Ebooks Announcement Discussion

[TJCams]

One day when Brian has stopped the torture I would love to know what the actual differences are and why. I have a kindle and it seems pretty easy to download......After I figured it out.

The problems for us Kobo users (at least my beef) is that Amazon will offer certain e-book titles for like $.99 or real cheap - same title on Kobo will be $8.99 for example - it's like they are undercutting the competition - and in many cases the titles are Amazon exclusives - I am NOT buying a Kindle regardless.

[RJK1981]

The problems for us Kobo users (at least my beef) is that Amazon will offer certain e-book titles for like $.99 or real cheap - same title on Kobo will be $8.99 for example - it's like they are undercutting the competition - and in many cases the titles are Amazon exclusives - I am NOT buying a Kindle regardless.

You can get kindle apps for the phone and computer though, so you don't need an actual Kindle to read Kindle books. As for Kindle exclusive titles, that is determined by others, not Amazon, and that can be for multiple reasons (They don't sell enough outside of Amazon or maybe they are just too lazy, lol). The prices are often not set by Amazon either, but instead by the authors or publishers. That obviously isn't the case with their own specials though. As for prices on Amazon being lower a lot of the time, that is where the bulk on eBook sales are, so makes more sense for the sales to be there in order to generate more future business.

That all sucks, of course, would just be easier if they all had the same (lower) prices, but I don't expect that will happen.

And I don't know if I would ever pay $9 for a digital book, seems a lot for something I can't physically hold, turn the real pages, or smell. What really confuses me when some publishers have their eBook releases priced higher than the paperback edition (And that is before any kind of Amazon discount!)!

[Dan Hocker]

You can get kindle apps for the phone and computer though, so you don't need an actual Kindle to read Kindle books. As for Kindle exclusive titles, that is determined by others, not Amazon, and that can be for multiple reasons (They don't sell enough outside of Amazon or maybe they are just too lazy, lol). The prices are often not set by Amazon either, but instead by the authors or publishers. That obviously isn't the case with their own specials though. As for prices on Amazon being lower a lot of the time, that is where the bulk on eBook sales are, so makes more sense for the sales to be there in order to generate more future business.

That all sucks, of course, would just be easier if they all had the same (lower) prices, but I don't expect that will happen.

And I don't know if I would ever pay $9 for a digital book, seems a lot for something I can't physically hold, turn the real pages, or smell. What really confuses me when some publishers have their eBook releases priced higher than the paperback edition (And that is before any kind of Amazon discount!)!

Amazon will actually often run sales on books for cheaper without publisher approval. That said books selling for 99 cents vs 8.99 is pretty much always a publisher decision.

That said, I can sympathize with the publishers that only offer their books through Amazon. We offer through a variety of different stores, but 95% of all our sales are through Amazon, it makes you question if publishing on the other stores is even worth the time and effort. In some cases it isn't, as we learned from our experiences with Sony eBooks.

[pennynutter]

So who is John R. Little? Are these unannounced book that CD is publishing?

John R. Little's stories are just awesome. They hook you fast and reel you in until the next thing you know, the story is finished and you're scrounging around for his next book! I can't really pick a favorite . . . Dreams in Black and White is great, as is Miranda and The Gray Zone, but you'll find yourself reading Placeholders over and over. And then, there's more where they came from

[bookworm 1]

Thanks for the information guys.

[TJCams]

Amazon will actually often run sales on books for cheaper without publisher approval. That said books selling for 99 cents vs 8.99 is pretty much always a publisher decision.

That said, I can sympathize with the publishers that only offer their books through Amazon. We offer through a variety of different stores, but 95% of all our sales are through Amazon, it makes you question if publishing on the other stores is even worth the time and effort. In some cases it isn't, as we learned from our experiences with Sony eBooks.

I have heard that Amazon will sell e-books "at a loss" just to get the sale though too. Not sure how true this is, but.....

I was surprised when I read that Dan - 95% is shocking. Even Kealan Patrick Burke mentioned to me on here that he really had no success on selling his titles on Kobo. I guess the American public is pretty much Kindle only then???? Obviously that is where most of the sales would be from too I would assume.

For me - I will never buy a Kindle - Kobo makes a superior product (from reviews I have heard and read) and it seems their "next big thing" gets released first and Amazon comes out with theirs after in a lot of cases. I recently read here in Canada, Kobo has the largest share of the e-reader market.... call me stubborn maybe.

RJK: I agree on your last point - I have seen e-books priced at $8.99 for a lot of titles I want, and even higher (up to $16+). I could easily go to my local Chapters, or even a place that sells used books and get the paper copy for the same or cheaper.....

[Brian James Freeman]

I was surprised when I read that Dan - 95% is shocking. Even Kealan Patrick Burke mentioned to me on here that he really had no success on selling his titles on Kobo. I guess the American public is pretty much Kindle only then???? Obviously that is where most of the sales would be from too I would assume.

That does seem to be true. Personally speaking, my bestselling title might sell 100 on the Kindle for every 4 or 5 copies sold on Kobo. That always bums me out!

Brian

[Dan Hocker]

I'd say Amazon is the larger share in both the US and the UK just based off of our sales numbers. Canada is hard to tell though as they don't differentiate those sales from the US sales. Just to give an example, at this point in Novembers sales, just comparing Amazon sales and Kobo sales. Our Kobo sales are just 3% of our Amazon sales. I do wish we could get similar sales numbers from our other ebook retailers.

[TJCams]

Very interesting numbers - thanks Dan and Brian. Hopefully Kobo, and others, can increase their customer base - competition is good right?

[RJK1981]

Are there going to be new Cemetery Dance eBooks anytime soon? Been a while since I have seen a new one pop up

[Dan Hocker]

Are there going to be new Cemetery Dance eBooks anytime soon? Been a while since I have seen a new one pop up

Should be.