C.T. Phipps Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 Hey folks, I was curious if anyone was following up on the recent Amazon scandals where they've been dealing with writers. There's currently the charge of ebook price fixing with the Big PublishersTM but we know that was happening years ago. https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/17/22234684/new-lawsuit-accuses-amazon-e-book-price-fixing I admit I'm a bit more interested in the Audiblegate issue that basically can be summarized as Amazon allowing a year of returns of audiobooks via Audible. You have a year to listen to the books and then you exchange it. How very generous. However, it's not generous to the authors and narrators because it turns out returning those books doesn't get you compensated. https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2020/11/hear-ye-hear-ye-audiblegate-and-the-audiobook-return-fiasco/ https://www.susanmaywriter.net/single-post/audiblegate-the-incredible-story-of-missing-sales It's the indie authors who will be hit most by this, which is a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigei Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 2 hours ago, C.T. Phipps said: Hey folks, I was curious if anyone was following up on the recent Amazon scandals where they've been dealing with writers. There's currently the charge of ebook price fixing with the Big PublishersTM but we know that was happening years ago. https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/17/22234684/new-lawsuit-accuses-amazon-e-book-price-fixing I admit I'm a bit more interested in the Audiblegate issue that basically can be summarized as Amazon allowing a year of returns of audiobooks via Audible. You have a year to listen to the books and then you exchange it. How very generous. However, it's not generous to the authors and narrators because it turns out returning those books doesn't get you compensated. https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2020/11/hear-ye-hear-ye-audiblegate-and-the-audiobook-return-fiasco/ https://www.susanmaywriter.net/single-post/audiblegate-the-incredible-story-of-missing-sales It's the indie authors who will be hit most by this, which is a shame. That's crazy. They should be doing a Kindle Unlimited type of compensation/subscription if they are allowing returns of digital products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 1 hour ago, Gigei said: That's crazy. They should be doing a Kindle Unlimited type of compensation/subscription if they are allowing returns of digital products. With Kindle Unlimited, you get to choose if your books participate or not. Their current approach, as far as I am concerned is no better than theft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 To be fair I’ve returned a lot of Audible books after realising that they really don’t care if you do it or not. Now i understand why they are so unbothered by it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigei Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 22 minutes ago, Peadar said: With Kindle Unlimited, you get to choose if your books participate or not. Their current approach, as far as I am concerned is no better than theft. That's what I meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 I didn’t realize Audible books could be returned like that. My wife has bought a lot during COVID. I absolutely would not return a book that she had listened to — that’s just ripping off the author. I’d be very disappointed if customers were actually doing that to their authors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.T. Phipps Posted January 20, 2021 Author Share Posted January 20, 2021 49 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said: I didn’t realize Audible books could be returned like that. My wife has bought a lot during COVID. I absolutely would not return a book that she had listened to — that’s just ripping off the author. I’d be very disappointed if customers were actually doing that to their authors. I don't think most of them knew. Edit: Here's an update from ACX: https://blog.acx.com/2021/01/20/an-update-from-acx/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 1 hour ago, C.T. Phipps said: I don't think most of them knew. Edit: Here's an update from ACX: https://blog.acx.com/2021/01/20/an-update-from-acx/ This line is a definite improvement: "As of January 1, 2021, we are paying royalties on any return made more than 7 days after purchase." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.T. Phipps Posted January 24, 2021 Author Share Posted January 24, 2021 Agreed. There's been some real progress. Here's another update: https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/statement-on-audible-and-acx-updated-terms/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Amazon Publishing prohibits its titles from offer on public libraries' ebook offerings: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/10/amazon-library-ebook-monopoly/ Quote ....You probably think of Amazon as the largest online bookstore. Amazon helped make e-books popular with the Kindle, now the dominant e-reader. Less well known is that since 2009, Amazon has published books and audiobooks under its own brands including Lake Union, Thomas & Mercer and Audible. Amazon is a beast with many tentacles: It’s got the store, the reading devices and, increasingly, the words that go on them. Librarians have been no match for the beast. When authors sign up with a publisher, it decides how to distribute their work. With other big publishers, selling e-books and audiobooks to libraries is part of the mix — that’s why you’re able to digitally check out bestsellers like Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land.” Amazon is the only big publisher that flat-out blocks library digital collections. Search your local library’s website, and you won’t find recent e-books by Amazon authors Kaling, Dean Koontz or Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Nor will you find downloadable audiobooks for Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime,” Andy Weir’s “The Martian” and Michael Pollan’s “Caffeine.” Amazon does generally sell libraries physical books and audiobook CDs — though even print versions of Kaling’s latest aren’t available to libraries because Amazon made it an online exclusive. It’s hard to measure the hole Amazon is leaving in American libraries. Among e-books, Amazon published very few New York Times bestsellers in 2020; its Audible division produces audiobooks for more big authors and shows up on bestseller lists more frequently. You can get a sense of Amazon’s influence among its own customers from the Kindle bestseller list: In 2020, six of Amazon’s top 10 e-books were published by Amazon. And it’s not just about bestsellers: Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, the self-publishing business that’s open to anyone, produces many books about local history, personalities and communities that libraries have historically sought out. In testimony to Congress, the American Library Association called digital sales bans like Amazon’s “the worst obstacle for libraries” moving into the 21st century. Lawmakers in New York and Rhode Island have proposed bills that would require Amazon (and everybody else) to sell e-books to libraries with reasonable terms. This week, the Maryland General Assembly will vote on its own bill, after the state Senate passed a version last week.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 An informative, interesting long article in The New Yorker documenting this history of libraries and eBooks, particularly the rapidity of development from pandemic. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/an-app-called-libby-and-the-surprisingly-big-business-of-library-e-books The sad thing, of course, is e content is far more expensive than print books -- and designed to be that way, bringing more and more of the profit in books into the pockets of fewer and fewer providers, including authors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.T. Phipps Posted September 28, 2021 Author Share Posted September 28, 2021 They've started fundraising for a class action lawsuit against Audible regarding Audiblegate. I should note that even if you don't want to donate or can't, this is actually a pretty good summary of what they're going for. https://donorbox.org/audiblegate-legal-fund Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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