cooperlola Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 In case anybody missed this, there's a "12 days of Kindle" sale on at the mo'. Lots of stuff for 99p or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSKS Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 [quote user="cooperlola"]In case anybody missed this, there's a "12 days of Kindle" sale on at the mo'. Lots of stuff for 99p or so.[/quote]The consensus on the Kindle forums seems to be that this has been a disappointing sale with very few books by established authors available. Certainly I have found only 2 books this time but last year must have spent about £20 to get 10 or 15 really good books! There's always a lot of free books and very cheap ebooks available an Amazon and in amongst the total dross there is the occasional gem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Well, I found half a dozen or so (quite surprised to find Hitchens on there at a time when I assumed they'd want to cash in) but I admit a couple are things I have in non-cyber form but was pleased to have on the Kindle in advance of my stay away from home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Nice row brewing up over the publishers' attempts to reintroduce retail price maintenance for electronic books. They are the ones trying to cash in.According to the press, the hike in price of electronic books has spawned a lot of pirating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSKS Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 [quote user="woolybanana"]Nice row brewing up over the publishers' attempts to reintroduce retail price maintenance for electronic books. They are the ones trying to cash in.According to the press, the hike in price of electronic books has spawned a lot of pirating[/quote]The Net Book Agreement was outlawed a quarter century ago yet it has effectively resurfaced for ebooks. Amazon, for example, must sell ebooks at the price determined by the publisher rather than in competition with other sellers. So what we have now is really an eNBA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 It seems that Brussels has been moved to investigate what is going on, though.I still don't understand why ebooks are paying VAT when paper books don't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzer Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 According to the Daily Mail up to 20% of ebooks downloaded are sourced from illegal sites.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2081072/Online-pirates-threaten-Kindle-profits-thousands-turn-sites-download-free-eBooks.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racerbear02 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Father Christmas just bought me a Kobo, similar to Kindle but not tied to Amazon and can read many formats, I have found that by using a program called Calibre I can convert and read almost any format, it will also convert books to read on Kindle and many other devices, it is a free download and works well in my experience so far. Natively it will not remove any DRM but other programs are available to do that if you wish.Regarding cheap books, I would tend to agree with other posters that there is little on Amazon at the moment for my tastes in the cheap offers.I am unsurprised that people will pirate books, I accept that authors and publishers need to make a living, otherwise we would have nothing to read, but when it is cheaper to buy a book in hard copy, which has had to be supplied with paper, printed, stored and distributed, than it is to buy the same novel as an ebook, which is merely a modification of the electronic format used to print a hard copy book, then people will vote with their feet and go to other sources. At worst case they should cost 50% of the cost of a hard copy book.I also object that having bought an ebook, I apparently do not have the right to read it on another device at a different time, or even lend it to a friend as I would with a hard copy book, it is not theft or any form of deceit, I have bought it, I should be allowed to do what I want with it, just like a hard copy book, and until this issue is addressed there will be more people getting pirated books.I do not advocate pirating books, or music or films, but while there is greed amongst suppliers, it will continue to happen, but 5000 books for £5 almost anywhere on ebay has got to be a bargain as opposed to the official channels, even if you do not read 90% of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 [quote user="Racerbear02"]I also object that having bought an ebook, I apparently do not have the right to read it on another device at a different time, [/quote]I agree with most of your post but I don't understand that one. All my Kindle stuff is available on my Android by simply downloading the Kindle Ap and linking it to my account. Ditto, I can read the stuff on any 'puter I own or borrow by linking to my account and downloading all my archived stuff.But yes, paying only marginally less (if that) for an e-book than the real thing is bonkers. My antedote to that is to buy the real thing, not to pirate an e-book! I'd like to think that this is a teething issue and with luck sanity will soon prevail. One can only hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 What I would really like is for Amazon to separate out the self-published first novels from the proper stuff.I bought a couple of 99p books in the summer to stick on my ipod. OK, they weren't that bad, but the number of typos and really poorly written sentences beggared belief, and ruined any enjoyment. I'd rather pay a bit extra for something that has been proofread.[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 [quote user="Racerbear02"]Father Christmas just bought me a Kobo, similar to Kindle but not tied to Amazon and can read many formats, I have found that by using a program called Calibre I can convert and read almost any format, it will also convert books to read on Kindle and many other devices, it is a free download and works well in my experience so far. Natively it will not remove any DRM but other programs are available to do that if you wish.Regarding cheap books, I would tend to agree with other posters that there is little on Amazon at the moment for my tastes in the cheap offers.I am unsurprised that people will pirate books, I accept that authors and publishers need to make a living, otherwise we would have nothing to read, but when it is cheaper to buy a book in hard copy, which has had to be supplied with paper, printed, stored and distributed, than it is to buy the same novel as an ebook, which is merely a modification of the electronic format used to print a hard copy book, then people will vote with their feet and go to other sources. At worst case they should cost 50% of the cost of a hard copy book.I also object that having bought an ebook, I apparently do not have the right to read it on another device at a different time, or even lend it to a friend as I would with a hard copy book, it is not theft or any form of deceit, I have bought it, I should be allowed to do what I want with it, just like a hard copy book, and until this issue is addressed there will be more people getting pirated books.I do not advocate pirating books, or music or films, but while there is greed amongst suppliers, it will continue to happen, but 5000 books for £5 almost anywhere on ebay has got to be a bargain as opposed to the official channels, even if you do not read 90% of them.[/quote]Kindle and the Nook allow for multiple device reading. They have an auto sync system which means if you read a book on your ebook reader, and then open it up to read on your phone or pc, you will automatically be taken to that page you were last on.Ebooks, should be a lot cheaper than they are though, that is definite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 It's the same old story of greed and stupidity as other forms of media have fallen foul of, take the pi55 out of the punters at your peril because they will look elsewhere and I reckon 95% of all ebooks are out there for free if you know where and how to look.[quote user="woolybanana"]I still don't understand why ebooks are paying VAT when paper books don't?[/quote]Because ebooks are regarded as a service on which VAT becomes payable whilst a book you buy in a shop is simply the purchase of a physical item which happens to be zero rated.It's similar to giving a hire car back without filling the tank, they will fill it and charge you VAT on top because they have performed a service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 [quote user="AnOther"]It's the same old story of greed and stupidity as other forms of media have fallen foul of, take the pi55 out of the punters at your peril because they will look elsewhere and I reckon 95% of all ebooks are out there for free if you know where and how to look.[quote user="woolybanana"]I still don't understand why ebooks are paying VAT when paper books don't?[/quote]Because ebooks are regarded as a service on which VAT becomes payable whilst a book you buy in a shop is simply the purchase of a physical item which happens to be zero rated.It's similar to giving a hire car back without filling the tank, they will fill it and charge you VAT on top because they have performed a service.[/quote]You would be probably right.It's very easy to download the entire NY Times Bestsellers as ebooks for free if you know where to look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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