I'm starting this thread here because, frankly, more folks will see it and discuss. If this isn't the right thread - mods please help. I recently bought a Nook so I could read books at work on my down times. Makes it so much easier than carrying a number of books, and if I find that I don't like one genre I can flip to the other genres I have on it. (Besides, digital books save trees and other stuff and (hopefully) reduces the carbon footprint (to make all the environmentalists happy)) I'm not real happy that a lot of the digital books cost the same as the paperbacks & hardbacks do. After all, they AREN'T paper and other stuff; they aren't using ink; and they don't have to be shipped anywhere. They do have to have a storage on some sort of ethernet so there is some cost, as well as paying the author, but still ... And this brings me to the point of this thread. I hope garamet weighs in and helps to focus this thread in the right direction - separation of truth from rumor. And then, how to help improve things for all concerned. I was told by someone at a meeting that the digital books were not paying the authors that well; in fact the authors were getting screwed. Now I love my nook; I love being able to cart about 100 books with me to read wherever and not break my back. (I also love that it has a textbook feature and kids through college can get their textbooks, write all over them and not break their backs carrying THOSE behemoths all over campus) But I prefer to know that the authors are getting paid for their labors.
I have agreed to have a couple of books published digitally. The publishing house pays the same royalties as for the print edition, as a percentage of sales. But since they are making the digital version available much cheaper than the print version, the bottom line is that authors get less. That is only my personal experience, however. I am not a full-time author, I don't earn my living from writing, and I am certain policies vary enormously from one publisher to another, from one country to another, and even from one genre to another.
Personally I like the physicality of the book. I get headaches looking at portable screens for too long.
Query: Have you tried the electronic readers? Not the laptop, the readers? I only ask because I didn't like reading from the laptop as much as I do reading from the Nook.
Never had a Nook, but had a Kindle 2 and thought it was tits. Would probably get a current generation Kindle over a Nook if Skin was to get another ebook reader, though, as the Kindle is thinner and lighter than the Nook.
I had two reasons for getting Nook: 1) I had over 100 books from eReader and could side load those, thus not pay again for the books, and 2) I go to Barnes and Noble a lot and peruse books for an hour before buying. I don't go to a lot of foreign countries to the Kindle is not a necessity. But to get back to the main topic of this thread - are the writers getting screwed?
It's getting a little ridiculous that the publishers are charging the same prices as hardbacks on a lot of ebooks and charging the same prices as on softcovers (or trade paperback). I want them and the authors to make money of course but no one on this planet with a straight face can tell me a book that is electronically printed has the same cost structure as a physical printed book. The whole argument that the author is getting screwed is bunk since the cost of the book that normally went into printing and shipping the books is going straight to the publishers pockets and not a cent is going to the author. I'm afraid the publishers are going to kill eBooks by being greedy. I've already cut way back on the numbers I've bought as compared to previous years. Not to mention the whole platform thing. I want to be able to put a eBook on any device and have it work.
All I can say is that I don't think I'd be enjoying this copy of Dark Knight returns I just ordered from Amazon if it were some kind of digital version.
Amazing how clueless some on this board are.... Remember the first iPod? Remember what it looked like? Do you know what the current ones look like and can do? Or given that you're an old man..... Remember the first computers for personal use? Now compare those to today's machines. eBook readers are in the same position. It's getting there. They do have color but it's in its infancy and highly expensive. Plus it sucks. Give it a few years.
Yeabbut, since every other form of electronic communications and entertainment device has loooong ago developed any and all forms of color screen technology of all sizes, how the hell can anyone, in the 21st century, justify producing a device of any kind that doesn't have one?
Now you're just being dumb. The first iPod wasn't in color. The first PDA's weren't in color. Neither were the first cell phones. Second we are talking about eBook readers that simulate PAPER. Do you know how hard that is to do?
Why "or"? Why not both? There's still something satisfying about holding a real book in your hand, but we've been conditioned by computer use to expect a Search function. Also, with Kindle you can access whole libraries of public domain stuff for free or for a whopping $.99 fee. The complete Dickens, the complete Tolstoy...stuff that would cost some bucks to accumulate in book form and take up miles of shelf space, all in the palm of your hand.
Yes. Yes. Doesn't apply; I'll just beat you with my cane instead And yes. And I can bullshit. Look at the Game Boy Color, Nintendo DS, PSP, and iPod Touch. Hell, look at the Sega Game Gear and the Lynx! If developing a technology from scratch, you have an argument, but with these established platforms, it isn't a stretch to adapt their hardware for an eBook format, as the hardware is more than capable for the job and isn't all that expensive these days. Writing the software and OS needed to run the eBook and creating the user interface would really be the only big initial expense, I'd venture.
Good God some of you are retards. Of course it's easy to make a color eBook reader. Just buy a fucking iPad!! (or like me a iPhone) However if you want a color eBook reader that you can read in full sun because the reader SIMULATES PAPER you're going to have to give it time. EBOOK READERS ARE NOT LCD SCREENS!!! (or any other type of screen we currently use) eBook readers (Kindle, Nook, Sony) have started from scratch. The technology for color is in its infancy and in a few years we will start seeing color eBook readers.
Agreed. Plus some books just wouldn't be done justice being only in eBook formats. My problem with public domain is that it's messy. Messy to find stuff and often the formatting sucks. I'd rather pay up front for something like Barnes & Noble does where they have the story but also a lengthy introduction and other stuff about the book in the book.
Can't stand digital readers. I've tried them and I still prefer a real book. Plus, I hate the fact that you don't actually own the e-book when you download it.
Mm. We have books on our shelves that we've had since we were children. Dad's 2nd-printing Tarzan books. Family bible. The encyclopedias Mary's father gave her when she was 12. Harlan Ellison, Asimov & Clark novels I bought in my teens. Will the ebooks on a Kindle still be around in 40 years to pass on to your kids?
Steam still has an account of what games i have purshced that are steam based and it remembers and redownloads them. Steam/impulse a form of drm i actually support.
It's kind of an interesting aside that the recent proxy battle for Barnes and Noble was, in part, fueled by the role of e-readers and e-books in the chain's brick-and-mortar locations. Scuttle has it that the challenge by activists might have had it's roots in Len Riggio's reluctance to embrace e-publishing (along with the desire of some major stock players to see the chain diversify). Riggio is a "book lover", and had to be "leaned on" to enter the 21st Century, insofar as electronics was concerned.
Damn........ One of my favorite ebook sites prices for Stephen King: The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition $25.00 Carrie $32.50 Night Shift $35.00 morons.......
Oo, I missed that part. Thanks for highlighting it, Muad, though I know that wasn't your intention. I'm no expert on the digital vs paper situation. As usual with these things, that's the bailiwick of the bean counters. What I do know is that when digital first became a possibility, there was a big sweep by the major publishers to try to garner all the digital rights for themselves, and a backlash from authors, particularly author organizations such as the Authors Guild and Science Fiction Writers of America. (The problem with print fiction, as opposed to scriptwriting, is that there's no overall watchdog agency. Screenwriters have the Writers Guild, effectively a *gasp* union to protect their rights, and also issue guidelines for their work. Print writers are on their own, so it's usually David vs Goliath.) In any case, about 10-15 years ago, based on a number of class action suits brought by authors, publishers were prevented from glomming onto all digital rights, and now authors' contracts reflect that. However, that's not to say those rights don't vary from author to author and contract to contract. In my personal experience, a digital edition of a previously print book is not considered a new publication, so there's no upfront money, and the royalty percentage is about the same - anywhere from 2-10% of the list price. Is there some back-room finagling going on that shifts revenues for unwary authors into "unearned" categories? No doubt. Do Name authors have rafts of attorneys watchdogging this sort of thing for them? Also no doubt. The rest of us just muddle through as usual. And as of now, digital sales, for most of us, aren't so huge that they make a difference in our income. Good question, LizK. Thanks for asking!
Another thing: Dead authors don't get royalties. (Their estates might, but that's a separate topic.) That's why so many works by Dickens, etc. are available for free or for a nominal price. But that's always been the case for dead-tree editions as well.
Bottom line on digital readers: You don't own the e-books when you buy them. Ergo, they fucking suck.
