I just saw another book on Amazon's site (Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") that is MORE expensive in the Kindle edition than it is a print version. Unlike the first book I found like this, this edition is the trade paperback and goes for $10.17. The Kindle version is priced at $11.99, $1.82 more.
Um, so right now today I can pay $359.00 for an electronic reader, then pay higher prices for the electronic versions of books? Geez, how fortunate we all are to live in such technologically advanced times.
I read on a blog where an author was posting his unpublished books on the Amazon site for sale in the Kindle format. He could charge $1.59 and make .70 per download. This means that Amazon's share is 56% of the consumer price, which beats the hell out of iTunes' 35%.
I suspect the great miscalculation in the amazing Kindle project is that the technology is somehow so compelling that price is no object. As a believer that the publishing industry as a whole is shooting itself in the foot with book prices that are simply too high, I can only believe that at the end of the day, this whole Kindle thing will be a small footnote along the path. Books will be written about it, I'm sure.
And if you're willing to pay a buck or two extra, you can read it on an actual Kindle.
I can't help it but I gotta say more. I've been trying to hold it in...
Still an Amazon fan, still not sure what they're trying to kindle with a Kindle. I saw a book last week that is actually a dollar MORE for the Kindle version than the physical hardcover. I just clicked on a random cover shot on their site (Melissa Gilbert's memoir) and the Kindle version's a whole dollar and some odd change cheaper than the hardcover.
Really, what are they Kindling? Are they expanding the e-book market, or just their bank account? If I bought books all priced at the same rate as the Gilbert one, I'd have to buy four hundred books to break even on the cost of the reading device.
Rather than call it "Kindle," how about something more accurate like, "E-book Reader That Displays Books Sold According to the iTunes Model." iTunes apparently gets 35% of everything sold through their site. They get the biggest slice of the pie, more than the artist, more than the label, more than anyone.
Perhaps that's fair, just, and the way it ought to be. I can't help but think, though, that if distribution is so lucrative, and can be done by anyone with a web server, that at some point labels will sell their bands' music from the labels' own sites. Or the from the bands' own sites. Once the consumer is used to buying music online and the artist is well enough known that their fans will seek out their sites, why iTunes?
Yes, this is already being done to some degree but not enough to diminish iTunes. I think that ultimately expensive distribution will always drive manufacturers (in this case writers and artists) to find cheaper methods. I don't think that's the fire the Kindle is supposed to be igniting.
Don't leave any money on the table, charge what the market will bear, charge for the hype. Yeah, whatever. To live up to their hype they'd need to make e-books attractive and available to people who are reluctant consumers.
My point is that buying into the Kindle way is just too darned expensive. Charging prices that are so close to the actual book price is simply laughable, especially when your biggest potential audience are actual book buyers. There's a market, sure, but it's a subset of readers, ones that treat books as disposable objects, not items worthy of a Library. I suppose if they spend more money on books than ordinary book lovers they could make Amazon happy.
For the rest of us, I say bring back the mass market paperback. Sell some books at five or six bucks a pop and maybe they could kindle something more substantial, like more actual readers. A new reader isn't as likely to shell out over three bills for a machine and THEN shell out so much for each file, er, book than they would be to come out of a bookstore with a handful of paperbacks. Just two more cents in the pickle jar.
...or justifiably uttered in any kind of public forum, but this is what popped into my mind yesterday...
I saw an AP headline that read "8 year old Saudi bride divorces 50 year old husband." The first thought I had was how sick that an 8 year old would be married off to anyone, let alone an old man. My second thought was surprise that somehow, someway divorce would even be possible for the girl. Sadly, this was followed by the flawed notion that the girl just didn't give the relationship enough time.
I'm sure this says something about me but whatever it is, I'm probably better off not knowing.
Here's a review I left for an Amazon Marketplace reseller after ordering a "New" book that was clearly used; by that I mean very obviously read as opposed to some kind of shelf wear. Or, as the seller maintains, transportation mishap. There are so many clear lies that it compels one to assume all of his questionable statements are also untruths. I won't get specific because no one really cares. The mystery in all of this is how someone can fudge on the truth, get called on it, and then fudge it some more. It seems likely that his offer of a refund in exchange for me deleting the rating is how he does business: exagerate/lie about the book, send it out, if called on it offer a refund. Good business model. And if he fails, it's all my fault...
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"This book isn't in "New" condition as stated. The front cover is dinged in two places as well as bent (along with about a fifth of the pages in the lower right corner), and the paper edges are dirty, especially along the top. Given this and the fact that the book lays as though it's been read, it should be hard to call this "New.""
This is J* from B*. Firstly, I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for purchasing your book, Black God's Kiss, from our new company. B* is a brand new seller on Amazon, and I know many of our customers have taken a chance in buying from a seller who does not yet have the standing of the more established Amazon sellers.
I read your feedback this afternoon and I want to apologize for your book not arriving in the condition you expected. We do screen all our orders prior to shipping, but I do know damages can occur if packages are mishandled during transportation.
As a new Amazon seller receiving feedback's of 3 or less is devastating. To be honest, it will only take a few negative feedback's to drop us to a 96%. To buyers and sellers alike this feedback is below acceptable standings and will hurt our sales substantially.
Therefore I would like to compensate you in such a way that would make your shopping experience with B* better than a 3.
If it pleases you, I would like to offer you an additional 15% discount towards the purchase of your book.
Again, I apologize for this inconvenience and the frustration it has caused you. I hope you will allow me to rectify this situation.
I appreciate your offer of a discount on the book I purchased although I'm not sure how it would help. The problem, as I said in my review, was that the book was not in the stated "new" condition. It isn't even in "used--like new" or a "fine" used condition. The book has plainly been read, not overly carefully, and the bends in the cover and pages, and especially the dirt smudges along the page edges and the way the book lies when placed flat certainly weren't caused by "mishandling during transportation."
I'm sorry you're unhappy with my review, though probably not more so than I am with a "very good" used book sold as "new." If this review prevents disappointment for another customer or else causes a more accurate book listing, then I think it's doing what it was intended to do. I buy a lot of Amazon Marketplace books and have only rarely had issues of any kind. I try to be conscientious, accurate, and aware of what I'm saying.
Thank you for your quick response. I certainly understand your dissatisfaction. All I can say is that your book was purchased directly from the publishing house, so I can assure you the book has never been read. I don't doubt your observance. I am currently at the Book Spring Show in Atlanta, but upon my return I will have a serious discussion with my staff about our quality inspection prior to shipping.
We deal with a lot of books, and I admit sometimes we incorrectly list the condition of the books. (Though none of our books have ever actually been read, some are damaged by improper packing by the publisher.) This is why we spend the extra labor certifying that the condition of the book being shipped is the condition of its listed state.
I work very hard to ensure my customers are satisfied, which is why even with sabotage from large Amazon sellers, my company remains at a 99% feedback percentage. Since my offer was obviously not acceptable to you, I am willing to refund your entire cost including shipping. I lose my postage, labor, mailer and book cost, but I gain customer confidence by assuring your dissatisfaction is not acceptable to me. From time to time my customers come to me with complaints (as with any business) but I always make sure they feel I care about their business.
Your feedback won't destroy me, but it will hurt, and in the end the only people who lose are the people I am forced to lay off from decreased sales. I hope my offer of a full and complete refund changes your mind about removing your feedback.
Again, I do apologize about this inconvenience and the frustration it has obviously caused you. (Why else would you want to leave my company limp.)
I don't really appreciate the insinuation that I may have some reason for causing you to lay off people or "leave your company limp." My only agenda was to leave honest feedback on a questionable transaction.
That being said, I was going to delete my rating and be done with it but while at the site I stopped to read the other reviews. In the first two pages there are four instances of people who had the same problem I did. This would suggest that you, your company, or somebody is conspiring to sell books falsely labeled.
I suggest that if you end up laying off people or losing firmness in your company it is only yourselves you have to blame. Since my case does not appear to be an isolated one, I didn't remove my feedback rating. You appear to have earned it.
I consider this case closed and will not bother you further. You are correct, in a very short time span my company has received 3 similar claims. I also wrote each of these customers in hopes of reaching a resolution. Again, if I did not care what you thought I would not spend time trying to make the transaction right by you.
If nothing else, please accept my apology for seemingly insinuating malice on your part. I meant no disrespect. I am a young, freshly-graduated, entrepreneur who obviously has a lot left to learn. I do appreciate your feedback (via your e-mail responses) and will do my best to not become frustrated when unable to reach an agreement with customers.
I don't expect your business, at least for a while, but truly hope you might check us out in the future to see an improved feedback rating.
I've thought about this for years (although I've shared the notion sparingly; I didn't see how it could really happen) and now, good gawd, it's happening. Hopefully it will last and spread.
Nelson is offering some of their titles as part of their NelsonFree program. Once you buy a hardcover from the line, you are enabled to download an audio version of the book or an eBook version (available in several different formats).
And all without raising the price of the book. Read this:
Okay, so book sales keep going down, we know that. I think that's going to continue because the books are so expensive and people simply can't afford them. Publishers can spin their wheels all they want comparing their cost to that of DVDs, computer games, or light sweet crude, the problem remains. I believe that, for the most part, people who buy books want to buy more units than, say, your typical video game purchaser.
(Why kill the mass market paperback? They said sales their sales were down and trade paperbacks numbers were up; therefore, eliminating the mass market format in favor of the crappy and expensive trade format means more money in the pocket, right? No, it means fewer books sold, regardless of the numbers of the mass market format as a whole. I looked for the mass market version of a science fiction book--no longer available. What is in print, lucky me, is a trade paperback version for fifteen dollars. Guess what I won't be buying?)
Anyway, if bookstores are so convinced that newer, alternate forms of entertainment are what is to blame for bad business (note that I don't think I agree with this, at least not across the board), why not sell video games? Take out those endless racks of DVDs and CDs and put in precisely those forms of entertainment that are actually selling.
This seems quite obvious to me, but they'd have to offer them at competitive prices. C'mon, who out there has actually gone to a Barnes & Noble or a Borders (or an independent) and actually plunked down list freaking price for a DVD or CD? That shelf space may as well be designated as the Display or Browsing section because they sure can't contribute much to the bottom line. I'd be willing to bet that they don't cover their costs per square foot in an average store.
The only argument against this that I can think of is a water and oil mentality, where books and these newer entertainment forms can't mix because they really oughtn't. Get over it. Sell something and stay alive. Publishers sure seem to have sold out, the booksellers may as well, too. Something positive needs to happen until books can become affordable again even though that seems to be the absolute last thing publishers are willing to consider.
I love Amazon. Their books sometimes ship with missing or cursory packing in the boxes. But most of the time they come very well packed. Occasionally other problems crop up: the wrong books show up, books listed as available really aren't, etc. They used to discount all books, now they don't. They used to discount books more or less uinformly; now they don't. They used to have a "featured book" listed on their home page at an extra special discount; now they recommend something based on your buying habits. I HATE this. I already know what I like, open up new doors and introduce me to something I might not be familiar with. At the very least, allow me to choose whether to see a featured book or the ones based on my history. It'd be easy enough to do (but they declined when I e-mailed them).
Now I must make clear how top notch their customer service is. They are accessible, they speak English over the phone, and despite some occasional odd responses to issues via e-mail, they do everything that can be expected to make you happy. Yay, Amazon.
But...
Along comes their Kindle eBook, their expensive and bludgingly obvious named eBook reading device. Everyone knows about it. eBooks scare me, though, mostly because I see too many comments from people saying things like, "Print books will disappear and be replaced with electronic devices. I wish it weren't so, but technology is technology and if it can be done electronically, it must be better."
I'd say this is utter hogwash, despite the fact that I have and use a Sony Reader (I use it instead of large print books to work my repaired right eye; plus, it's good on the road if I'm away from home for long enough periods). But I can't discount the notion of the self-fulfilling prophecy. I think publishing is enough out of touch with the reading public that someday they will only offer us eBooks, tell us that's what we, the market, really want, and poof! it will thus be so.
The point in all this is that I caught part of an Oprah a few weeks ago where she gushed over the Kindle, said it was her new favorite thing or some such, and gave everyone in the audience one to take home. Cool stuff. But more than once she talked about how much money everyone will save on books. I've written before about how this just isn't the case although logically you might assume that it would. After all, there's no paper in an eBook, no shipping, no packaging, no handling.
A while back Amazon began showing their Kindle bestseller list right below their print book bestselling list. I took the top five from each list, which were all the same titles, and compared their current prices:
Title Book Kindle Breaking Dawn 12.64 11.38 Eclipse 10.99 9.99 The UltraMind Solution 16.50 14.85 New Moon 6.04 6.04 Twilight 6.04 6.04
In other words, I could buy the print editions of all of these books for a total of $52.21. Since the amount is over $25 I'd qualify for free shipping. If I bought the Kindle editions of these books, I'd be spending $48.30. I'd save a whopping $3.91, assuming I'd already shelled out $359 for the Kindle and didn't mind having DRMed files that are useless to me without batteries.
Sadly the other notion regarding eBooks that I can't seem to let go of is that they will just be an attempt for publishers to charge the same price while lowering their costs by a whole lot. This will not change publishing, it will further change readership. I can't see how that would be a good thing.
Lastly, I'll repeat something I've said before: a collection of books is a library; think of all that word entails. A collection of eBooks is a floppy disk. Or maybe a CD. I suppose even a Kindle. All of that is something different.
