Between the 3 concurrent ebooks and the branch delivery of physical books, the library has kept me from spending more than $30 a year for a heavy reading habit. I can usually score a physical best-seller within a couple of weeks of release, and ebooks just require a little patience and queue maintenance.
They’re pulling the BS, I understand, because Hachette is one of those publishers that wants to charge hardcover prices for eBooks, and they’re fighting about that.
I don’t think I’ve read anything they’ve published. The publisher that stands out for me that way is Penguin, because they publish Ken Follett. I’ve seen them demand $20+ for an eBook before it hits mass market paperback.
Jeff, there’s some evidence that they’re simply not getting the shipments. (The Amazon UK site has very low inventory for most Hachette books now, too)
Also, no offence, but you can get it from third party Amazon booksellers - it’s not like you can’t buy it immediately on the site (one click more, sure)!
I sometimes spend $15 on an eBook, but that’s Baen’s eARC’s. That means I get it six months before street date.
Asking me for that much when I can get the physical book a week later from a second hand shop for £2.50? Eh.
Just got an email from Amazon. It’s launched.
Service launched officially today. A cursory look at the selection seems to confirm my fear it would be stacked heavily with self published stuff.
Almost everything I saw was normally priced in the $3-$4 range, and a fair number of $0.99 cheap anthologies. There are a handful of visible exceptions, but they’re in categories that don’t interest me much personally.
If this service has most of the books you want to read, it makes sense. If not, not.
I’m decidedly in the ‘not’ column.
Selection is definitely the sticking point. The reason why the DVD version of Netflix is great is that it carries almost every movie out there. There are some exceptions, I have a few in my Netflix “saved titles queue” that are in print, but not carried by Netflix, but not many. The pickings on Kindle Unlimited are slim enough, and cheap enough, that I’d still probably do better buying.
They really really need to improve the sort so I can see what’s in the service. Currently half the clicks on “included” books seem to take me to books which are not included, and searches in “Kindle Unlimited” are even worse.
(Also not available here, and when it does it’ll have 1/3 the books, etc, sigh)
They need to get more of the publishers on board. I have a Scribd subscription and it’s pretty nice. They have some Stephen King, a lot of Tim Powers, etc.
I think subscription services have a strong future ahead of them. I don’t really feel the same kind of ownership with ebooks that I do with physical books (which I don’t really buy anymore). I’m perfectly happy just borrowing an ebook instead of owning it.
Searching Kindle “Unlimited” or Scribd for books I would like to read is an exercise in frustration. Of course the author you want isn’t listed. It’s like searching Netflix streaming for particular movies. I use Netflix, mostly happily. And the secret there is to skim off the “What’s new” listings, rather than looking for exact targets.
Am I correct in thinking that the Oyster service isn’t searchable unless you pay?
No, there has been a LOT written on this fight. Amazon did this with someone before - found all kinds of ways to discourage you from buying the books from the publisher they were fighting with. There was even coverage by a news show on TV (60 Minutes?) about the practices.
Pushing them down search, etc. yes - and bluntly, they should control their search systems.
But there’s also, as I said, evidence that they are not being shipped many of the books.
Lots and lots of articles and news shows showing that Amazon deliberately held up orders for two weeks or more and told people it would be longer, as well as other practices to discourage selling books from this publisher. Our good friend Jennifer Brown (Hate List and others) had a lot of people trying to buy her books on Amazon that could not and were told “Try these instead!” and she knew for sure the inventory that the publisher had provided Amazon and that it was on their side. And when interviewed, Amazon has not denied the practices, only that “we are doing what we are doing for the good of our customers.” Sorry - I don’t need you to protect me by making it hard for me to buy books I want. If the publisher wants to raise the prices too high, that will sort itself the same way it does with other goods.
So, you’re claiming they’re blocking third party sellers on Amazon now? When they’re not? I see.
And no, monopolies don’t “sort themselves out”, and IP provides monopolies - they just got hammered for price fixing, but you frantically defend the publishers.
The reality is prices have spiked so much I’ve gone back to second-hand bookshops - how does that help your friend?
Sigh. No, you are right, every news story in the New York Times, Forbes, Wall St. Journal, 60 Minutes, etc. etc. are wrong.
Amazon very specifically, and has not denied this, well, from one of many sources:
“Amazon has basically stopped offering any discounts on Hachette’s books — and that’s a big deal, since Amazon’s low prices are mostly the result of their fondness for discounts. Additionally, shipping time on Hachette books has changed quite a bit, and some books say that shipping will take a minimum of 2-3 weeks to arrive. And for some books, the site lists them as out of stock and therefore unavailable at all.” Even though Hachette made them 100% available.
The argument?
“In the wake of the federal government’s e-book antitrust pricing settlement with publishers, publishers supply e-books to retailers at a price set by the publishers but which retailers are able to discount. Retailers such as Amazon get a roughly 30% cut of the fixed price but any discounting reduces the retailers’ actual take. In the talks with Hachette, Amazon is seeking a higher percentage split, said an industry executive. The two sides haven’t yet reached an agreement. The backdrop to Amazon’s push is that e-books generate much higher profit margins for publishers than print books, where the costs including paper, printing, binding, warehousing, shipping and returns. Bedi Singh, chief financial officer of News Corp NWSA +0.89%, which owns HarperCollins Publishers and The Wall Street Journal, earlier this month told analysts that margins are around 75% for e-books, about 60% on paperbacks, and about 40% on hardcovers. That really is pretty much it. There’s some lovely margins on them tha’r e-books and what we’re seeing is a spat about who should be able to appropriate them? Should it be the people who find the authors, produce the books, or should it be the people who distribute them? There is no theoretically correct answer to this question. A demand that publishers must make 75% on e-books cannot be supported: they take more risk with physical books and yet gain lower margins on them. So we cannot say that as a matter of divine right the current publisher margins on e-books are correct. But equally, we can’t say that Amazon deserves a greater piece of the action either. There’s simply nothing to support such an assertion: after all, even Amazon isn’t arguing that all people who sell e-books should get better margins if Amazon does. This is purely about who has the power in this relationship. Who, in short, has the economically scarce good here and thus ought to be gaining the profits from the transactions?”
Not all Hachette books, mind you, but a good chunk of them.
From the NYT:
"For months now, Amazon has been trying to put the screws on Hachette, the smallest of the Big Five publishers, by discouraging people from buying its printed books. Amazon’s goal: force Hachette to give it better terms on e-books.
Two things make Amazon’s confrontational stance toward Hachette unusual. First, there is the overwhelming power Amazon has in the marketplace. I usually write that it controls a third of the American book business — new, used and e-books — although other estimates put it as high as half. Barnes & Noble at its peak had to be mindful of Borders, whose stores were just a short drive away. But Amazon has blown away its online competition.
The other unusual thing is Amazon’s multifaceted approach. Most of the time, it has all sorts of ways to encourage you to buy a book: faster shipping, cheaper shipping, a discount, a cheap copy from a third party who was cleaning out his closet. Now, like a river reversing its flow, it is using all sorts of ways to get people not to buy Hachette titles: more expensive, slower shipping, pitching something else instead.
Affected are not only popular authors like Michael Connelly and celebrities like the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera but also specialist lines Hachette either owns (Yen Press, a manga line) or distributes (Marvel Comics).
“You can really ruin authors and companies financially by doing this,” wrote a commentator on a gaming site. “Heck the manga will take quite a beating. Manga is rather niche, and Amazon is one of the main places you can find it.”
I don’t like their tactics. Period. If that is “frantic” to you, so be it.
Oh right, they haven’t contradicted not having plans to nuke the moon either. Except they have talked about the supply…and again, you can still order hachette books, today, for immediate shipping with one more click on the Amazon site.
One. More. Click.
Amazon is not and should not be obligated to offer discounts (they just got their control over pricing back, actually - remember that little lawsuit? Where Hachette was on the losing side for controlling prices? For ebooks? Yea, that one)
I don’t like your support for price controls, being a free market advocate. Normal business negotiations happen - and yes, they can often suck for companies.
Moreover, you can’t get away from the fact that rather than compete with Amazon, the tactics they used were to establish illegal controls over pricing - that in itself means I have and will continue to have absolutely no sympathy for their failures - they’re less necessary now than they ever had been. and instead of adapting they tried good old capitalist controls.
Keep pushing me towards second-hand bookshops, though, rather than buying Hachette books. Frantically, even.
(There’s plenty Amazon DO do wrong - this ain’t it. And I still don’t buy their ebooks, because of their refusal to use ePub)
The odd thing is I believe the split on paper books is about 50-50 between Amazon and the publisher, but on ebooks it’s 70-30 with the 70 going to the publisher. Amazon is pushing for a 50-50 split according to rumors.
If that’s the case I understand both sides. Ebooks are the future so it is a big deal. That’s a lot of money.
Amazon scares me but Hatchette showed that they weren’t the consumer’s friend by colluding to raise prices. It’s also a bit ironic if Hatchette complains about Amazon not discounting some ebook prices. That’s what Hatchette wanted back when they conspired with Apple to inflate ebook prices.
It is very difficult to have a discussion with you without falling into ad hominem attacks because of your, um, style. I’m a flaming capitalist, I’m all for negotiations, I actually participate in them every week in my job. Amazon is absolutely free to do whatever they like. That does not compel me to like their actions or approve of them. That simple. You want to support them, go for it.
Do remember that as far as I’m concerned Capitalism means price fixing and restrictions, regulatory capture, etc.
I’m for the free market.
And again, sorry, I can’t get worked up about slow shipment when it’s again one more click to find another supplier on the same website - often cheaper. (I very rarely buy from Amazon themselves on Amazon, in fact - I usually use a third party seller). It’s not like they’re de-listing books, which I would have to take immediate issue with.
(I also hear rumours of a MFN clause in some contracts, which I am against)