eBooks and purchasing

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

Ben Jones

2010-07-23 17:05:14 UTC

First of all, I'm a fan, second I'm a 'journalist'. I cover mostly P2P
related news, copyright, etc. for TorrentFreak.com (http://
torrentfreak.com/about/). (I thought I would get what and who I am out
of the way first)

I'm starting a piece on ebooks and piracy.Personally, I love ebooks -
I've read them via a palm Vx for years (using aportisdoc) but it's a
topic that is only now gaining mainstream visibility, mainly via the
kindle, ipad and nook. I know I have Eric Flint's prime palaver stuff
to work from, but I want some first-hand information too, from actual
readers. I started on David's work with the Dahak series, then finally
moved onto Honorverse (which I had looked at, but avoided until about
6 months ago). Yes, I've bought MOH (hardback), and it's performance
in the NYT bestsellers list is what sparked this piece (13th, 23, 26th
at the moment), and now to business.

How many of you have been following the snippets on thefifthimperium,
and have these influenced any buying choices? Likewise the books in
the free library?

how many of you were introduced via a friend or acquaintance passing
on the ebook file, or have introduced someone else to it, and that has
led to a purchase?

Conversely, do any of you feel the whole ebook side of things is a
waste of time, and the cost of the bound-in CDs, and running the
library should be used to reduce the cost of the books (or passed on
to the author)

Finally have any of you had problems with ebooks, from any sources,
baen or otherwise, stemming from DRM, and has this helped or hindered
your decision to purchase other books in that format, or from that
publisher?

And feel free to add anything else you want. If you would prefer to
tell me privately, email me (***@gmail.com), and tell me you
want privacy, I'll respect that without qualm.

Ben Jones
TorrentFreak.com

Dave Van Domelen

2010-07-23 20:58:26 UTC

Permalink

Post by Ben Jones
How many of you have been following the snippets on thefifthimperium,
and have these influenced any buying choices? Likewise the books in
the free library?

I have bought several books because the snippetting got me interested,
but most of the snippets I read are for books I already intend to buy when
they become available. Sometimes I'll read one for a while and decide I'm
not interested, but without Dahak's Orbit I wouldn't have even given the book
a chance. The Free Library has had a little less effect on me, since I
usually get into a series via snippets before it'll got on the Free Library,
but the Miles Vorkosigan short story on the library did get me into the
series and I ended up buying pretty much all of it.

Post by Ben Jones
how many of you were introduced via a friend or acquaintance passing
on the ebook file, or have introduced someone else to it, and that has
led to a purchase?

Once or twice, I think. But not often, I'm usually the one doing the
passing. For instance, I've made copies of the "free to distribute" CDs as
gifts for friends and relatives who read SF/F but at the time had limited
online access.

Post by Ben Jones
Conversely, do any of you feel the whole ebook side of things is a
waste of time, and the cost of the bound-in CDs, and running the
library should be used to reduce the cost of the books (or passed on
to the author)

Poppycock. Removing these things wouldn't affect costs to consumers at
all, and barely affect payment to authors. It's non-zero-sum, the effort and
money put into these promotions have increased sales by enough to compensate,
unless Flint has been lying.

Post by Ben Jones
Finally have any of you had problems with ebooks, from any sources,
baen or otherwise, stemming from DRM, and has this helped or hindered
your decision to purchase other books in that format, or from that
publisher?

Nope. Mind you, I almost exclusively get Baen and Baen-influenced
ebooks, precisely because there's no DRM or locked format issues. My only
real problems have been pricing, and only with Tor...they seem to think
ebooks should cost $18-20 even after the paperback edition has come out,
making me suspect they're trying to "prove" ebooks don't sell.

I prefer ebooks to paperbacks and paperbacks to hardbacks, in large part
due to the portability issue. Ebooks take up no space for me, because I
already always carry around a PDA. Physical books I have to remember to
bring along and find a place for. For books with a lot of pictures or
diagrams, hardcopy is preferable, but novels are much better electronically
as far as I'm concerned. (As an aside, I don't much get into digital comic
books, precisely because they're LESS portable than physical ones. I can
only really read them on a large monitor, trying to read them on a PDA or
even a netbook is an exercise in frustration.)

Dave Van Domelen, actually had to cull the ebooks on his PDA because
he'd managed to fill its memory entirely. Granted, it's an older PDA, but
still....

No Name

2010-07-23 23:17:02 UTC

Permalink

I have a nasty book habit. OK, it isn't as bad a vice as drinking,
gambling, or running around with women (loose or otherwise), but I buy
waaaay too many books.

Ebooks let me hold on to books that I would otherwise have to
sacrifice due to space considerations. I've bought a bunch of ebooks
from authors who were new to me from Baen -- Usually because the
upcharge from $12.00 for the books I was going to buy anyway to $15.00
for the month's output is fairly nominal. Between that, the Free
Library, and their CDs, I've started reading a number of authors whose
work I would have otherwise missed. Likewise, the occasional ilicit
ebook has dropped into my lap, and in a substantial number of cases
I've gone out and purchased dead tree versions of that author's works.
There are also several authors who work has been released under a
Creative Commons license, who books I have again bought in paper.

When I was new to the game, I purchased a number of ebooks with DRM,
but will not do so again. As my devices have been upgraded, I have
lost the ability to read some of them. Now I know better.

I've given legal copies of ebooks to friends, and they have exhibited
the same pattern, buying the author's other works in both paper and
electronic form.

I am more likely to purchase a hard cover if it has a CD, instead of
waiting for the paperback. That way, I get a set of books instead of
just one for the money.

I have also purchased electronic copies of paper books I own, to take
with me when I travel.

A final note -- My reader hardware does NOT have a wireless
connection. I remain appalled at Amazon's temerity in removing
purchases from people's devices without their permission.

On Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:05:14 -0700 (PDT), Ben Jones

Post by Ben Jones
First of all, I'm a fan, second I'm a 'journalist'. I cover mostly P2P
related news, copyright, etc. for TorrentFreak.com (http://
torrentfreak.com/about/). (I thought I would get what and who I am out
of the way first)
I'm starting a piece on ebooks and piracy.Personally, I love ebooks -
I've read them via a palm Vx for years (using aportisdoc) but it's a
topic that is only now gaining mainstream visibility, mainly via the
kindle, ipad and nook. I know I have Eric Flint's prime palaver stuff
to work from, but I want some first-hand information too, from actual
readers. I started on David's work with the Dahak series, then finally
moved onto Honorverse (which I had looked at, but avoided until about
6 months ago). Yes, I've bought MOH (hardback), and it's performance
in the NYT bestsellers list is what sparked this piece (13th, 23, 26th
at the moment), and now to business.
How many of you have been following the snippets on thefifthimperium,
and have these influenced any buying choices? Likewise the books in
the free library?
how many of you were introduced via a friend or acquaintance passing
on the ebook file, or have introduced someone else to it, and that has
led to a purchase?
Conversely, do any of you feel the whole ebook side of things is a
waste of time, and the cost of the bound-in CDs, and running the
library should be used to reduce the cost of the books (or passed on
to the author)
Finally have any of you had problems with ebooks, from any sources,
baen or otherwise, stemming from DRM, and has this helped or hindered
your decision to purchase other books in that format, or from that
publisher?
And feel free to add anything else you want. If you would prefer to
want privacy, I'll respect that without qualm.
Ben Jones
TorrentFreak.com

Benjamin

2010-07-23 23:23:34 UTC

Permalink

I bought Mission of Honor in hardback and can't wait to read it.

Post by Ben Jones
How many of you have been following the snippets on thefifthimperium,
and have these influenced any buying choices? Likewise the books in
the free library?

I would buy the book anyway. The snippets skip around, so I only read
the first one. As for the free library, I read a few free library books
and have bought other books to finish a series I started reading there,
but e-books are not my primary reading.

Post by Ben Jones
how many of you were introduced via a friend or acquaintance passing
on the ebook file, or have introduced someone else to it, and that has
led to a purchase?

Nope. I pretty much choose all my books and buy them as paperbacks.

No. I assume the author gets more royalties on hardcovers than on
paperbacks. I buy hardcover books with the CD. If the CDs were
removed, I would just wait for the paperback.

I only read Baen e-books. No DRM, no problem. I really don't purchase
e-books. I buy paperbacks and only read the free library e-books or
e-books bound in the CD of a hardcover book. I read on my Palm Pixi,
but used to read on a Palm Tungsten E.

I did have a problem with a Tor paperback that I bought at a bookstore.
The last twenty pages were missing and in their place was a repeat of
the previous twenty pages. I ended up having to find an electronic copy
by other means so I could find out how it ended.

Post by Ben Jones
And feel free to add anything else you want. If you would prefer to
want privacy, I'll respect that without qualm.

I like the bound e-book included on a CD. That way I have the book for
my shelf and something more portable to read.

Doug Jones

2010-07-24 23:25:41 UTC

Permalink

On Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:05:14 -0700 (PDT), Ben Jones

I haven't followed the snippets on thefifthimperium much, but I will
say the books in the Free Library have influenced my buying choices. I
have a tendency to buy as many (or all) the books by a "favorite
author," and there are a number of Baen authors whose work I was
introduced to through the Free Library. It's easy, it didn't cost me
a dime, and I had some time on my hands, so I tried out a few of them,
and when I found I *liked* what they were doing, I bought others by
them.

Post by Ben Jones
how many of you were introduced via a friend or acquaintance passing
on the ebook file, or have introduced someone else to it, and that has
led to a purchase?

I wasn't, but I've been around a long time. OTOH, I have introduced
quite a few others to Baen through that method.

Short answer? No.

Baen, no, mainly because Baen ebooks don't have DRM. It's what I love
about it, and the other Webscriptions publishers. I'm not locked into
a format, or a specific reader, I can read it on a handheld, an ebook
reader, or just on computer, any time I want to. I'm not limited by
the number of copies, the number of accesses, or stopped from doing
something to make it more readable.

Now, from the other publishers, yes. I've had to download special
software, and frequently it's unreadable on my machine or difficult to
navigate. I hate that they don't always keep track of my purchases,
so if I lose a book, I have to buy it all over again. I really,
really hate that I have to spend as much - if not more - for an ebook
than a paper copy.

What I do know is that many of the authors over at Webscriptions have
gotten more money from me than they would have if they weren't there.
:D

Hope this helps

JohnFair

2010-07-28 14:34:51 UTC

Permalink

Post by Ben Jones
First of all, I'm a fan, second I'm a 'journalist'. I cover mostly P2P
related news, copyright, etc. for TorrentFreak.com (http://
torrentfreak.com/about/). (I thought I would get what and who I am out
of the way first)
How many of you have been following the snippets on thefifthimperium,
and have these influenced any buying choices? Likewise the books in
the free library?

I haven't been the thefifthimperium but am a frequentish visitor to
Baen's free library. I can't say that it's actually led to buying any
books directly (except the last books in Ringo's Posleen War series
and Drake & Flint's Belisarius series. And Ring & Weber's March to the
Stars...) but I've used it to explore authors I might not have tried
otherwise.

No. In general I quite like having the ebooks as well as hardcopy
versions though a lack of space for the physical books is fast
becoming an issue, and ebooks are far better in my experience when
reading on the go though I wouldn't want to do it if the book had a
large number of images as an integral part of the book.

I generally get my ebooks in epub format these days as this is is
supported on both my Windows machines and my 'droid phone and appears
to be rights free. I used to get them in MS Reader format but this was
rather limiting especially after the PDA expired

Post by Ben Jones
Ben Jones
TorrentFreak.com

n***@spam.com

2010-07-29 22:12:50 UTC

Permalink

I personally found out about the Baen library when somebody
recommended it for scifi on a movie forum I frequented a few years
back. I was an infrequent reader of scifi fiction at the site the
scifi channel hosted before it was removed. TFT screens had just
become affordable for the larger dimensions. I mention it, beause
reading on a computer is something I had to get slowly accustomed to.

I had just become accustomed to it -they mostly had short stories,
when they pulled the plug and I, after buying and reading a few
mediocre scifi novels that had sold millions, gave up scifi and went
back to mystery/suspense/crime fiction.

Baen library not only introduced me to a great variety of contemporary
scifi writers, but to fantasy as well. A genre I never had any regard
for. Now, despite all of Weber's Honor series being available for
free thru the CDs, I have been slowly been buying all of it in
hardback. The same with Drake's. Since I have a preferance for
hardbound books and they tend to be at least twice as expensive, I
rarely get to take a chance on a book by an author I haven't already
read.

I think an unrecognized benefit of the library is that it gives people
an easy (no DRM) and friendly way to get used to reading ebooks.
Today, as we speak, with so many modern ebook readers finally
affordable and from non brand/proprietary companies it's an ideal
place to recommend to someone ambivalent about "how can I possibly
read a 300 page novel without going blind" getting into ebooks.

I buy every book that comes out with a CD as a way to reward that
strategy even though I'm not sure how they work that out. I've had a
non proprietary ebook reader for almost a year and I'm buying more
books not less. Like I said, I will always buy in hardback (if
available) any book I plan to reread since in winter there's nothing
like a cup of coffee and your favorite novel. But, once I became used
to my ebook reader I've actually been reading more since it weighs
almost nothing and I have it on me all the time.

Unfortunately, only Baen/Webscription have their act together and
understand that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
I've bought over 20 ebooks the last couple of years and all of them
were from webscriptions. Why? Because everybody else wants this
program or this ebook reader or your life story and if you dare
mention, well you know I read some on my pc, some on my ebook some on
the office pc so I must be able to have multiple copies, they make it
sound like you're asking for something unreasonable for something
you've paid for.

Finally, there's the pricing. Anybody that has the audacity to charge
$15+ for an ebook or even $10 (ridiculous high price) is cutting its
own throat by alienating their customer base. I'll never understand
them. Writers write and produce a book. Editors edit and create a
sellable in the current time period book. Where's the work of the
publishers who actually get most of the money despite their crying?

Have they been to any bookstore, I wonder? I go and half the books on
sale are by long dead authors some of which are no longer copyrighted
that's how dead and sometimes even the same book in different binding.
I mention a few: Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and of course Jane
Austen which I know for sure is in the free Guttenburg library. Where
are the extras to support the hefty price? I think $6 (about a dollar
less than the cheap paperback) is a fair price for an ebook. That way
impulse buying will be possible as well as iffy books will be
affordable to buy. Personally I've bought two ebooks of books I
already had as hard copy. One, because I couldn't find it and the
second because I was on vacation and forgot it. That was only possible
because the price was fair and I would be able to read it where ever I
was.

I believe that ebooks will replace the mass paperback and unless
publishers get around to finally doing their job many of them will
disappear. People haven't changed. They will always pay for something
that they want. Many people no longer read. True. People have gotten
older and need larger type books which now with computers is no longer
hard to do. People don't have as much leisure time. Not really true
but that's where audio books come in. But they complain the tone is
flat etc. Get real actors and charge extra extra for it. Again, that
has to be done for most of the books not only the bestsellers which is
what we've got now.

And since we're all Weber fans. Hypothetically now. The bare bones
Basilisk Station x price. Add some avi of those junctions etal or some
nice planets etc and of course the ebook goes up a bit. Something else
extra, the same. Buy the hardback and get the ebook for free, works
best for me but I'm not holding my breath for it happening. But, time
discount should work = x when 1st published x-30% after a 3 months,
half price at 6months or year for example. Webscriptions already does
some bundle books which are a great value.

Fair price, ease of use, convenient access. When people still buy
books of authors they can find legally free on Guttenburg then it's
obvious that the publishing industry's no longer in tune with their
customers. They complain about piracy but forget about all the book
shoplifting teenagers used to do. Making it so hard for us who want to
buy their books is insane. I don't know of anyone who reads avidly and
who hasn't got a space problem. Ebooks would solve that problem for
many. But it would have to be like Webscription's easy and open format
or it's futile.

David Wright Sr.

2010-07-30 19:29:13 UTC

Permalink

I have received CDs with the last two hard-bound copies of HH, however, I am
one who likes to lounge on a chair or bed to read and even a laptop is too
inconvenient to read these that way.

Can anyone recommend an ebook reader similar in size and shape to the Kindle
or maybe the IPad which can read ebooks utilizing CDs of the type from Baen?

David Wright Sr.

Michelle Steiner

2010-07-30 19:47:19 UTC

Permalink

Post by David Wright Sr.
I have received CDs with the last two hard-bound copies of HH, however, I am
one who likes to lounge on a chair or bed to read and even a laptop is too
inconvenient to read these that way.
Can anyone recommend an ebook reader similar in size and shape to the Kindle
or maybe the IPad which can read ebooks utilizing CDs of the type from Baen?

You can import the books from the CD into iTunes, and then sync them with
an iPad.

--
Check out the Hot Cocoa Party
<http://www.hotcocoaparty.info>

Benjamin

2010-07-31 18:07:34 UTC

Permalink

Or better yet, drag the Mobi files right off the CD onto the Kindle.
The kindle is the only one I researched that reads mobi files. Now you
can get a kindle for $140. So get a kindle and use it to read the CDs.
The mobi files can be found in the Palm section and some CDs have the
extension of prc.

Ben Jones

2010-08-22 16:34:48 UTC

Permalink

On Jul 23, 1:05 pm, Ben Jones <***@gmail.com> wrote:
<snip>
Thanks all who replied. it took a bit, but between me and my editor,
we re-jigged the piece a few times, and that's time consuming.

Here's the finished story.

http://torrentfreak.com/e-books-piracy-peril-or-promotional-possibilities-100822/

Ben Jones
TorrentFreak.com