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AMA(NO)ZON’S LATEST MALPRACTICES


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If you haven’t heard about A’s latest dastardly deeds, here are two of the most recent:     

 

  1. A (no need to keep repeating the name, the initial will do) was not ordering the number of books from various independent bookstores and publishers that they had placed large orders with previously. To have this happen just before the holiday season was a disaster. This is not in the update, but I recently heard from an independent bookstore owner that orders were now larger than they had ever been. I didn’t say anything, but I have a feeling the returns are going to be larger than they’ve ever been, too.

 

           Here’s the link to the response from the Independent Book Publishers Association:

 

https://www.ibpa-online.org/news/news.asp?id=478273

 

  1. As many of you know, writers’ rights to their work are bundled, like pickup sticks held together with a rubber band. For instance, you can sell the rights to the e-book, the rights to the audio book, the rights to the hardcover, and the rights to the soft cover. All these rights are sold separately, one pickup stick at a time.

 

In the case I’m going to describe, writers sold the rights to the audio book version of a particular book. However, now A has decided to create an Audible Captions Program. What’s that?

 

Instead of just listening to the text, the listener can also read the text on the screen. The sentences are broken up into a few words at a time. Then they disappear. A trumpets this as a way to help remedial reading students gain fluency in reading. Besides the disappearing text, the other problem is an “acceptable” error rate of 6%. On a page of three hundred words, there will be 18 “acceptable” typographical errors or otherwise mangled words.

 

A intended to do this with all the books it had control over, not just those in the public domain (the writer is dead and the estate no longer owns the copyright). In other words, A was going to make a version of the book for which the writer had not been paid and had not given permission for the work to be produced (destroyed) in this way.

 

Since September, A has been in court fighting a lawsuit waged by the writers and publishers whose work it had intended to steal. For now, A has agreed to roll out this program only for books in the public domain and the books it publishes. Look at the hypertext to see what happened to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

 

    

         Here is the link to the article from the Independent Book Publishers Association:

 

            https://www.ibpa-online.org/news/news.asp?id=467194

 

I am so pleased that so many of us at AALBC.COM are working together to break free from A’s chains. Troy, thank you for making this possible. I wish you continued success 

with your online bookstore.

 

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Thanks @Wendy Jones I was talking to a publisher and they told me "A" would order books send them back before the payment terms (that A defined) expired only to reorder the same books just to avoid paying for the books by extending the terms. The publisher loses money on each book they sell through A.

 

They were forced to increase the price of the book. In the meantime, given the lack of competition the publisher is selling far fewer copies. Everyone, including the publisher, author, reader, and bookseller are worse off. The only one benefiting in this scenario is "A."

 

The real problem is that readers don't appreciate how they are less well off. In an world with "A;" books are more expensive than they would be otherwise (save the most most popular titles), and readers are exposed to fewer titles because of a lack of competition.

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12 hours ago, Wendy Jones said:

I am so pleased that so many of us at AALBC.COM are working together to break free from A’s chains. Troy, thank you for making this possible. I wish you continued success with your online bookstore.



@Wendy Jones  me too!  I'm so proud of us and @Troy for this "writer's write to be read and profit too" movement!!!   :D

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Thanks Mel you are right in that the money I make contributes to Black writers not just in the form of book sales but for reviews, editing, and other assignments. 

 

I'm going to have to out source the book order processing I simply can't do the work. I think I have a compensation model that will be worth it to someone looking to earn a little extra money and get some free books.

 

 

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