Harper Fails Adriana Trigiani

I stumbled on Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani at Barnes and Nobles. Read the first few pages and then opened my Kindle app on my iPhone, thinking I'd buy the book if it was 9.99 or less.

It wasn't even available for the Kindle, yet. But I could preorder it.

This is a huge fail by Harper, Trigiani's publisher. Now, not only will I not by the hardback, but I won't by the Kindle version. I'll wait until it becomes available on Bookmooch or pick up a copy from a friend.

I understand Harper wants to make money, but if they were smart, they'd realize that keeping Trigiani's fans (and possible new readers) happy and reading by releasing the eBook the same time as the hardback would be a win win situation for everyone.

Another publisher that wears its greed on its sleeve.

Hey, let's really screw our new author!

Hi Kaleb,

I read a recent article about your publisher and agent deciding that NOT releasing an ebook when the hard back is released.

I'm an active member of the Amazon Boycott eBooks over 9.99 Board and so in love with my Kindle that I created a website devoted to eBooks that are priced accordingly (it cost pennies to produce, if that!).

I'd love to hear why you think they are looking out for your best interest...is it your goal to make a boatload of money or establish new readers and reach as wide an audience as possible?

Regardless, much luck to you. And I look foward to the far, far away eBook release...

Here's an interesting article -

A small publisher is holding back on the eBook release (for a year) for a brand new author.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124744388627630253.html

So, here we have an author trying to build a following...and a platform to market his book (that cost nothing - no overhead). We've seen that *free* kindle eBooks often lead to readers discovering a new author and buying his/her other books.

So this publishing company decides to hold off on an ebook because they want to make profits on the hardback.

IF you read the article, both the agent for the author and a publisher states it's all about the money.

It SHOULD be all about building the authors fan base (which leads to profits in the big picture). Paulo Coelho?

It's really no wonder that publishers are laying off people left and right and closing whole divisions. They oughta try reading a few marketing/business books.

Might I suggest you shoot the agent and publisher an email to let them know that, as a Kindle owner, they are losing a potential sale, and a potential fan?

Richard Curtis: Agent rcurtis@curtisagency.com

And, of course, no email for the publisher (why give a platform for customers to contact them? It's not about customers, is it?).

However, there is a blog featuring the story link about the refusal to release the eBook...you can post your thoughts...for the whole world to see. I did.

http://www.sourcebooks.com/independentvision/index.php

And, here's the author email...I've written to him and wished him much success and told him I was disappointed that his small publisher is costing him potential sales, and hope that when his contract us up, he will consider signing with a publisher that cares more about his career and reaching out and establishing new readers than they do about making a quick buck. kaleb@kalebnation.com

Something to think about anyway.

Kindle Flamer Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie - the author that stated he hates Amazon and Kindle owners so much that when he saw a lady reading a Kindle on the airplane, he wanted to hit her with it?
Well, he tried to explain his remarks, and, (IMHO) threw more dirt out of his hole than into it - the deeper to bury himself.

Here's my response to Mr.Kindle Flamer:

What a hypocrite.
If Sherman had bothered educating himself on the Kindle, he'd discover that people are purchasing and reading more books than ever before. He'd discover that the Kindle is enabling people who are paralyzed, people who have vision and hearing challenges, the awesome opportunity to enjoy reading again.
Amazon discounts books - Amazon's numbers are increasing while all major publishers numbers are decreasing - and why is that? Because publishers refuse to change with the times. The only greed I see is coming out of the Avenue of the Americas.
And Sherman trying to put the spin on his negative comments by his concern about 'poor' kids - and yet, nowhere on Sherman's website (as of 7:32 a.m. on June 3rd 2009) is there any place to donate books or money to a worthy childs cause.
And since when is up to Amazon to make sure every child is not left behind w/o a Kindle.
Sherman claimed "Oh, I had to submit to eBook rights, I have no other author allies."
Guess what Sherman. You did NOT have to submit. It's a free country.
I doubt we would be reading the headlines "Author killed by gunshot to the head after refusing to sign eBook rights in his publishing contract."
If you really despise Amazon that much, you should have refused to sign a contract unless your publisher agreed to not sell your books on Amazon.
So, let me get this straight, you hate Amazon, but you're happy to take the money you make from the sales of your books from them, yes?
Any true lover of books and reading would be championing every opportunity for books to be sold. Independents, Retail, Online, eBooks, audio, etc.
The true elitist is Sherman, who feels that books should only be sold one way - his way.

Kindle goes Virtual "Post It Notes"

Recently, I actually DROVE to a bookstore (and the clerks almost fainted when they saw me - it's been so long due to the fact I have the Kindle and Whispernet) and picked up the book "I Never Metaphor I Didn't Like" by Mardy Grothe.

I decided to actually buy the hardback because I love to highlight and flag things, but have always found that doing so on the Kindle is fine, but used to be tedious to try and and go back and slog thru everything.

While reading it last night, I went through a ton of Post It flags, marking lines that I really enjoyed.

I'll admit it right now, I'm a POST IT NOTEaholic. I had to BUY the actual BOOK Practical Magic so I could highlight all the dreamy, thought provoking, sentences, (hey, it's what writers do!). Also, I did want to have an actual copy of the book in case something happened to my Kindle (no electricity, drop it in the toilet, roll over on it in bed and crack it, etc).

I wake up this morning, open the email from Amazon announcing that now highlights and notes can be easily navigated on line by going to http://kindle.amazon.com.

As an avid highlighter and notetaker, I can't tell you how enthusiastic I am about this new feature!

And my family will be relieved not to find little neon Post It flags stuck to their shoes all the time!

Love it!

Boycotting Baldacci

Sadly, I'm now boycotting ALL David Baldacci after reading his comment quoted in the NY Times Article "Steal This Book"

"The lower e-book price “is not sustainable,” said Mr. Baldacci, whose novels regularly rise to the top of hardcover best seller lists. If readers insist on cut-rate electronic books, he said, “unfortunately there won’t be anyone selling it anymore because you just can’t make any money.”"

In the hands of the right person, a well marketed eBook is valuable. In the hands of someone that is more concerned with their art than "making money" - a reasonable priced eBook is a spark that will ignite a career.

Paulo Coelho (author of The Alchemist) was disappointed that his book only sold 900 copies in its first printing...so he made is available for free. What happened as a result? Actual sales of The Alchemist jumped to one million over a 3 year period (with no additional promotion or publicity from his publishers). Coelho is still an advocate of sharing his work for free and because of this, author Jeff Jarvis named Coelho 'the Googliest author' in his book 'What Would Google Do.'

I've discovered new authors that I hadn't previously tried because their book were free or cheap on Kindle - Charlie Huston a prime example. I downloaded the free "Caught Stealing" liked it so much I actually bought more of his books - HOWEVER - his latest is 11.99 - so...not buying till the price is lowered.

So, yeah, there are authors and publishers out there that keep their readers in mind and with diligence and authenticity, are able to make a living selling their stories.

And THOSE are the authors & publishers that I will continue to support, spread the word about, and read.

**and ironically, Mr. Baldacci has several philanthropic interests
that concern and promote literacy - yet instead of seeing the positives of eBooks, he's worried "no one will make money."

13 Ways to Cheat on Amazon

This was originally posted on the Kindle Amazon Discussion boards by T.Beck

Amazon is not the only place you can find eBooks for your Kindle, check out these other 13....

Some have expressed a lack of content for the Kindle, here is what I have tried, and works (make sure you check the footnotes at the bottom):

1) www.amazon.com 95,000 or so titles, instant download, easy.

2) www.gutenberg.org 20,000 or so titles - mostly classics or things that no longer have copywrite. Multiple languages. Three are links to other sites that boast a total of 100k titles. ***, ****

3) www.freekindlebooks.org This is a site that has mostly gutenberg books in a kindle ready format.

4) www.worldlibrary.net 400,000 titles - classics, modern, government, multiple languages, all the ones I tried were free. Requires $8.95 yearly subscription fee, consider it the cost of a library card.*, ***, ****

5) www.fictionwise.com offers both unencrypted and encrypted .mobi files. Full range of reading and many free books as well. *, **, ****

6) www.mobipocket.com lots of titles, most you can find on amazon.com in the Kindle section for less.

7) www.webscriptions.net This is Baen books and mostly SiFi. None are encrypted, many are free, and can be transferred directly to your Kindle. Choose Kindle compatible for the download. ****

8) www.wowio.com uses .pdf format. **, You will need to register and can download up to three books a day, free. Only available to people in the US, due to copyright and licensing restrictions.

9) www.fictionpress.com 900,000 Mostly original works, as in unknown, normally unpublished authors. Some good, some not, take your chances, you may discover the next JK Rowling. Displays in text. Cut, paste and email to yourself, or save in .txt file and upload.

10) www.manybooks.net 20,000 titles or so. Has a Kindle format. ***, ****

11) www.mnybks.net - an extension of Manybooks above, but if you access it through the basic WebBrowser in Kindle, you can download directly to your Kindle, the way you would an Amazon book. Choose the Mobipocket format.

12) www.feedbooks.com Share books, self published books and a make it yourself newspaper. With a little manipulation of the tools below, you can get your own newspaper, you could probably even directly email it to your Kindle in the morning if you allow that site to send you stuff. You will need to register, but there is no cost. There is now a "Kindle Download Guide" from www.feedbooks.com includes links to many classics, including many in foreign languages.

13) www.ccel.org Christian centered works. Available in pdf, word, and text, all readily transferable to your Kindle.

14.) http://www.munseys.com about 25,000 books, classic and contemporary. Download in a variety of formats.

* They save as .pdf files that you can email to your Kindle. It sees the .pdf as a file of words, not pictures of words, so it can be resized and adjusted just as any other ebook. Download the book to your PC, and email that file to your Kendle, or username@free.kendle.com and load through the USB cable if you want to save the 10 cent conversion charge. (but they have not started charging yet anyway)

** For the encrypted ones in .mobi, a tool can be used to allow the kindle to see it. This tool does not make a copy of the book, merely adds a flag so that the Kendle can display it (it would be hard to call this a violation of copywrite or use conditions since both formats are amazon's). The tool and directions on how to use it are at: http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/mobipocket-books-on-kindle.html

*** Site runs on donations

**** Can be downloaded directly to your Kindle when it is plugged in as an external storage device, simply specify the Kindle folder when selecting where to put your book.

Neil Gaiman Wants to Be Heard

Neil Gaiman (Coraline - The Graveyard Book) offers his 2cents on the debate over text to speech for the Kindle.


I think we are starting to see the end of Publishers(Publishers Row, NYC) and agents as more and more authors become aware that publishers and agents make it more and more evident that they only care about the money... (ebook pricing and text to speech are prime examples) not about the author or the reader.

I think Old School Publishing may soon take on the title of Gaiman's lastest book "The Graveyard."

I've reposted his article below; but here is the link.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Quick argument summary

Posted by Neil at 3:18 PM
Just found myself having a long argument/discussion with my agent over the Amazon Kindle text-to-speech capability. I'm going to summarise it here.

Her point of view: The Kindle reading you the book-you-just-bought infringes the copyright (or at least, the rights) to the audiobook. We've sold audiobook rights and print book rights as separate things. We must stop this.

My point of view: When you buy a book, you're also buying the right to read it aloud, have it read to you by anyone, read it to your children on long car trips, record yourself reading it and send that to your girlfriend etc. This is the same kind of thing, only without the ability to do the voices properly, and no-one's going to confuse it with an audiobook. And that any authors' societies or publishers who are thinking of spending money on fighting a fundamentally pointless legal case would be much better off taking that money and advertising and promoting what audio books are and what's good about them with it.

There.

Which I am putting up here to save everyone time asking me what I think.