Nov 28 2011
Monday Midday News: Cyber Monday Sales, some ending noon PST
UPDATE: Another big CyberMonday deal. Buy.com is offering the Kobo Touch with special offers at 69.99.
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All Romance Ebooks is running their annual survey. They use this survey, in part, to present at the Digital Book World and other tech conferences. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Romance-eReading
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All Romance eBooks Cyber Monday sale is a 50% rebate on all incentive eligible titles. (look for the crown)
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Amazon’s Cyber Monday Sale where over 700 books are 75% off. These are non Agency titles. Many of them are from Open Road including the Barbara Hambly books. Only $1.99. The Cyber Monday sales end today at noon PST.
There are also “Big Deals” that include a few Sourcebooks, Harlequin, and self published titles like Bella Andre’s The Look of Love is on sale for $1.99 through December 4th.
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Sandra Hyatt’s posthumous release, Lessons in Seduction (Harlequin Desire), is out December. The royalties will obviously help her family (husband and children).
RT gave “Lessons In Seduction” 4.5 stars. Reviewer Pat Cooper said: ”Readers are the ones scoring the hit when they pick this one up, and it’s a shame that Hyatt’s passing is going to deny them more tales like this one.”
Lessons In Seduction
A prince on a quest to find the perfect wife doesn’t have time to trifle with a commoner. But Adam Marconi’s longtime friend and sometime driver, Danielle St. Claire, has him contemplating a change in plans. Why can’t the royal have a little fun before finally settling down? Then their supposedly quick affair suddenly turns
serious.And Prince Adam finds himself in a quandary. Say goodbye to the one woman who sets his heart and body on fire, or defy all the rules and cause the scandal of the century.
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | nook | Sony | Kobo | Book Depository
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If you self publish at Amazon, Amazon has a lot of control. This link gives advice on how to avoid getting banned such as not talking about your sales numbers and having multiple accounts. It’s likely one of those things led to Safina Deforges’ account here:
Last month Amazon managed to lose the reviews of countless ebook sellers. Among them our very own Sugar & Spice went from 240+ reviews to “Be the first to review this item.”
Needless to say sales plummeted. Our 130+ five stars are a big selling point. Making Sugar & Spice look like a new book no-one has ever heard of was unhelpful, to say the least. By the time Amazon had fixed the problem we had lost crucial chart and category position. How many sales Amazon’s errors cost us is hard to say, but it must have been substantial.
Deforges doesn’t tell us all the story (none of these posts ever do) but she has two versions of the same book up: here and here. However, I do think DeForges post does provide a cautionary tale of how putting all the eggs in one Amazon basket can be problematic.
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The Publisher’s Association has come out in support of Penguin’s new bar on library digital lending.
The move echoed the stance taken by Penguin US earlier this week. PA c.e.o. Richard Mollet said: “Today’s announcement [by Penguin UK] underlines what the Publishers Association has been saying for some time about the risks around e-lending. Whilst publishers are and always have been fully supportive of libraries, it also has to be recognised that in this still developing area, it is right to be concerned about the security of digital files in the supply chain.”
This “security” thing that is referred to happens to be that Kindle library lending through Overdrive was managed by Amazon (in just a few easy steps compared to the draconian 12 steps it takes to borrow an ePub). Security thus, to me, means that publishers want to prevent Amazon from gaining any advantage including one that allows Kindle owners to easily borrow ebooks.
The reason that publishers have no problem with Barnes & Noble is because BN’s business model is built along the lines of publishers. Keep prices high. Amazon’s slash and burn pricing model is feared by publishers and rather than compete directly, publishers attempt to restrict access.
Send to Kindle
Nov 28, 2011 @ 09:40:25
Great roundup, thank you!
Nov 28, 2011 @ 10:12:44
That survey is incredibly biased! It’s been years since I’ve had any involvement with creating surveys, but they were leading questions if I’ve ever seen them.
For example, when they ask, “Why do you continue to read print books?” they don’t have any option for answer along the lines of, “Because I like them”.
They work on the assumption everyone thinks print books are evil, and the only reason a person would read them was if they were stupid – one of the options was something like, “Because I don’t know how to read ebooks”!!
Uh, no. The reason I continue to read print books is because I PREFER them. I’d take a paperback over reading on my Kindle any day.
In addition to that, it works on the assumption everyone responding is American.
The main reason many non-American readers don’t read more ebooks is because the publishers refuse to sell them to us.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 10:27:04
@SN: I would have appreciated an “Any other comments?” section – there were a lot of things I didn’t feel the survey allowed me to get across.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 12:31:21
Thanks for the info.Don’t know about the rest of you out there, but I love having easy access to Kindle books from my public library. Hope the Publishers Association doesn’t ruin it!
Nov 28, 2011 @ 12:40:33
The Literary Underworld is running deals until 11:59 PM central time. 10% off with code UL2011 and free shipping over $25. Lots of books on sale, some up to half off.
The Underworld is a small press author consortium, not a publishing organization. We have gotten together to sell our books in a way we can’t manage separately. We have everything from paranormal romance from places like Ellora’s Cave and Amber Quill to Stoker Award winning horror to YA.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 13:01:30
The links to Saffina Desforges’ books are for two different books…? Snow White and Sugar and Spice.
Also, I thought Desforges was a man (Mark something?) and another writer? I could be wrong about that though. Not that it really matters in the context your post.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 13:05:05
@Christina: My understanding is that there are two different titles/versions of the same book. One of the reviewers noted
“I have recently bought and read the best-selling version of Sugar & Spice: The controversial psycho-sexual crime thriller and the new release Snow White: Rose Red crime thriller series (Book One) and loved them both!
So, when I saw this advertised as a ‘customers also bought’, I risked it.
True, I have already read the UK version, but i was interested to see what the difference was and why the author chose to re-write this for the American market.
Be clear, this is the same book and story but with American characters and place names etc, but it is still worth a read.”
My guess is that Amazon got a number of complaints from readers about being mislead that this was a different book.
No, I think the blogger was the publisher or co writer of the Desforges book.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 13:21:31
Oh ok, thanks for clarifying. I thought you were saying the two books you linked to were the same.
Just out of curiosity, would you refer to an author as a “she” if it’s a writing team male and female? The amazon bio says that Mark Williams is one of the writing team for Saffina Desforges. But it doesn’t say who the other person is. Or maybe I’m reading that wrong. So confusing. I’m guessing the bio picture is of the female part of the partnership?
Nov 28, 2011 @ 13:27:23
@Christina: I am saying that the books are the same. The one is an “Americanized” version and they are both for sale in the UK and I believe the US.
I guess I refer to the author as She because Saffina sounds like a female name to me and the bio picture is a female so it seems like the writinng team wants to be known as a she.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 13:36:56
Some Kobo codes good today for Cyber Monday (not sure what time they expire)…
60% off most OpenRoad books (no limit) – OpenRoad60
50% off select titles (one purchase only) – Cyber50
30% off select titles (one purchase only) – Cyber30
20% off select titles (one purchase only) – Cyber20
(codes are only good on non-agency books)
Nov 28, 2011 @ 13:41:39
Oh ok, I think studying for finals has eaten my brain because when I look at the product descriptions for Snow White and Sugar and Spice, they look like two different books. (Plus, on a side note for authors…I don’t want to wade through a ton of text to get the basics about a book in the description section.) Sorry Jane. I’m sure it’s just me and I’m missing something here.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 13:44:02
@Christina – They are the same books but one is the “Americanized version”. The setting is changed from the UK to the US. As the one reviewer noted, the books are the same but the names and places have been changed.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 13:50:32
Thanks for all of the coupon codes and sales links. Off to buy some books…
Nov 28, 2011 @ 14:05:29
Thunder and Roses by Mary Jo Putney is the Diesel eBooks deal of the day for $1 (reg $5.99)[DRM'd ePub]
http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/index.php?page=deal_of_the_day
Nov 28, 2011 @ 14:18:22
An epub from Overdrive libraries involves 12 steps? This is what it involves on my ipad…
For ebpub format:
1) Click on link on library site to add to cart.
2) Check out.
3) Click link to download.
4) Download goes to the Overdrive app.
For kindle format:
1) Click on link on library site to add to cart.
2) Check out.
3) Click link to download.
4) Link goes to Amazon.com, where I click another link to download.
5) Book is now available in Kindle app.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 16:15:34
@Jane: I wonder how anyone thought this was a good idea. I don’t ever like it when books are “Americanized” by changing “trunk” of a car for “boot”. Changing place names and making the characters American– assume they meant citizens of the United States– and then loading both versions on both sites seems to be just asking for a problem.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 16:47:47
@DS: Ok, that comment was a mess. I meant change boot to trunk.
However this looks like a plan guaranteed to create dissatisfied customers.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 16:57:38
@Brian: got it – thanks for posting this, Brian!
Nov 28, 2011 @ 19:41:37
FYI – I just now (5:30 pm PST) clicked on the Amazon Cyber Monday deal link, and it looks like it’s going on til midnight. (There’s a little countdown thingie at the bottom of the page which says there are 6 hours left.) Might just be for Kindle books, though.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 20:58:18
I didn’t know ARe had started carrying Agency titles again! This makes me really happy, even without the discounts.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 23:33:04
@LizJ – I think when people quote that statistic of how many steps it takes they are counting the initial set up, so it includes things such as
- download Adobe Digital Editions
- start up Adobe account
- download Overdrive
- start up overdrive account
- give overdrive and adobe permission to talk to each other
- register reading device/app/program with adobe digital editions
- log in to elibrary and register your account there with Adobe
I may have some of the steps wrong, as my initial set up was a couple years ago and were thankfully a one time deal. Now it is much easier. However the initial set up involved a lot of hair pulling and teeth grinding. I also had a moment of fear when we got a new computer wondering how hard it was going to be to get it authorized, but that turned out to be not too bad.
Nov 28, 2011 @ 23:55:13
Amazon has 2/3 of the market for eBooks, something any publisher ought to be worried about. Kindle owners buy 3 times as many books as non-Kindle owners. So, allowing library lending for the Kindle owners can be seen as allowing your best customer to get your product for free.
The sad thing is that there aren’t statistics about people’s habits. Publishers don’t know how many books their customers borrow instead of buy.
At my library, after you choose between Kindle and ePub you have about 3 steps left — hardly draconian. When I check e-books out of the library, the problems are search (very tedious) and availability. An extra step or two during check out isn’t a big deal and certainly not going to deter the average reader.
What I would like to see is book clubs or private libraries where I can pay a fee and read unlimited books from a much better collection than my library’s.
Oh, and much easier to browse.
Nov 29, 2011 @ 08:51:48
I only know the Desforges writing team for their habit of arguing with one star reviewers, something that put me off reading them.
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