Don't Buy My Book

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Well here's a fresh approach. Is the plea a publicity-angle, or is Clarke genuine. It will certainly bring him media hype - I just wish I’d thought of it…

Author Jaime Clarke's new novel "Vernon Downs" will be available on Amazon in April of 2014, but readers can get a copy this December. His request: Buy it straight from the publisher, not from Amazon.

In his Web site Clarke encourages us to back indie publishers and ignore the hostile cost-cutting campaigns of Amazon that, he says, are good for consumers but damaging to the livelihood of publishers and authors.




Clarke is co-owner of an independent bookstore in Boston.

"As a bookstore owner, I see small presses come and go -- they usually publish a book or two and then fold after running out of money," Clarke writes. "For many small publishers like Roundabout, Amazon accounts for a large portion of sales, but the publisher realizes very little of the purchase price owing to Amazon's discounting policies."

Amazon Lending Library Kills the Goose

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Is Kindle KDP strangling the goose that lays the golden egg?
Amazon's latest venture is to offer a free lending library to Prime members. Authors supposedly gain from a ratio share from a money 'pot' - those having most books borrowed having the biggest payout - designed to benefit the big players only.

It doesn't end there, Amazon allow each book enrolled in the scheme, to go 'free' for 5 days in each 90 period, this to boost advertising and marketing of their authors.

However, the market is suddenly flooded with free books. The scheme has only been in motion a few days, yet since its inception, I haven't sold a single copy. Contact with other Kindle authors confirms my suspicions, sales have slumped.

Why purchase books when you can get them free?
Readers realise that any book of interest, will probably be free at some point, so why buy? Not only that, there are sufficient free books to more than satisfy any reading habits, so why buy.

If readers no longer purchase, how can it be worth writing in the future?

There are no royalties on free books, so how will Amazon fare when royalties dry up? It seems to me that they have almost killed their golden goose - or are they hoping to solely make money from sales of Kindle?

Whatever, I shall jump on the bandwagon for at least 90 days, because I don't know what the alternative is. It seems to be a case of go with the flow, or die.

Amazon take on the publishers

Tell Me a Story - opinion

Amazon has already shown readers they do not actually need bookstores. The squeeze has put many brick and mortars out of business.

Now Amazon is inciting authors to cast aside their publishers. This is a significant step forward. To have the equivalent worldwide exposure in brick and mortar bookstores would require an enormous distribution network. Amazon, as a publisher, can put books virtually anywhere.

Amazon is about to publish 122 books this autumn in a range of genres, in both physical and e-book form. It is a conspicuous move by the retailer’s fledging publishing program, which will site Amazon in direct competition with New York publishers that are also its most important suppliers. 

It has established a flagship line run by publishing past master, Laurence Kirshbaum, to produce brand-name fiction and nonfiction. It signed its first deal with author Tim Ferriss. Last week it announced a memoir by the actress and director Penny Marshall, for which it paid $800,000. 

Publishers claim Amazon are aggressively pursuing their top authors. Amazon are also nibbling away at other services that publishers, critics and agents, used to provide. No wonder the whole of the publishing world is feeling dazed.

For authors it seems to be a good thing. For too long, large publishing houses have grasped the reins that held back promising authors. Publishers have had their heads in the sand, and only recently realised their power has diminished. Is it already too late? Amazon has put so much squeeze on them, the cries we hear from publishers, may be their death rattle.

I only hope that once Amazon controls the whole of the literary world, they don't turn on authors and put the squeeze on them too.

Cheap Ad-Sponsered Kindle 3G

Tell Me a Story - Tech Bits


Those who have been wondering whether to purchase an Amazon Kindle e-book reader might finally be able to come to a decision with this particular model – an ad-sponsored Kindle 3G that will retail for $50 below the standard model, which is AT&T’s $139 Kindle 3G - with Special Offers of integrated Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity without being tied down to a monthly fee, data plan or annual contract.

Undeniably, most things in this world have a price, and to secure the advantages of this discount, you will be exposed to adverts from AT&T as well as other companies.

The college multitude might also look at the new ad-sponsored Kindle  since it will support the Kindle Textbook Rental service – that allows users to rent books for up to 360 days at up to 80% off the textbook list price. Anyone already latched on to this particular version of the Kindle?

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Looking for a good read? Try:-

Short Moments - collection of 10 short stories

or

Past Sins - Contemporary fiction 

 

Kindle Book Gifts - Buyer Beware

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I recently gifted a book to a reviewer.

You can't expect reviewers to purchase your books if you want them to offer a critique. It's a time honoured custom that authors and publishers allocate a certain amount of books for this purpose.

Now that I have elected to forsake the traditional publishing route, I expect to do the same with my ebooks. Amazon allow you to gift Kindle books to whoever you please, so it would seem to be a reasonable way to send books to reviewers - WRONG.

If you live outside the USA, it not only costs more money if you want to read a Kindle book, it also costs more for you to gift a Kindle book to a resident who lives INSIDE the USA. My book which a USA resident can purchase for $2.99, costs $5.74 for me to send to that same USA resident.

A strange affair indeed. I understand the wireless net might incur extra costs for reading outside the USA, but why on earth should it cost more to gift a Kindle book to a USA resident, just because I reside outside the USA.

Payment is by VIsa, so the transaction costs ought to be the same - so where do the extra charges come from.

Are you listening, mister Amazon - get your house in order.

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Are Amazon crazy?

Tell Me a Story - viewpoint.

Writers beware....

Amazon online bookstore have lost their heads

When posting a review for Amazon, reviewers are no longer allowed to include anything other than their name in the signature. There are to be NO links to, or mention of, their own books whatsoever in the review or signature line.

Amazon remove reviews.

Amazon have apparently already removed numerous reviews from their lists, which had previously been accepted.

This rule also applies to any comments in a book review. Amazon doesn’t want authors to mention their own books anywhere on the review page.

This is crazy stuff.

Most authors create very readable reviews, and to add a tiny advert in the signature is not SPAM. In fact it adds a certain credibility for a professional to take time to create a review.

I don’t know what is going on with decision makers at Amazon, but their heads must be full of shit.

Surely, the job of Amazon is to sell.

If an author has written a review and the person reading the review chooses to go to the book mentioned in the signature line – isn’t that a potential sale?

Are Amazon absolutely mad? They're shooting themselves in the foot....

*** Amazon remove reviews, Amazon remove reviews ***

• Next post on Tell Me a Story.

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End of post - Are Amazon crazy?

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