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Rabindranath Tagore
Battle to Enlist My Translations of Rabindranath Tagore in KDP Select Won Against Amazon (Gifts!)
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The idol fancies, 'I'm God'—the genius mildly amuses." (Tagore)
My surprise victory against Kindle Direct Publishing ending a onerous eMail battle against denial of copyright and discrimination from 10 Nov 2020 through 23 Dec 2020: Amazon just granted my seven translations of Rabindranath Tagore (six unofficially recommended for the Sahitya Akademi Translation Award, one more recent) entry into the KDP Select program that allows authors to give away free copies for only up to 5 of every 90 days. I had recently withdrawn these titles from Smashwords to be eligible to enter KDP Select, despite being translator of the Smashwords Style Guide by founder Mark Coker. I frankly told Amazon, I did it because I like their Digital Rights Management (for now).
Philosophical conclusion: The power to deny simple facts maintains sanctuaries of abuse.
I had asserted under penalties of perjury that my translations of Rabindranath Tagore are exclusive to Amazon in digital format and I alone control the exclusive rights to the books and their content as required for KDP Select.
Amazon kept saying, “Since the provided ASIN's are translations of Public Domain work, they are not exclusive�. I told them, ‘The conclusion "are not exclusive" does not follow from the premise "the provided ASIN's are translations of Public Domain work".
They had previously amused me adding to the same claim, “I know this is not the answer you were hoping for, but that is why they can't be enrolled in KDP Select. I hope you understand.� It transpired that they had marked my translations as public domain work for years.
I had at one point divided their denial asking whether they are claiming (i) my work is in the public domain, (ii) my writing is not exclusive to Amazon in digital format, or (iii) that I do not control the exclusive rights. I had also pasted my copyright statement from a title into an eMail message.
They reiterated their above cerebration about public domain and exclusivity in reply.
At one point, Amazon had claimed, “your translated works of Rabindranath Tagore is considered as Public domain� to which I replied, “I am not dead. I am alive�.
I had explained to Amazon, ‘If you create your own copyrighted Chinese translation of the Rigveda or Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace they do not become fashionably "non-exclusive" to Amazon � Lawyers or support staff need to be respectful of a writer's time.�
I had asked them, “How did you grant KDP Select entry to my translation of Letters From an Expatriate in Europe?�
After this, Letters from an Expatriate in Europe which is my translation of Tagore’s Europe-Pravasir Patra was removed from KDP Select till the resolution of the conflict.
Today, I enrolled all 7 of my translations in KDP Select and they can be purchased for free (promo) from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day:
Finally by Rabindranath Tagore
Haimanti: Of Autumn by Rabindranath Tagore
One Night by Rabindranath Tagore
Missing My Bejeweled by Rabindranath Tagore
Clouds and Sunshine by Rabindranath Tagore
The Crown by Rabindranath Tagore
Letters from an Expatriate in Europe by Rabindranath Tagore
Preview them now and buy when the promo starts.
Please compare the quality of my translations of Tagore to that of Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats, if you have read them, and leave your valuable Kindle reviews, and comments below.
Here is an excerpt from my translation of Letters from an Expatriate in Europe to make you meditative:
“Then the Sun-god having contained his thousand rays laid out his tired head on the bed of multitudinous clouds leaning on sunset's shadowy peak and closed his sleepy crimson eyes; the birds returned to their respective nests. The lowing herd headed for the cow-house tracing the cowboy's steps. We began our journey for London.�
You are encouraged to read out my aforementioned 7 translations to your kid at bedtime. It improves parental-filial bonding and language skills. The translations are all listed in the Wikipedia.
Bonus: My COVID-19 survival surprise which I shared with WHO requesting a campaign on exercise (Every Move Counts campaign)