Promoted from Sidelights:
A Brit wear-your-seatbelt ad that's safe for Teresa:
Embrace Life - always wear your seat belt
Avram #11: I'm confused, Teresa. Isn't setting prices generally something done by the retailer, not the publisher?
Indeed it is. But the retailers set the retail price, not the wholesale price. The wholesale price is generally set by the publisher.
If I understand it correctly, the root of the problem was Amazon saying to Macmillan, "You're going to set the wholesale price to $X," where $X was less than $9.99 so Amazon would no longer be selling e-books at a loss.
Amazon's negotiating tactic is, "Nice publishing house you have here. Too bad if it burned down one night."
Chris #45: In this LiveJournal thread, to prove a point, I searched Macmillan titles on Fictionwise priced at $19.99+, then checked the first 25 search results. 7 books were in paperback. Taken as a random sample, it means over 1/4 of their $20-and-up titles—over 1/10 of all Macmillan titles at Fictionwise—should be but aren't "variable".
I can't prove it, but I strongly suspect that that's because there's no one at Mcmillan who's tasked with updating the prices at Fictionwise.
Perhaps a summer intern might be given the job of going around to all the various on-line venues and setting the price for all e-versions to one dollar less than the lowest-price print version?
It's intuitively obvious that the only reason for Amazon's move is to corner the market in e-books.
Give them a monopoly and just see how well that goes for consumers.
Looks like a big storm is headed to the Washington DC area. Delta and Southwest have apparently canceled all flights in and out of DC, Baltimore, and Philly.
16-18 inches expected.
Mike #25: As far as I know, that's all that Amazon and Macmillan are talking about, right?
If that were all they were talking about, Amazon would still be offering Macmillan books for sale, wouldn't they?
Amazon already pulled the same dick move on Hatchette, where no e-books were in sight, and they pulled the same dick move on the POD publishers in general.
This isn't just about e-books.
Mike Kozlowski #11 But I really don't see how an article about how big-box superstores wipe out small local stores has any applicability at all to the e-book market.
Mike, Teresa isn't talking about the e-book market. She's talking about the book market. Nor is she talking about big-box vs. indie stores. She's talking about publishers, and the sorts of things that publishers do.
Information wants to be free. Entertainment wants to get paid.
------------
Here's what I'm using as a sig line:
Put the 800 pound gorilla on a diet. Don't link to or buy from Amazon.
SFWA removes Amazon.com links from website
If you think you've uncovered another alias, I suggest you get in touch with the Florida Attorney General's office.
Brenda, anytime someone asks you for money to publish your work it's either a scam or a very bad idea.
When you say "nursery rhyme," what do you mean? How long a piece? Book length?
If so, go to a bookstore. Find books with similar texts. Look at who published them. Get those publishers' guidelines and follow them to the letter.
Shorter pieces, go to the library and look at the most recent edition of Poet's Market. See who publishes material similar to yours. Do not even consider sending your material to a magazine unless you've seen a couple of issues with your own eyes. And if it isn't a paying market, keep looking.
But, all this aside, you should be aware that the money in publishing is small, uncertain, and slow. Please don't pin all your hopes on it.
From Charles Tan: Amazon Capitulated My Ass
And as of this hour, the buy button isn't back on The Apocalypse Door.
Put the eight-hundred pound gorilla on a diet: Delete all your Amazon links.
Ulrika #69: I gather that's not quite right, and there are actual costs associated with ebook production over and above the costs that go into printed editions, but I'm hazy on particulars, and am eager to learn.
See this post by Lisa Spangenberg.
JoXn #43:
Connie Willis's Blackout is available at bn.com for $17.55.
As of this hour, no, our books are still not back.
Serge #25:
Squid Ink Books has it for $34.00
#33: Amazon owns ABE, so going via ABE does not cut out Amazon.
Thanks for pointing that out, Kathryn.
I've removed ABE books from my list of bookstores.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 68 |
| 2009 | 817 |
| 2008 | 761 |
| 2007 | 1084 |
| 2006 | 780 |
| 2005 | 658 |
| 2004 | 338 |
| 2003 | 381 |
| 2002 | 75 |
Total: 4962 comments. View all these comments on a single page. (May take a frightfully long time to load.)
The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by James Macdonald:
Show all comments by James Macdonald.