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I was searching to see if Amazon had a Kindle edition of Lisa Scottoline's new March 16 thriller Think Twice and saw oddly that there was no price or release date, just an "email me" when it is available link. Then I found this article (Amazon pulls Macmillan titles in first e-book skirmish)and a light bulb went on... Sure enough St Martin's Press is a US Macmillan imprint.
This doesn't really look to be something where the reader wins.

I guess we'll have to watch for more updates. (no comment from either party) the NY Times reports it is a temporary removal.

Just tried to get Look Again by Scottline and even though I have the sample on my Kindle, it woldn't let me download. Very sad :(

I agree Ann, it seems that since Apple has agreed to let publishers set their own retail prices and take 70% of that for digital sales, Macmillan feels that Amazon should do the same. Apple announced that digital books for the iPad will retail in the iBooks store for $12.99 to $14.99. We will see what happens.

and more than e-book readers lose on Amazon for now. wonder if they did the same on audible.com...

no from what I hear audible.com was not impacted by this

here is a copy of a letter the CEO of Macmillan posted for his authors and agents.

I think that since you can't share books on your Kindle, in the long run, they would be makng money. With a DTB, you can pass that around to 15 people and the publisher never sees that money. Just as sad situation. I feel that Amazon is looking out for their customers, and the publishers are looking out for the publishing industry.

really interesting

Gail, LOVE THIS! Thanks for the site!!!

Gail:
Excellent points made! I had seen previous Joe Konrath blog posts on eBook profitability too. I hope someone in the big publishing houses will listen. Amazon gets it. We get it, and I am frankly one of the readers that thinks $9.99 is too high to pay for some eBooks.
I like the possible model where a new eBook release you "just have to have" is higher priced for a while like a hardback is, and maybe where a club membership like Books a Million or being a loyal Kindle reader or Amazon customer gets you a couple of bucks off - then prices go down with demand or when paperback rights come out.

Gail/Ladyvolz wrote: "
really interesting"

Ann wrote: "
I like the possible model where a new eBook release you "just have to have" is higher priced for a while like a hardback is, and maybe where a club membership like Books a Million or being a loyal Kindle reader or Amazon customer gets you a couple of bucks off - then prices go down with demand or when paperback rights come out..."

Yes, I agree with this also.

supposedly settled, (with Amazon giving in) but no titles are restored yet...

NPR said this morning that Amazon will go to the kind of pricing that Apple is using, with the books being more expensive. As a heavy duty book sharer, this does not seem appealing to me. Why should I pay so much for a book can read and not share or give away?

There has been a lot of discussion on the delphi forums (mystery thrillers, booklovers general fiction and kindle lovers) since Friday. Here's what I had posted on the forums:
After reading several posts about e books prices on Amazon, I had some thoughts, which sometimes gets me into trouble. LOL
When I bought my Kindle 1 in Oct. 2008, Stephen King had released an e book to Amazon titled. UR
At that time, it was only released in e book form.
So. . . .why can't authors negotiate and sell directly to e book publishers and have their own contract with them? Cut out the middlemen.
Authors under contract? Authors have been known to write under different names. Remember King writing as Backman? Joe Hill, King's son? This one was no big surprise, word had spread on the internet way before book was released.. Dean Koontz as Deanna Dwyer, Leigh Nichols, Brian Coffey, Owen West and other names he used. Koontz began publishing books in 1968 and until 1988, when all his works were then published under his "true" name.
Need an editor? Author contracts this out for individual books, if he so chooses. They would be freelance editors.

Self publishing, what a concept! Let's see, didn't Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ben Franklin publish their own works to be distributed as pamphlets?

Lorraine:
This sounds like an interesting discussion over on Delphi! We do miss you and Dave and your take on things. I am glad you have found a home of like minded readers over there! This situation does portend a seismic change in the book world.

Brakedrum wrote: "There has been a lot of discussion on the delphi forums (mystery thrillers, booklovers general fiction and kindle lovers) since Friday. Here's what I had posted on the forums:
After reading sever..."

gee I wonder if they don't have a "reverse action" button at Amazon. (Major Macmillan titles not yet restored for sale at Amazon)

sign me annoyed.

If Amazon is going to save some business they better turn the buy buttons back on St Martin's Press titles among others. I have way too many favorite authors on that imprint to not be able to have access.
Why would someone on the fence buy a Kindle today with the current handling of this situation?
Why should I be satisfied with an independent press or self published author alternative eBook when I want the new Kate Shugak or Bennie Rosato release?

I wrote Amazon Customer Service an email questioning the status and was told:
"Thanks for sending us your comments. We will e-mail you when these titles are available again, which we hope will be soon.
Macmillan, one of the "big six" publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don't believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!
We're always striving to bring the most selection to our customers at the lowest possible price.

We hope to see you again soon."

An interesting post on the delphi forum:
As my DS would say, I call shennanigans. Once people are able to obtain reasonably priced items in the format they want them, the pirating goes down. Trying to force people to buy hardbacks won't work any better than what the newspapers have been trying. People will go without, borrow them from the library or each other or just wait for the paperback.

I am beginning to suspect that there is some collusion between Apple and some of the publishers. I don't think it's a coincidence that MacMillan tried to force the issue two days after the iPad was announced with higher book prices.

I will not pay the higher price and I think there are a number of people around who feel the same. I don't pirate and I won't pay extortion either.

JMHO

Brakedrum wrote: "I will not pay the higher price and I think there are a number of people around who feel the same. I don't pirate and I won't pay extortion either."

I agree totally. It's the library and less expensive books for me for the time being. Hopefully, the business model will sort itself out. I'm finding lots of books in the $5-$8. range, not to mention all the freebies about which Gail keeps us apprised. :-)

I borrow from the library, and if that's not an option, then it goes on my Paperbackswap wishlist. If it's fiction, I will most likely get it eventually. And it's not like I'm going to run out of books... PBS has turned my wishlist into piles.

A recent article I read said Apple did this just to stick it to Amazon. It reminded readers that Amaon tried to do this to Apple with i-tunes, but failed, so there is a bit of payback here.
On the economic side, the Amazon plan might atualy pay better for the publishers, but they don;t like getting pushed around (or maybe worry about where Amazon wil push next).
I am amazed that Amazon can try to capture the market by selling every book at a $5 loss. I thought that was called "dumping" and was not particularly legal.

Amazon was not selling every book at a $5 loss. Only books sold for a loss were the $9.99 HB best sellers. There are lots of new releases and books no available yet in PB that are priced in the $12 to $15 range. I have several on my wish list who have kindle prices of $13.37 to $14.27.

As for the iTunes/Amazon stuff. I don't remember Amazon particularly sticking it to iTunes. I do remember when Amazon opened their music store and matched iTunes pricing while offering older songs at .79. Apple actually got into it with the music pubs two or three years ago over DRM, once that fight ended, DRM went away, BUT iTunes started charging $1.29 for newly released and current songs.

The new publishing format pushed by the publishers and accepted now by Apple, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony will pay 70/30 of the new set digital price by the publisher. Meaning the pub sets the price at $14.99, then Amazon/Sony/B&N gets $4.50 per digital book sold. The publisher gets $10.49 per digital copy sold.

Actually the new price structure for digital means that authors will also get less on digital copies sold. Their % is based on net. Until they re-negotiate their digital share, they will lose approx 50 cents per sale.

Under the current format, say the retail price of the book is $25.00. Amazon PAYS the publisher $12.50 for the book. Amazon then has to sell the book at more than $12.50 to make any type of profit. When Amazon sold the book for $9.99 they lost $2.51 per book, not $5.

All the Macmillan books are back up at Amazon including all the kindle books.

I am not saying Apple is pristine, they are certainly in love with their profits, but amazon is in love with dominating the market. You will not see me defending the practices of either of them. Nor will you see me defending the publishers. I may need them all to get my books, but I don't like the way they treat and manipulate me.

really good article from an author/former publisher on the Macmillan issue.... article is published in today's Washington Post

I am glad the Kindle titles are back so I won't miss the opportunity to decide if a Kindle title is the way I will go to read a new release. Frankly, higher prices make me pause before ordering and may send me to the library.
When I bought a shiny new hardcover on first day release in first edition I didn't feel too bad if I was ready to read it when the pb was released. With an ebook, there is no incentive to buy early if I am not ready to read it and the price might be lower later.

Gail:
Thanks much for the article link. It was quite interesting to realize that Macmillan is trying to impose a formerly used British pricing model on the American company, Amazon.
With one exception I agree wholeheartedly with whoever wrote the article. I clicked the back button to see since I went straight to the text and was told by the website I needed to register. Everyone is out for a buck these days.
I don't think the average Kindle user is going to opt for pirated versions of their favorite author's work.
OK, it was Paul Carr who wrote the article; re-clicking the link took me to page one.


Gail/Ladyvolz wrote: "really good article from an author/former publisher on the Macmillan issue.... article is published in today's Washington Post

"

Very interesting article. I am amazed as industry after industry uses short sighted practices that may well drive them out of business in the long run. Sometimes they deserve it, and maybe, somewhere along the way, there will emerge a model that sells things to us without considering us sheep to be fleeced.

Dana Stabenow's take on the situation - and her personal impact as a Macmillan imprint author with the price war happening right before the release of her latest Kate Shugak book (17)

A Night Too Dark: A Kate Shugak Novel

I was just over at Amazon, looking at there prices for kindle books and I still see a lot of them for $9.99 or ever less. Is it just Macmillon that is changing their prices? I'm confused.

Amy:
Yes that appears to be the case, and not all of them from what I have seen so far.
Examples: The Lock Artist: A Novel by Steve Hamilton is a $9.99 Kindle title and a Macmillan imprint.

Amy wrote: "I was just over at Amazon, looking at there prices for kindle books and I still see a lot of them for $9.99 or ever less. Is it just Macmillon that is changing their prices? I'm confused. "

to make it even more confusing:



P.S. the new pricing is supposed to go into effect sometime in March maybe

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Do you believe, I still haven't read anything on my Kindle. I have somethings to read on it, but I'm still reading my library books. LOL

Maybe being the key word with this saga so far! Thanks, Gail!
I never used to pay so much attention to the identity of the publisher of a favorite author. sigh. more things to keep up with.

Gail/Ladyvolz wrote: "to make it even more confusing:
P.S. the new pricing is supposed to go into effect sometime in March maybe"

Gail/Ladyvolz wrote: "to make it even more confusing:



P.S. the new pricing is supposed to go into effect sometime in March maybe"

I see Random house is standing by Amazon. Most of my reads are from Random and not Macmillan.

After reading the link about HC costs the same amount to print as Pbs. I'm not that surprised.
I remember when HCs actually had smooth edges instead of the "chewed" edges we get now.
I remember when the covers were embossed and they were something special.
I remember when books had color illustrations with an "onion skin" paper in front to protect the color.
Yes, books are still available in these forms, but they are for collectors, well over $200.00 each.
Publishers haven't cared about the quality of their product for a long time. Yes, I buy a HC and have typos. E books, whatever price they end up, will stay. Most authors write on computer and send it to the publisher in emails. They don't snail mail their manuscripts anymore. I can see a slight increase in price over $9.99 to make a profit, but not too much sympathy from me, for they don't have to pay for paper, distribution, inks, and storage.

I had e-mailed Preston back when we were first notified that his book would be delayed and received an extremely snarky reply directed at me for both about a sense of entitlement and about people leaving bad reviews for authors whose books are delayed and/or priced too high (which I have never done). Apparently I was not the only one who received a snarky reply because within a week, people had posted his replies on the kindle discussion boards and were trashing him right and left for his attitude towards his readers. He also came on the discussions and defended himself which only led to more ripping and bashing. I thought if he had only kept his mouth shut it would have all died down, but by trashing everyone, he opened a can of worms. (which has since died down.)

Now amazingly, it looks like he just can't keep his mouth shut and it's all starting up again.

Good article, Gail. I won't be paying to read any of Preston's books. There are too many authors who deserve my purchases because they respect their readers.

I did pay to get his book, in hardcover at a 50% off promotion in Mystic. I bought 8 hardcovers that day. I support the right of authors to get paid for their work, but I'm not convinced that the big publishers have their best interests at heart with this price increase.

Gail/Ladyvolz wrote: "

I had e-mailed Preston back when we were first notified that his book would be delayed and received an extremely snarky reply direc..."

Thanks for the article, very interesting.