This is a very interesting development. I am still in the camp that believes e-books, as currently designed, are not the wave of the future. I still think there is going to be some sort of radically different device that is not on the market yet that will allow folks to read e-books in a different form. Until we get that device, sales of existing devices will continue to flatline, except for the occasional temporary spike when there is another price cut.
It also seems to me that if e-books were really selling like Amazon says they are, they would publish the numbers. The fact that they count "freebies" as sales says a lot to me.
But, the below will take you to yet another e-book venture. At least this deal has brand name quality talent behind it.
Ed Gorman's blog: TOP SUSPENSE GROUP ANNOUNCEMENT
More and more I am hearing from readers complaining about how e-books are being taken over by self published stuff that does not meet standards. At least here, and with a couple of other ventures, there are brand names involved who made their names not by flashy Internet campaigns, social media, or whatever the latest hype is.
Instead, they made their names by writing quality books.
Where did you get your information that e-book sales have flatlined? Everywhere I have read from Publisher Weekly on down to various blog has stated e-book sales are up and print books are down.
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand the near fear of e-books. It is just another format like mass market paperback vs hardcover. Do music lovers worry iTunes will take their CDs away?
While you can doubt Amazon's numbers, Apple has been very open with their e-book sales.
I have over 500 books on my Kindle and a half a dozen on my free Barnes & Noble e-reader for Mac. I have less than ten self-published books. Meanwhile I have discovered dozens of forgotten published authors whose works are out of print and near impossible to find. Google editions (if they ever are released) and Project Gutenberg hope to make sure every book is available to readers and not forgotten.
Top Suspense Group is a great idea not only for e-books but for all books in every publishing format.
I think you misunderstood a little bit. I would have replied directly to you, but you have no blog, no e-mail address, so that made things impossible.
ReplyDeleteI was not disparaging Suspense Group by any means. I have a lot of resepct for several folks involved in the project.
PW, CNET, and numerous other places have all mentioned the same issue when they have dug into the numbers on e-book READERS. Amazon's most recent SEC filing indicated it as well.
As to e-book sales---that is a bit hard to really figure as Amazon and others still count freebies as sales. Until they actually break out numbers for real sales (money changing hands) it is hard to tell if they are really going up.
I am reading on several lists from authors that Apple is extremely slow in reporting sales figures to authors which is raising questions about their accuracy as well.
I don't know if there is "a near fear" of e-books. Though, after what Amazon has done in the past with removing books from Kindles (one never owns the books there) it certainly is a justifiable concern.
Glad you are happy with what you have. I know there are many folks who have bought in to the hype and are thrilled with what they have.
I suspect though, there are many more folks, that have not made the leap and won't until something better comes along. Which was the point of the post.
Yes, there is tremendous hype among some folks to the point of near religious hysteria that e-books as currently constructed are it.
I don't buy it.
And I don't have a dog in this hunt.
Kevin
Thanks for the reply and the information. Did you read the latest report where over 60% of e-books were bought by people who have not paid for an e-reader? You can download a Kindle e-reader for your Mac, PC,etc for free.
ReplyDeleteI was at fault that I didn't make clear I know you as I do look forward to see what the Top Suspense Group can do.
As for Amazon removing books from Kindle, that has changed. Over a year ago I bought a collection of books called "Charlie Chan Complete Bundle" that included all Charlie Chan books written by Earl Derr Biggers. Recently Amazon discovered the rights to publish those books were in question. Amazon notified me they were removing this collection from their site for sale, but I could keep it on my Kindle if I wanted. It is no longer in my Amazon library but still on my Kindle to read.
It is difficult to make clear the tone or spirit of what you type on the internet. I really hope you take my questions as not arguments but genuine curiosity about the subject. How do you think e-readers will sell this Christmas?
The "near fear of e-books" was meant to comment on the idea that e-books will replace print. I don't see that happening any time soon.
I will continue to enjoy reading your thoughts and news on your blog. Now I will again disappear into the lurkers corner of your blog readers.
No need to vanish, Michael. Just really curious as to who you are.
ReplyDeleteNo, I have not seen that report, but again, if the sixty percent figure contains freebies classified as "sales" I am not sure it really matters what is claimed.
Good news that Amazon has, at least, in one instance, quit removing stuff. That does not change the fact though that they still can exercise that option as you are not buying the book--only renting it.
Christmas sales----I have no idea. Electronics are always good sellers. But, I have two family members working in retail and sales so far of anything and everything seem to be very slow. Then there is the fact that so many stores are starting various Black Friday and other promotions way earlier than normal. CNBC reported again today that sales figures across retail seem to be consistently lower than sales were projected to be.
So, I don't know.
I do know that there ought to be a law telling folks they can't play Christmas music or have lights up until after Thanksgiving. Two of my neighbors did so before Halloween. On Halloween itself some of the retail folks had set everything up that day day and started Christmas promotions that day.
Just not right.
I find it too hard to shut up to ever disappear completely. As I am about to prove...
ReplyDeleteAs I sit here surrounded by print books, knowing my storage bin is full of print books, I wonder how important is it to own the book? All I want is to read the book. There are many I wish to hold on to and those I can buy in print, but most sit neglected and forgotten buried in some box somewhere. This is why I am giving away most of my print books. I also know if I miss them there is e-books or the library. I worry less about losing my books at Amazon than I do losing my print library to fire.
Another change at Amazon is its desire to charge 99 cents for many of the formerly free books. I know I will pay 99 cents for a book I know is free at Manybooks.net or Project Guttenberg.
The key for me is not the number of e-books Apple has sold (135 million) but the one billion dollars in e-book sales cited by PW et al.
As for who I am. Just another reader with a WIP. At 56 years old I have had many jobs in my past including Entertainment Editor and critic for local (Louisiana) newspapers, wrote local TV and advertising, sold two never filmed screenplays in Hollywood, worked for AMC theater in a variety of jobs including doing reports of screenings (showing of a movie before it is released), Product Supervisor of books at the largest Tower Records west of the Mississippi river (did buying as well), and basically survived a variety of failures.
Michael Shonk
Hey, Michael, good to hear from you. And thank you for the explanation.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote: "The key for me is not the number of e-books Apple has sold (135 million) but the one billion dollars in e-book sales cited by PW et al."
From what I have read elsewhere, that sales figure counts free books at a standard price of $2.99 or $3.99 to generate that figure and various variations of it. If you stripped that out, e-book sales still constitute somewhere around 1 percent of total book sales.
In addition to what I have read on a couple of major published writers, I have heard from several others that Apple consistently fails to pay royalties on time and can't provide sales figures in a timely manner.
Time will tell on all this stuff. I am not saying e-books won't take over some day in the far distant future. Just not now with these devices.
What I think will happen is tablets, such as the iPAD will take over and basically kill the kindles and the like. In a few years, maybe as soon as two Christmases from now, you will be able to get a Kindle and the like for twenty bucks and will be marketed mainly to very young kids. Too many folks don't want the limitations of the Kindles and the like and will switch to iPads.
Then, somebody will come up with some break through deal to create some kind of new reader that will do amazing things for the reading experience.
Just my guesses.
Of course, I though the clearly superior BetaMax would win out over VHS and we all know how that turned out. :)))))))))))