I know, too much pressure for Ryk... but I'd like to see the brand new Alliance patch in the Concept Art section! 😉
I see he heeded some of the comments and changed it to soon, summer and fall. As much as I love the stories and I check the boards multiple times a day. I prefer he takes the time to get them right rather than fast. Pretty sure the people that are posting on the boards will probably all buy it on day one, whenever that is anyway.
I have read all of the books multiple times. If it isn't out, I can read them again, or read another author such as Nathan Lowell.
I never did KU, but the system seems like they took the easy way, not the best way. It doesn't even necessarily look like the best way for Amazon long term. Generally speaking with the samples I can get enough of a feel for a book/author to decide if I want to buy a book or not. If it isn't worth the price to buy it, it probably isn't worth my time to read it. The cost of most book isn't that high, especially when you look at the entertainment value/time. Comcast somehow manages to convince people to pay $4.99 for a movie that only costs $12.99 from Wal-Mart or $2.00 from Redbox. I am not sure why people do not value the work of written word more.
Quantity doesn't = quality, but even short quality isn't worth the same as long quality. They should have built more into the formula, especially if they were requiring exclusivity in it.
Ryk, regarding KU. My reason for use is extremely simple. I cannot afford to pay separately for the amount of books I read in any given month. KU allows me to read without the 3-10 dollars per book that I would have to pay. I no longer purchase books that are not in KU. I have given up on every series I used to read if they do not use KU. I'm sorry if the numbers in your bank account aren't going up fast enough to suit you (please don't take this wrong). I understand writing is how you make a living and I have no problem with that. I just wish people would understand that money shouldn't be the deciding factor in anything you do, ever. Good luck and I hope KU can get their stuff fixed so you can put your books back. I'd love to finish this series.
p.s. After I told my son that KU has 35k books in the sci-fi/fantasy section he said "Awesome, that should last you at least a month!" (Just an anecdote about how many books I read.)
The irony here is that your justification for using KU is money. Yet you say no one should let money be the deciding factor for anything we do, ever. It is human nature to see things only (or primarily) from our own side and be blinded to the failings within ourselves we see readily in others. Not trying to start a fight, but it is not anyone's place, imho, to pressure anyone else about how he takes care of his family....and that's all I have to say about that.
As a person who has had a Prime account for years I am less than thrilled by KU. Before KU they had the lending library, not bad and a good Benny for Prime members.
KU just embodies what I see as an erosion of the value of a prime membership.
As it is Prime video streaming is not that good selection wise. I now pay tax on Prime purchases and a lot of brick and mortar stores are becoming competitive on price and a lot of what I do buy I could get on eBay for a comparable price.
It is sad in a way to see an innovative business like Amazon slowly succumb to the nickle and dime world that is caused by need for growth in earnings.
I could see myself letting my membership go in the not so distant future.
Hi All,
After reading Mark's comment I asked myself how many books I read in a month, and I found out that I read an average of 8 books (almost all sci-fi). The average price is US$ 5.- (not really true because many of the series I like cost less than that -- Mr. Brown series included).
That makes US$ 40.- per month. To me it means about about 10 cups of coffee or 5 packs of cigarette. I trade it for my pleasure to own and read good books (well sometime I buy bad ones but it's my fault as I don't read attentively the sample offered by Amazon). I can't believe someone can read more than 10 books per month.
But what I perceive in Mark's comment is that he uses his account to feed different tastes to all his family (with his KU subscription) and let's say that he has 3 members which means the he reads not 10 books per month but 30 (maximum) and that explodes his budget.I can't believe Marks' family read 30 books per month.
I stopped reading some authors because they are greedy. They charge more for a kindle book than for a paperback version (Jack Campbell is one of them). But he's an exception.
In Mark's case, I see him wanting to minimize his costs despite the prejudice that the publisher (Amazon) can cause to his preferred authors. Not fair, not fair at all.
Amazon don't give a damn about you nor the authors. What they want is to make money. If their policy is as Mr. Brown said (which I have no doubt) good authors will give up KU and you will have only the bad ones, 35000 tittles or not. You're trading quality by quantity. Is this what you want to offer to your family?
IMHO, its better have less good quality books at my library than have access to thousands of books I'll never read and that have questionable quality. For quantity I always have the public library (it's free).
The deciding factor isn't about money, it's about the right to decide for myself how much I'm going to be paid for my work, and how I'm going to run my business. As a buyer, I consider price before I make a purchase, and I fully expect potential buyers of my work to do the same. I do not begrudge anyone the right to choose whether or not they are willing to pay what I ask. Furthermore, I do not begrudge anyone the right to choose to read only books available through Kindle Unlimited either. If I read a lot of books each month, I'd probably do the same. (However, if you're only paying $10 per month for your reading, then surely you can afford to pop an extra $3.99 once every three of four months for one of my books. 🙂 )
I think I should point out that I think it's inaccurate to assume that everything in Kindle Unlimited will be crap, as that is wholly untrue. (IMHO) However, if it is continued to be run in the same fashion, the majority of work in KU will be short stories, and brand new authors. (Many of which will actually be good.) I DO believe that the ratio of good to bad will be much higher in KU than on Amazon in general, but hey, you get what you pay for. Free or cheap USUALLY equates to poor quality. Not always, but a greater percentage of the time.
It really just came down to no longer being able to afford to be at Amazon's mercy, especially since they clearly demonstrated their total disregard for their providers by automatically enrolling us in Kindle Unlimited because we were in select. Telling me that I cannot sell my books anywhere else, and in exchange for that they are going to not only pay me less for reads of my books, they are going to change the amount whenever and however they see fit, well, that's basically extortion. The only difference is that if I say no thanks, no one is going to set my place on fire.
FYI: The netcasts that I'm going to write are going to be short stories that tell the tale of how the bio-digital virus nearly wiped out the human race and set us back several hundred years. I was always planning to address this story, but decided that these netcasts are a way for me to work the KU system that Amazon created to my financial advantage. If it works, I will be reducing the price of my regular books as well. Like I said, it isn't about money, its about stability.
Ryk, I must say it's very refreshening to see you openly address monetary issues the way you do. Of course, you want to be paid for your work, and paid fairly at that. Which I think is true for pretty much everyone. Still, it's nice to see you be so open about it.
(Btw, can't wait for episode 13. I'm almost through with 12 again - after starting from part one around Christmas.)
I just discovered this series like 2 months ago and I'm about a third of the way through Episode 12. Never in my life have I ever read anything so quickly! Unlike most of you, I didn't have to wait for the next episode to come out...I just bought the next one as soon as I was done with the previous. Not sure if I'm going to make it through 12 before 13 comes out, but after that, I'm going to be suffering withdrawals now that I'm all caught up.
I just discovered this series like 2 months ago and I’m about a third of the way through Episode 12. Never in my life have I ever read anything so quickly! Unlike most of you, I didn’t have to wait for the next episode to come out…I just bought the next one as soon as I was done with the previous. Not sure if I’m going to make it through 12 before 13 comes out, but after that, I’m going to be suffering withdrawals now that I’m all caught up.
I feel your pain. The same thing happened to me around episode 8. Welcome to the family.
I know other people that will only read books that are in KU or other free venues, however that isn't an economically feasible long term plan. Most authors, especially those that continue to put out new work frequently need to make sufficient income from their works. To write a story takes a lot more than just putting a few words to paper. The refinement, editing, making sure to correct all the little details, takes a great deal of time and patience. That is assuming the author has the talent to tell a good story. So someone somewhere needs to support their efforts.
Libraries lend out physical books, which are purchased and the authors are paid, and the works are able to be shared. However stating I will only read a book if I do not have to pay for the privilege is a bit short sighted. I lose a great amount of available stories, many which are among the best I have read. I know some authors I do find through free methods, but in the end I still buy their books because I want them to be paid for the enjoyment they give me, to encourage them to produce more, and because I want their stories as soon as they become available.
I know I have made the choice before with certain authors and/or publishers to not purchase a book because of the price and policies, that I will wait until it is available at a price that I consider fair. That being said I bought 5 books on tape to listen to while I run, none costing less than $18 each, because I am enjoying the stories.
Making use of free works because you truly can't afford it is completely acceptable and understandable. To enrich yourself and your enjoyment makes sense, but to only read what you can get for free simply because you feel you are entitled to the hard work of others, because you read so much, without rewarding them seems ......
As a yet unpublished author myself, I would need to be independently wealthy before I'd even think about giving my work away for free. I have an infinite amount of respect for writer; so many sacrifices they have to make just to get something published eventually.
I think it is funny how @hans and others have mentioned Jack Campbell when talking about price. I read his first six book cycle just before discovering Ryk's books. I vowed to not read the second cycle until he had finished it, because he was taking a lot longer than Ryk to get each one out. I also felt resentment over the pricing model he uses. Ryk was like a breath of fresh air. Not only good, quick reads, but super cheap, too.
I will probably go back to the second cycle from Jack Campbell after he finishes, but because there is no time pressure I will wait for a sale, or a combo pack, or something. I'm just not in a hurry, because I am not feeling much internal pressure to support a guy that irritates me with his pricing.
Ryk bought tons of goodwill with me by underpricing his books. I'll buy the new cycle as soon as each one comes out to help him continue his operation. I'm still not sure if I'll read them until the 15th book comes out, but I will make a point of buying them ASAP, for sure.
Hi Eric,
My problem with Jack Campbell prices is not about what he asks for his books. I’d pay gladly if I think its worth. My problem is that a digital book CAN’T cost more than a paperback version simply because there is no printing resources involved. The costs inherent to revision, publicity, commission (Amazon included) etc., should already be included in the books base price. So what excuse does he has to ask more for a digital version than a paperback one?
I should say that if Mr. Brown started to ask the double or the triple for his books I surely wouldn’t complain except if he started to ask more for a digital version than a paperback one.
In Jack Campbell’s case I don’t know if he’s just greedy or he’s tied up by contract with his editor and they want to recover any loss caused by Amazon fees. I once wrote to Amazon and asked about this behavior and they simply answered me that prices were given by the authors (In JC case was it him or Penguin that decided the price?)
I read the first six books from his series “The Lost fleet” and two from “Beyond the frontier” until I found out how he overpriced the digital version. Today I should say that even if he gives me for free all his books I would read them. I don’t support an author that doesn’t respect their readers.
I’ll also take the opportunity to analyze my last comment about Mark and KU.
After rereading Mark's comment I’ve not only been too harsh but unfair too. We’re living difficult times, especially in western 1st world countries. While most of us struggle to pay our rents, feed our families, educate our children, our elite and our governments only think in raising taxes to give our money away to the 3rd world countries that do not deserve it.
I’ve decided long ago to dedicate US$ 100.- to US$ 150.- of my monthly budget to buy books. Now I ask: How many people can do that in these days? I have many friends in US, some lost their jobs and are doing their best to keep things going on. People is selling their houses and loosing years of mortgage because of that.
Mark has said in the beginning of his comment that he couldn’t afford buying so many books (and I read between the lines: as he used to). He’s probably another victim of the economic situation we’re living. KU is probably the best he can actually offer to his family until things get better for him.
So, I would like to present him my sincere apologies.
I think Peter F. Hamilton pretty much called the Internet's effect on artists in his 2002 book,
- Misspent Youth
. I, however, will continue to support the artists I like to my best ability so that they will have the ability to continue providing me with the products I wish to consume, be it written, recorded or projected media.
