The War of Hachette and Amazon

[bookworm 1]

Sounds like Washington DC .

[bugen]

Yeah the guys in DC end up working well together only occasionally, and then mostly by accident. We ask for better from the marketplace, where it's supposed to be possible for everyone to win.

[bookworm 1]

Well hatchet and yes I know I am spelling it wrong but it is on purpose seems to not want this to end. Amazon is proposing that authors receive full amount of the price of their books till this is resolved. So if a book sells for $5 the author gets the full amount. Let's see if they go for this.or will Hatchet do a hatchet job on this offer. I would also be curious how Brian feels about this as he is not only an author but in the publishing business. I have not seen any new ebooks from Cemetery Dance this year. Are they not as profitable for you guys as originally thought? And how will the outcome effect the small press in general. As a lot of small press companies sell ebooks on Amazon.

[Dan Hocker]

Here's a little bit of insight from someone who deals with the eBook market. The person selling the book be it the publisher or an independent author set the price of the book, not Amazon. Also the person selling the book determines which retailers they sell with, not Amazon. Obviously if they want to enroll their book in on of Amazon's special programs there are restrictions that come with that, the main one being that while enrolled in the program that particular book has to be an Amazon exclusive. That said most books aren't enrolled in those programs permanently. The only other main restriction Amazon has, is that you can not list your price on their store higher than any other store. Amazon also reserves the right to discount and offer sales on any book listed with them.

That said those discounts and sales are almost always to the benefit of the person selling the books, as they bring in more sales and lead buyers to their other books. They also push books up the ranking lists, which give the titles visibility after the sales are over which drive more sales at full price. Overall though Amazon doesn't set the price of the eBooks, the publishers and the market does.

[TerryE]

But Dan, can you think of a rationale for not giving a discounted e-book when a physical copy is purchased from the same source. Is there a reason why you guys can't or won't at Cemetery Dance?

[bugen]

Ooh I'm with you there, Terry. C'mon big Dan!!! You guys bundle an ebook with the limited edition for an (optional) extra $1, I'd have given you a whole 'nother pile of money and still have bought everything I have so far. Maybe this would hurt trade sales though?

The argument I've heard before against cheap ebooks is 'protecting the value of the work', and that's not a bad argument. If everyone demanded novels for $3 or less the industry topples. Bundles, especially optional ones, are a different story though.

[Dan Hocker]

But Dan, can you think of a rationale for not giving a discounted e-book when a physical copy is purchased from the same source. Is there a reason why you guys can't or won't at Cemetery Dance?

It all really depends on the terms of the contracts for the books. But mostly I'd say that most of our e-books don't actually have a print edition (from us) available. There's a lot of other factors that go into it. It is something we've talked about though.

[bugen]

The war is over, sir, the war is over! Zion! Zion! Zion, it's over, it's over, the war is over, the war is over!

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/14...pute.html?_r=1

[bsaenz24]

Just ordered the new Preston/Child!