May 12 2009
Tuesday Night Link RoundUp
According to PublishersMarketplace (subscription needed), the data shows that there is close to 1 million Kindles out in the wilds of readerdom and that the previously provided statistic that if a book is available in print and Kindle, 1 out of 3 purchases is a Kindle purchase is confirmed by at least one major publisher. I hope someone with a royalty statement will come forward and say yea or nay.
Miki, one of our fearless ebook readers, has been tirelessly emailing everyone at Simon & Schuster including the CEO, regarding the high price of the Simon & Schuster ebooks. Recently she got a response indicating the following:
Going forward, all eBook prices will mirror the price of the most recently available print edition. Therefore, if the paperback is $6.99, the suggested retail price of the eBook will also be $6.99 (Please note that it might take some time for these changes to actually go into effect at the retailers).
Way to go, Miki!
Mokoto Rich of the NYTimes wrote that piracy for ebooks is increasing (login required). Harlan Ellison will sue you into oblivion if he can whereas Cory Doctorow worries more about obscurity than piracy. Vromans riffs off of Booksquare’s answer to the solution which is to make the entire digital experience better when you buy than when you steal. This is so true. I’m fairly technologically literate but when it comes to ebooks, even I get frustrated. This PW article discusses, briefly, some of the challenges publishers are facing when it comes to pricing (this is totally self inflicted in my opinion).
Penguin publicist articulates the reasons why have a prepublication presence is so important. (Why is this even a question anymore? According to the Make Information Pay seminar, 5.3% of sales are made from awareness raised by an author’s website). Speaking of online presence for authors, Estatic Days has some PR tips for authors. Authenticity, credibility are so important.
Send to Kindle
May 12, 2009 @ 20:50:22
I am REALLY appreciating all the attention you’ve been paying to this issue of publicity! I feel like I’m learning a lot about it lately, and a lot of that comes from you bringing it up here, and on twitter. Thank you.
May 12, 2009 @ 20:57:10
@carolyn jean I think it’s pretty fascinating myself. There was another article by Debbie Stier at Harper Collins that I just saw on Twitter:
May 13, 2009 @ 00:17:05
Yay Miki! This is a pet peeve of mine (and the subject of many diatribes directed at my computer). I too sent an email (just one I am ashamed to admit in the face of her wonderful perseverance) to Simon and Schuster. I’m looking forward to the change being made, at the very least, on their own site–SimonSays. The changes haven’t yet been made there so I imagine it will take a while to filter down if they haven’t even gotten to it yet.
And Miki? I think I love you. ;-)
May 13, 2009 @ 08:33:07
I’ve found there are Simon and Schuster authors who aren’t even aware of the pricing practice. I sent a favorite author a short email explaining why I was NOT buying their most recent release. I got a response back that neither the author nor their agent were aware of the problem and they were looking into it. Might as well add their voices to those of their readers!!
May 13, 2009 @ 20:14:23
:blush:
Thanks, Collette!
We need to go to work on HarperCollins, next!
May 14, 2009 @ 08:31:29
My royalty statement is getting amended, but my agent said I should have it by next week.
I have a suspicion that kindle played a part in PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS having earned out by December of last year. I didn’t think we sold quite that many in print, frankly.
We’ll see. But I’m not sure whether the e-book column will break down into format/e-readers. I can also ask my editor to see if she has better info.
May 14, 2009 @ 08:36:28
Does anyone know if e-book/Kindle sales are tracked by BookScan?
May 14, 2009 @ 08:50:49
@Sherry Thomas That would be amazing if your Kindle sales took you over the top in a meaingful way. Congratulations on earning out. Your work is beautiful.