices, provided I learn of it, and provided it's not too inconvenient. For instance, the major electronics chain here was in the news a few years ago for union busting, so I avoided them for a while. But then our dishwasher broke, and this chain had by far the most convenient mix of location and choice of models, so my principles buckled (and for all I know they've changed their practice by then? I don't know and haven't checked).


Of course Amazon is more of a target than Joe Blogg's pizza because it is well known. I need to know about an issue in order to want to do something about it, and I'm more likely to know about wrong-doing from well-known companies. I'm certainly not going to spend time researching the ethics of every company I give my money to -- life's too short for that.

But quite apart from the morals of Amazon: Even if its business practices were no more immoral than those of other bookshops, ereader manufacturers, or publishing houses, I'd still prefer to avoid it, although I'd be less absolute about it. I think it's bad for consumers when a single business gets too dominant in the market, and it's also bad for consumers when a single business controls all of the product chain (ereader + publishing house + book seller).

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If not, do you stand on the street corner every day screaming for all to hear about how a local business is evil incarnate like you seem to do here with Amagoogle every chance you get?

Not every day, that would be exhausting. But I do go yelling in the streets about the evil of our national oil company Equinor now and again, even to the extent of civil disobedience, and I have the arrest record and the fines to prove it.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Again.... I didn't say "shoddy services". I said "questionable business practices". ...

I lump the two together. For me it doesn't make any difference if the business is incompetent or dishonest — in either case they're "shoddy." And when I run into dishonest businesses I let people know about it.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I don't expect people to talk about Joe Blow's local Pizza Emporium on Mobileread. But I would like my general question answered: do those who spend as much time railing against the evils of Google/Amazon as they do here, get just as vehement about local businesses who play fast and loose with the rules? Say "yes," and I tip my hat to you. Say "no," and I'll ask "why not?" ...

I don't like dishonest corporations or dishonest local businesses. If they're playing "fast and loose" with the "rules" (laws) I don't deal with them and I advise other people not to.

But as I mentioned before, Amazon and other large corporations get special benefits that taxpayer's often have to pay for. That takes it to whole different level.

Am I supposed pat them on the head and say "Good Amazon doggie, you rascally little devil, you're using loopholes to avoid paying your share of local taxes and the extra expense will fall on me (and the rest of the community), but you're a clever little imp. Good on you for taking advantage of me and my community!"