Reading Series

phenomshel · 03-24-2009, 04:56 PM

How many of us read series, and won't start reading and/or purchase a book if the complete series isn't available?

The reason I'm asking...

As most of you know, I've been frustrated because two books in a particular series are not available in ebook format. One is available only from Amazon, and in Topaz format, and one just flat is not available. I wrote the publisher via their website, and this is the reply I received:

"Thank you for your inquiry regarding the availability of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. books in digital format.

We are currently involved in the massive effort of converting as many new and back list titles to ebook format as we can; however, there are many challenges inherent in the process of setting up the ebook business. We do hope to provide our customers with every title that they wish to see in electronic format; however, we are not able to specify when each and every one of them will be made available.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us."

Does this sound like a bad case of BS to anyone else? And hasn't anyone bothered to point out to them how many sales they're losing by not having complete series available? Or is it only myself that is that anal retentive?

AnemicOak · 03-24-2009, 05:17 PM

I agree, it'd be great if all books in a series were available but it's going to take time.

Since I got my Sony in October of '07 the number of back titles for series I've had interest in has grown a lot, so I do think they're working on it.

It's got to be a careful balance I'm sure. They have to decide which authors titles to do first and balance that out with the available time & money for the project plus make sure current titles are getting out (which sometimes they don't). I don't know if it's true or not, but I've heard that the "ebook department" at most publishers are quite small since it's still a limited, yet quickly growing, market. Also some of the earlier titles contracts might not have included digital rights so those will have to be negotiated as well.

I'm sure they know they're losing sales, they're slow and antiquated, but probably not totally stupid. I know that unless it's a series I'm already into I won't bother with it unless all the books are available and I'm sure others are the same.

I know we, as consumers, want what we want and we want it yesterday but it's going to be a while yet. Hopefully the market will continue to grow and publishers will be willing to invest more money and time into getting the back catalogs out.

phenomshel · 03-24-2009, 06:19 PM

You make some good points about the earlier titles not having included digital rights. And I know I'm the world's worst at being impatient. Maybe I should write them back and offer to help proofread....*grin*.

AnemicOak · 03-24-2009, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Maybe I should write them back and offer to help proofread....*grin*.

Tell them to go download the pirated versions

It'll give them a good starting point.

JSWolf · 03-24-2009, 07:00 PM

But the problem becomes when publishers release series in a willy-nilly fashion as seen here. The electronic rights do exist as we can see. So why not have them all in the same formats?

And speaking of series, the Sword of truth series seems to be a bust as far as eBooks go. Book 1 is only available at Amazon. It was supposed to be an exclusive for just 6 months. But it is not anyplace else. And the rest are no place in sight. So there's another eBook series that's gone to heck.

doreenjoy · 03-24-2009, 07:04 PM

Most major publishers of romance are releasing series titles one a month, so the whole series is on the shelf at the same time. Of course this leads to incredible pressure being put on the authors, who have to get three books locked and loaded before the first book releases.

Ongoing series are a different matter, of course.

AnemicOak · 03-24-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But the problem becomes when publishers release series in a willy-nilly fashion as seen here. The electronic rights do exist as we can see. So why not have them all in the same formats?

I assume you're refering to the book one as Topaz that phenomshel mentioned. Those appear to be made by Amazon themselves. So that would be why it's not available elsewhere yet. Again it takes time and money to put these out. Say the series is by a mid-list author that sells a fair amount, but not tons in paper. They're not going to be the first books on the list to get done.

Quote:

And speaking of series, the Sword of truth series seems to be a bust as far as eBooks go. Book 1 is only available at Amazon. It was supposed to be an exclusive for just 6 months. But it is not anyplace else. And the rest are noplace in sight. So thereis another eBook series that's gone to heck.

Here, if I remember correctly, Goodkind holds the digital rights for book 1 so that's on him and Rosetta that it's not available. Maybe once Tor gets their store going things will get better. Maybe it's being held until Tor is ready with their store. Don't really know.

phenomshel · 03-24-2009, 07:56 PM

I know we've had this discussion before, but again: How much time and money could it possibly take? I know that Jeffrey Carver insists that it isn't as easy as proofreading and converting the electronic versions they already have as submitted by the author - and I do know that most authors these days submit in electronic format, I asked Dana Stabenow about it. Even the older titles in this series are not old enough to have been done before email submission was common. So, the publishers already HAVE an electronic form of the book - how much more effort can it take them to convert it and get it submitted to the stores than it takes us to convert and submit PG material for Mobileread? I know Patricia and the ones that do the PG conversions here work hard at them, but it doesn't take them forever. The Albert Payson Terhune works only took Patricia a couple of weeks after I asked for them to have them uploaded, and I don't know how long after I asked that she started them.

AnemicOak · 03-24-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Even the older titles in this series are not old enough to have been done before email submission was common. So, the publishers already HAVE an electronic form of the book

Most publishers didn't start keeping any kind of digital copy until a year or two ago (strange huh). You'd think they'd have been keeping digital copies for many years, but the common way to do things (like a new printing) has been to re-typeset the book from scratch often by scanning and OCRing an old copy of the book. Also the email submission from an author is a draft copy and doesn't include the various stages of editing which are most of the time still done on paper.

lilac_jive · 03-24-2009, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Most publishers didn't start keeping any kind of digital copy until a year or two ago (strange huh). You'd think they'd have been keeping digital copies for many years, but the common way to do things (like a new printing) has been to re-typeset the book from scratch often by scanning and OCRing an old copy of the book. Also the email submission from an author is a draft copy and doesn't include the various stages of editing which are most of the time still done on paper.

Romance publishers are doing a good job of putting older books up, but you can occasionally tell which ones are OCRed.

The thing that really irritates me is when they are available at one ebookseller and not another.

AnemicOak · 03-24-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phenomshel

I know we've had this discussion before, but again: How much time and money could it possibly take? I know that Jeffrey Carver insists that it isn't as easy as proofreading and converting the electronic versions they already have as submitted by the author - and I do know that most authors these days submit in electronic format, I asked Dana Stabenow about it. Even the older titles in this series are not old enough to have been done before email submission was common. So, the publishers already HAVE an electronic form of the book - how much more effort can it take them to convert it and get it submitted to the stores than it takes us to convert and submit PG material for Mobileread? I know Patricia and the ones that do the PG conversions here work hard at them, but it doesn't take them forever. The Albert Payson Terhune works only took Patricia a couple of weeks after I asked for them to have them uploaded, and I don't know how long after I asked that she started them.

Time and money are of course only part of it, we also need to take into account the individual publishers. Some are doing a much better job than others. St. Martin's (Macmillan), Stabenow's publisher has a hard enough time even bothering to get new books out as ebooks let alone back titles (not sure if they have all her old ones or just some). I was just now finally able to get Stabenow's newest in ebook form, but the pbook's been out since the end of February. I would easily buy her whole series if it were out in ebook form.

Some of the ebook arms of these publishers are so small it's all they can do to keep up with current releases. Hopefully that will be changing soon as ebooks become a bigger market (for some pubs apparently it is changing already). I also think some publishers don't want ebooks to succeed.

When I first got my Sony almost none of Nevada Barr's books were out. Now almost the whole series is available and they appear to be adding back titles monthly. Another example would be Faye Kellerman's series. Only about half available towards the end of '07 and '08 saw them getting all the missing ones out.

Sweetpea · 03-25-2009, 06:33 AM

I love series, at least the story won't be over so soon...

But I hate it when I can't finish the series. I won't buy books if I can't get the whole series (unless the series is still growing, naturally).

phenomshel · 03-25-2009, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I love series, at least the story won't be over so soon...

But I hate it when I can't finish the series. I won't buy books if I can't get the whole series (unless the series is still growing, naturally).

Same here.

HarryT · 03-27-2009, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phenomshel

I know we've had this discussion before, but again: How much time and money could it possibly take? I know that Jeffrey Carver insists that it isn't as easy as proofreading and converting the electronic versions they already have as submitted by the author - and I do know that most authors these days submit in electronic format, I asked Dana Stabenow about it. Even the older titles in this series are not old enough to have been done before email submission was common. So, the publishers already HAVE an electronic form of the book - how much more effort can it take them to convert it and get it submitted to the stores than it takes us to convert and submit PG material for Mobileread? I know Patricia and the ones that do the PG conversions here work hard at them, but it doesn't take them forever. The Albert Payson Terhune works only took Patricia a couple of weeks after I asked for them to have them uploaded, and I don't know how long after I asked that she started them.

One point that you may be overlooking is that the publisher may very well not have the rights to electronic publication of a book.

phenomshel · 03-27-2009, 06:51 PM

The particular publisher I'm referring to does indeed have those rights. They acknowledged such in the reply I finally received from them.

03-24-2009, 04:56 PM	#1
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	Reading Series How many of us read series, and won't start reading and/or purchase a book if the complete series isn't available? The reason I'm asking... As most of you know, I've been frustrated because two books in a particular series are not available in ebook format. One is available only from Amazon, and in Topaz format, and one just flat is not available. I wrote the publisher via their website, and this is the reply I received: "Thank you for your inquiry regarding the availability of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. books in digital format. We are currently involved in the massive effort of converting as many new and back list titles to ebook format as we can; however, there are many challenges inherent in the process of setting up the ebook business. We do hope to provide our customers with every title that they wish to see in electronic format; however, we are not able to specify when each and every one of them will be made available. Thank you for taking the time to contact us." Does this sound like a bad case of BS to anyone else? And hasn't anyone bothered to point out to them how many sales they're losing by not having complete series available? Or is it only myself that is that anal retentive?

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03-24-2009, 05:17 PM	#2
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	I agree, it'd be great if all books in a series were available but it's going to take time. Since I got my Sony in October of '07 the number of back titles for series I've had interest in has grown a lot, so I do think they're working on it. It's got to be a careful balance I'm sure. They have to decide which authors titles to do first and balance that out with the available time & money for the project plus make sure current titles are getting out (which sometimes they don't). I don't know if it's true or not, but I've heard that the "ebook department" at most publishers are quite small since it's still a limited, yet quickly growing, market. Also some of the earlier titles contracts might not have included digital rights so those will have to be negotiated as well. I'm sure they know they're losing sales, they're slow and antiquated, but probably not totally stupid. I know that unless it's a series I'm already into I won't bother with it unless all the books are available and I'm sure others are the same. I know we, as consumers, want what we want and we want it yesterday but it's going to be a while yet. Hopefully the market will continue to grow and publishers will be willing to invest more money and time into getting the back catalogs out.

03-24-2009, 06:19 PM	#3
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	You make some good points about the earlier titles not having included digital rights. And I know I'm the world's worst at being impatient. Maybe I should write them back and offer to help proofread....grin.

03-24-2009, 07:00 PM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,621 Karma: 145864263 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	But the problem becomes when publishers release series in a willy-nilly fashion as seen here. The electronic rights do exist as we can see. So why not have them all in the same formats? And speaking of series, the Sword of truth series seems to be a bust as far as eBooks go. Book 1 is only available at Amazon. It was supposed to be an exclusive for just 6 months. But it is not anyplace else. And the rest are no place in sight. So there's another eBook series that's gone to heck.

03-24-2009, 07:04 PM	#6
doreenjoy 01000100 01001010 Posts: 1,889 Karma: 2400000 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Polyamorous	Most major publishers of romance are releasing series titles one a month, so the whole series is on the shelf at the same time. Of course this leads to incredible pressure being put on the authors, who have to get three books locked and loaded before the first book releases. Ongoing series are a different matter, of course.

03-24-2009, 07:56 PM	#8
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	I know we've had this discussion before, but again: How much time and money could it possibly take? I know that Jeffrey Carver insists that it isn't as easy as proofreading and converting the electronic versions they already have as submitted by the author - and I do know that most authors these days submit in electronic format, I asked Dana Stabenow about it. Even the older titles in this series are not old enough to have been done before email submission was common. So, the publishers already HAVE an electronic form of the book - how much more effort can it take them to convert it and get it submitted to the stores than it takes us to convert and submit PG material for Mobileread? I know Patricia and the ones that do the PG conversions here work hard at them, but it doesn't take them forever. The Albert Payson Terhune works only took Patricia a couple of weeks after I asked for them to have them uploaded, and I don't know how long after I asked that she started them.

03-25-2009, 06:33 AM	#12
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	I love series, at least the story won't be over so soon... But I hate it when I can't finish the series. I won't buy books if I can't get the whole series (unless the series is still growing, naturally).

03-27-2009, 06:51 PM	#15
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	The particular publisher I'm referring to does indeed have those rights. They acknowledged such in the reply I finally received from them.

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