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Comment by AceJohnny2 | Hacker News Reader

I think Charles Stross writings on ebooks is interesting and insightful. He should know: he's a tech-savvy best-selling author. (He hangs around here too: [1])

He wrote a couple of posts a year and a half ago, they still apply. In them, he explains how Amazon is making itself a monopoly, and that isn't good for anyone but them.

What's been most informative to me is how tiny publishers actually are, and how little money the author actually gets. It doesn't paint Amazon as the good guy. It's also why I buy my books hardcover now: more cash for the author.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cstross

[2] http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/04/understa...

[3] http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/04/more-on-...

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> It's also why I buy my books hardcover now: more cash for the author.

Isn't this true, Amazon or not? Hardcovers cost the customer more than paperbacks or ebooks, so the author should be getting hopefully a larger cut of the sale.

I think this program (if it has enough titles that I've bought in the past) is going to be awesome. I've never bought a Kindle because paying almost the same price for the Kindle version of a book vs. the paperback cost is ridiculous. Now with this program I will buy a Kindle so I can read my past purchases via that when I'm traveling, and my paperback versions when I'm sitting around at home.

Does anyone know if you can actually use this program with used book purchases? I've bought many books used (many times for only a few bucks including shipping), so I don't know if they would be eligible for this program or not.

Hmm, I always bought the Kindle editions because physical books are a pain in the ass to read. Before the Kindle, I even resorted to a WinCE device (built-in backlight, easy rotation for any position). Kindle Paperwhite is simply the best reading experience I've ever had in my life.

The fact I could get a paper version doesn't even factor into my decision. Actually, the price rarely factors into the decision, as the difference is usually only a few bucks anyways.

One of the things I hate the most about reading books is holding them up while reading. eReaders have solved this problem for me, and now I am a happy camper!

You... don't have to hold an eReader up? One of the worst things about reading ebooks on my iPad 2 is the weight.

War and Peace, Anna Karenina, any recent book by Neal Stephenson - those are all much more pleasant on a kindle than in paper form.

Well the iPad weighs 1.3 lbs, and the Kindle weighs less than half a pound. Only the smallest paperback books are lighter than a small ereader.

Like those old serials, The Executioner and The Destroyer. Gotta love those old, < 100 page bubble gum books.

My biggest problem was always trying to hold a book open with one hand. This was a problem because my hands are large and trying to read a paperback with both hands was sub-optimal, not to mention reading in the bath or whilst lounging.

Which is why I have a Kindle eReader and an iPad.

I agree that the eInk Kindles are one of the best bits of tech I've ever owned and the best reading experience I've had.

I can lean a Kindle against the pillow, which is much harder to do with a book.

Not really. Print books don't get the author hardly anything at all. My wife is an author, exclusive on Amazon so she makes ~70% on ebook sales. The profit from a print book is next to nothing. Of course, this can vary a lot on the type and price of the book.

>I've never bought a Kindle because paying almost the same price for the Kindle version of a book vs. the paperback cost is ridiculous.

You don't understand the economics of publishing. The paperback, and the hardcover for that matter cost almost nothing to produce. You are paying for the information. Perhaps the ebook should be a dollar cheaper.

For anyone interested in the average profit margins of books publishers and some what the percentage of the paper, print, and binding for a book is of the total cost, the Art & Science of Book Publishing by Herbert S. Jr Bailey (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0821409700/ref=wms_ohs_prod...) is a good book. Print on Demand and ebooks have changed some aspects, but it is still largely true that, for most books, marketing, overhead, sales, etc. are a lot of the cost of producing a book. Even with ebooks, this is still the case. Illuminating stuff.

I have no idea who downvoted this comment, but it is very true. The cost of a book is the cost of making and marketing it. Paper is really cheap. Obviously it is more expensive than bits, but not significantly.

In Economics, nobody cares about facts. The ebook is "less" than a physical book, therefore it should cost less.

It's not just the direct priniting costs there is also the risk discount as publishers often destroy a significant number of unsold books.

> I will buy a Kindle so I can read my past purchases via that

It says it works with the Kindle app too, so you can use any of your existing devices for this as well.

Copied from the other topic on this:

That would be way too easy to game. I.e. set up an Amazon Marketplace account, "sell" yourself and/or accomplices lots of books for "reasonable" prices, with the money minus some vig including Amazon's charges going back to the "buyers", then they buy el-cheapo Kindle copies for real.

If you're going to do that, why not just pirate the books? For the same amount of effort, you'd probably manage it - and it'd be cheaper.

A hint as thinking doesn't appear to be your strong point. If something seems to be "way too easy", even to you, perhaps they thought of it first. That might explain why this applies to purchases from Amazon only.

From my reading of the deal, it applies to new books only.

What? It says directly that all purchases will count.

"Available for thousands of great print books purchased new from Amazon, going all the way back to 1995 when Amazon first opened its online bookstore."

WalterBright is talking about purchases of new books (vs. used/resold), not new purchases.

    I buy my books hardcover now: more cash for the author.

Or you could buy what's cheapest and send the difference directly to the author.

(This doesn't make sense to do because there's too much friction. One way to deal with that would be to pick a random number between 0 and N and if you get 0 then send them N times that much money otherwise nothing.)

Would it make sense to have the normal Amazon price for Kindles books as they are now but then have an optional button to donate more that goes directly into the author's pocket and nobody else's? Of course only a small percentage would donate anything extra, but it's better than not having the option, and this can reduce a bit of the friction because it's two extra clicks at checkout.

I know this has worked in some cases such as for self-published ebooks or indie games, so this could potentially work if the most hardcore fans want to directly support the author. I know for authors or musicians I really love I would want to pay more if the money went directly into their pockets.

Maybe, but that devalues the work of everyone else who helps on a book. The editors, illustrators, layout/book designer all are skilled professionals, and deserve to be paid for their work as well. See John Scalzi's posts on why publishers are needed: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/02/03/why-in-fact-publishing... http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/01/23/the-ebook-path-to-rich...

Yeah.. I didn't think that through. Amazon becoming more monopolistic isn't 'absolutely' awesome for the consumer. You're right. Heck, the price of physical books on amazon may start to creep up now - no one can compete with them for miles anyway.

It's not absolutely awesome, but when you compare the competition, and look at Amazon's generally fantastic customer service, it does come out pretty awesomely for the consumer. Now and then I get riled up that I can't give my finished eBook to someone else, but then I remember I have Calibre and Google so it's not a big deal. (And once, when I had a problem purchasing on Amazon, I just downloaded the book and bought it a couple days later. DRM isn't really a hassle in practise.)

Publishers did it to themselves, being idiotically worried about piracy, instead of pushing for standards and selling directly. They gave Amazon the market out of their own stupidity. So you can't blame Amazon for picking up on that.

Maybe one day Amazon will turn around and act hostile towards customers, but so far, everyone I know has had only excellent experiences (OTOH, my overall Amazon spend is sorta high, so maybe I've got a gold star on my account). Even on the earlier Kindles, they'd overnight me replacements for damage; once they even sent an extra one and were sorta confused when I tried to return it (I hadn't paid for it).

Since it's trivial for an author to sell his works on his own website (and I've bought ebooks from such author sites), it's hard to see how Amazon could make itself a monopoly.

Also, selling an ebook via Amazon does not preclude you from selling it yourself or through other venues.

Amazon has a program called KDP. If an author puts their book into the KDP program they receive 70% royalties, but they have to be exclusive on Amazon. If they don't want to be on KDP, they only receive 35% royalties, but they can sell anywhere. That's how Amazon is making itself into a monopoly.

edit: I mean KDP Select, not KDP.

That might work well if you're a known author or for buyers willing to spend time digging around but it doesn't help new authors reach a mass market.

Self publishing will have some sort of a positive impact on things but the reality is that large aggregators will still have a very significant role for discovery and in the mass market.

You're right, but my point was that if Amazon became an abusive monopoly, that would spur alternatives.

BTW, I found some of those author self-sell web sites because of Reddit postings about their books. In these days of social media, I don't think the traditional gatekeeper role still applies.

I try not to purchase anything from Amazon if I can find an equivalent elsewhere. In the long term, a monopoly on retail is a bad thing for us, and I'm taking the long view.

EDIT: Though I must say, I've always wanted a print+digital feature, and if the paperwhite is as cool as they make it look...

I appreciate the principled stance, but Amazon won't ever have a monopoly on retail.

The internet is too big, and retail is too big, for that.

Walmart, etc. would never let that happen.

Besides....as much as people like online, I don't think Brick & Mortar stores will all go away. Some may, but everything won't.

You clearly don't live in the UK. The High Street is dying, and it's online shopping that's playing headman.

You're right....I don't live in the UK. Either way....the OP didn't say "Amazon will be a monopoly in the UK"...he implicitly said it would have a 'monopoly on retail'.

For all intents and purposes, I assumed he was talking about in Amazon's home country (or even globally given Amazon's distributed nature).

I'm a hardcore "real book" lover, but the Paperwhite is definitely as good as they make it look. I leave it on the lowest backlight setting available and it works fantastic in all lighting situations.

Everything about this is retarded. The work the author did is the same regardless of where it's printed.

Yet hisincome depends on deadtrees and gasp... Hardcovers. This is exactly which should be used to generate more profit for the publisher alone... Adding value to what the author already provided.

Everything in all media business is idiotic to say the least.

In Australia they don't have Amazon. I guess there are other places like this too. So its not a world monopoly. I miss Amazon :)

we have amazon but its shipped from america which adds a lot to the price.

Book Depository is good, but i believe that Amazon bought them out?

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