chelsfield
SWF Writers
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Joined: Mar 28, 2012 3:07:24 GMT -8
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Post by chelsfield on May 22, 2017 1:34:33 GMT -8
Article from the Guardian regarding print books, but I wonder if there is any relevance to e-books? Is offering ebooks first at a higher price, then knocking it down to much lower similar? It's not exactly secondhand, but might be something like books in the bargain bin. I know as a reader of ebooks, if I can only get the first book in a series at £1 or below, I will try and hold out for a reduction in the rest of the series... www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/may/17/secondhand-book-sales-authors-cheap |
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Post by djmills on May 23, 2017 0:43:54 GMT -8
As for the article, publishers have been selling print books cheap in bargain bins to get rid of the rest of the print run because that is better than to pay storage in some warehouse.
For self publishers, my POD books sell. The readers can sell their copy once read. Authors can't stop that at all, because it is a physical book.
eBooks can go "on sale" at a lower price as a marketing tool. Same if you offer the first eBook in series free to get readers to try then buy the rest of the series.
I include wording in the copyright page that covers resale. Something like "This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. etc."
So, I guess people can loan the copy or transfer it to other eReaders, and the author would not know about it.
Personally, I would be happy to have my stories pirated and read. Hopefully when the reader gets more money, they might purchase the rest of each series. But mostly, I think if they are inclined to pirate a copy, they were never my readers anyway, because they can't afford to pay for a copy. :-)
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chelsfield
SWF Writers
Posts: 700
Joined: Mar 28, 2012 3:07:24 GMT -8
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Post by chelsfield on May 24, 2017 0:02:24 GMT -8
So, I guess people can loan the copy or transfer it to other eReaders, and the author would not know about it. Personally, I would be happy to have my stories pirated and read. Hopefully when the reader gets more money, they might purchase the rest of each series. But mostly, I think if they are inclined to pirate a copy, they were never my readers anyway, because they can't afford to pay for a copy. :-) Interesting, DJ. Yes, bargain bins have been around forever, but so have sharing and lending books, the print equivalent of transfer or even copy. Time was authors liked that kind of free publicity for their books. I read all the Harry Potter books but never bought a one. My friend lent them to me. Would JK Rowling mind? I don't think so. Not just because she has enough money not to care, but also any author knows that books are meant for sharing. I could go off on one (about ebooks having destroyed the book sharing economy), but I won't because not point of the thread. And please know this harangue is not directed at you. But just one more thing: piracy is not the same as two friends sharing or even a group of friends... |
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Post by Ted on May 28, 2017 9:22:05 GMT -8
Many a time a friend has lent me a book to read and after returning book I bought my own copy.
I use to look at garage sales and church recycling outlets for old books or out of print books. Found a few good ones in my time.
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chelsfield
SWF Writers
Posts: 700
Joined: Mar 28, 2012 3:07:24 GMT -8
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Post by chelsfield on May 28, 2017 23:01:03 GMT -8
May sound a bit sad, but some of my fondest memories are going to library book sales, especially on a rainy Saturday morning, all of us clutching our cardboard boxes determined to fill them with books...
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Post by jaydax on Jun 5, 2017 11:16:38 GMT -8
File sharing of music, whilst illegal, appears to have helped the music industry. The same is probably true for ebooks. As to printed books - they have been available free in libraries for years. I've never heard of an author complaining about this.
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055 
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Post by Ria Stone on Aug 20, 2017 9:43:18 GMT -8
Article from the Guardian regarding print books, but I wonder if there is any relevance to e-books? Is offering ebooks first at a higher price, then knocking it down to much lower similar? It's not exactly secondhand, but might be something like books in the bargain bin. I know as a reader of ebooks, if I can only get the first book in a series at £1 or below, I will try and hold out for a reduction in the rest of the series... www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/may/17/secondhand-book-sales-authors-cheapI think about this topic frequently. Before eBooks, I was an avid secondhand store booklover, half my books were bought secondhand. Often though, I was buying books like art or history books that were out of print or not easily available. I would pick up a lot of "mind candy" books like mysteries and such. But, on the other hand, I have bought some of my favorite authors' books, new, two and three times. I had Dorothy L. Sayers' and Mary Stewarts' books in three sets with three different cover series. My feeling is if I buy a book, like a painting, it is mine and I can resell it. As for eBooks, still thinking about that one. DVD piracy is a huge business, too. |
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Post by Ted on Aug 20, 2017 12:29:01 GMT -8
I had a wonderful collection of books from the late 1800's and early 1900's from my grandparents. Unfortunately my ex took them before filing for divorce. I don't think any of them were 'classic' or 'rare'. I just liked the smell and feel of them, and the intricate artwork too.
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Post by jjmainor on Aug 21, 2017 6:08:14 GMT -8
Article from the Guardian regarding print books, but I wonder if there is any relevance to e-books? Is offering ebooks first at a higher price, then knocking it down to much lower similar? It's not exactly secondhand, but might be something like books in the bargain bin. I know as a reader of ebooks, if I can only get the first book in a series at £1 or below, I will try and hold out for a reduction in the rest of the series... www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/may/17/secondhand-book-sales-authors-cheapI think about this topic frequently. Before eBooks, I was an avid secondhand store booklover, half my books were bought secondhand. Often though, I was buying books like art or history books that were out of print or not easily available. I would pick up a lot of "mind candy" books like mysteries and such. But, on the other hand, I have bought some of my favorite authors' books, new, two and three times. I had Dorothy L. Sayers' and Mary Stewarts' books in three sets with three different cover series. My feeling is if I buy a book, like a painting, it is mine and I can resell it. As for eBooks, still thinking about that one. DVD piracy is a huge business, too. I've defaulted to using the suggested copyright notice Smashwords suggests in their guide, but changed it slightly to remove the advert for SW since it goes out to other retailers. But I get bugged (and yet I've never bothered to do anything about it) that the disclaimer assigns a "license" to the person who bought the book. This is the BS software companies have been doing to circumvent copyright laws regarding personal ownership and the rights associated with the buyer...you buy the program but you don't "own" it, and they can technically sue you if you make a copy for personal use - which is legal if you "own" the copy you bought. |
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chelsfield
SWF Writers
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Joined: Mar 28, 2012 3:07:24 GMT -8
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Post by chelsfield on Aug 22, 2017 0:36:15 GMT -8
Ria, love the concept of mind candy!
One only leases ebooks;they are not owned. Publishers have virtually eliminated the "sharing economy" that is central to reading print books.
How do we stop this, especially as indie ebook authors and publishers? I'm not sure. Is offering free books an effort at returning to book sharing? I don't know....
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
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Post by Ria Stone on Aug 22, 2017 4:14:19 GMT -8
Ria, love the concept of mind candy! One only leases ebooks;they are not owned. Publishers have virtually eliminated the "sharing economy" that is central to reading print books. How do we stop this, especially as indie ebook authors and publishers? I'm not sure. Is offering free books an effort at returning to book sharing? I don't know.... Hola Chelsfield - "mind candy" not my term, got it from somewhere else :-) I have stopped buying eBooks, for awhile, for a few reasons, and one is I don't feel I own the book. I do like Smashwords various format options. I have been downloading books as PDFs, then I can read them on any device without a reader. Personally, I see the eBook ownership restrictions as part of a bigger problem as we put our whole lives into electronic systems, for example, I think it is odd, we put our money into a bank account, they get to say how much in order to "avoid" fees, they get to charge for variances like if your balance drops or other restrictions. They don´t pay interest yet get to use your money to make themselves huge profits. It´s like it´s not your money anymore, it's theirs. |
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rchapman1
Junior Member
Posts: 25
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Post by rchapman1 on Aug 22, 2017 21:46:16 GMT -8
Readers go through so many books I think it's unrealistic to think we are going to buy new books all the time - I love buying secondhand books at garage sales or charity shops. Also there is only so much room on my bookshops so I'm happy to donate them back again once I've read them! At least if we find an author we like we may buy a new copy of their latest book. As for ebooks, I feel the same way. Once you've paid for something you should own it and be able to do what you like with it, same as magazines, which are much more expensive than most ebooks. At least in Australia you can get a readers' payment for books sold to libraries.
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Post by Ted on Aug 23, 2017 2:58:39 GMT -8
"It´s like it´s not your money anymore, it's theirs." That's the deal you make with financial institutions. In return for a 'safe' place to park your loot and receive a pittance of interest the financial institution is granted full use of your loot for whatever purposes it wants, the right to restrict what you can do with your loot under certain circumstances, the right to charge fees, levies, penalties as well as give it all to creditors upon proper presentation of a legal notice. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. History of banking... www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac19 |
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
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Post by Ria Stone on Aug 23, 2017 6:25:01 GMT -8
"It´s like it´s not your money anymore, it's theirs." That's the deal you make with financial institutions. In return for a 'safe' place to park your loot and receive a pittance of interest the financial institution is granted full use of your loot for whatever purposes it wants, the right to restrict what you can do with your loot under certain circumstances, the right to charge fees, levies, penalties as well as give it all to creditors upon proper presentation of a legal notice. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. History of banking... www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac19Love the info, Ted, I had read a book about the Rothschilds and private banking. Here in Merida, I feel like I see things, I would not have seem as easily at home. There are private banks here like Monex and a World Trade Center is being build north of the city. That tells me private foreign money is coming into Merida and it is obvious, new construction is everywhere and not being financed by Mexicans. Inflation is rising partially due to the devalued peso but the devalued peso is part of the reason for the extensive foreign investments. It's like watching an entire section of the country, the Yucatan, being gentrified, where the poor will be pushed out by rising prices. I am already researching and exploring other places to live outside of Centro because I know I will be pushed out by rising rents. I know the uber rich like to build vacation homes around the world but to rebuild a city as if it were a seventh vacation spot is odd. Thanks again. |
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Post by Ted on Aug 23, 2017 21:58:44 GMT -8
I fully understand rising house prices. The home I bought in the 70's was less than 70,000 and today a house like that is valued at 1.3 million in the neighbourhood. And that house was 1/2 hour to 45 minutes from Vancouver in the 70's. With traffic today it is probably closer to an hour or more drive. Sheesh.
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