Responses for ~ John Wolf's "Buzz - Book Wars "

Hello John,

Yes, I've been hearing some rumblings about Amazon, so I am glad you are addressing this pivotal issue. First a question: the $29.95 charge from Amazon to independent book publishers: Is that a per book fee or a one time annual fee to Infinity for all their books. If it is a per book annual fee, I suppose Infinity could give us that option of paying and being listed on Amazon or to simply enter the fray. I for one would probably choose to be listed on Amazon and pay that fee rather than eliminate that source of exposure. Amazon currently purchases books at a 55% discount so that part is not new. (See page 72 of Infinity's: "Become a Published Author" handbook. That is why our royalties from Amazon are lower to begin with.)

If Infinity wants to compete with Amazon, my opinion is that they can not continue to charge full retail price for their books. I do believe they (and ultimately we), would generate more sales if they offered books at a discount.

As for Amazon investing in their authors to help promote them, I think that is a dream too good to be true. Of course I would love it, but I doubt that will happen unless they put together some marketing packages that we pay for. Marketing is very time consuming and takes a lot of work before there is any pay off, as we all to readily know!

Well that's my two cents worth for today. I'll be watching for thoughts from others.

Best,
Lois

----------------------------------------------------------

I don't want to encourage Amazon, so I haven't approached them on details. I'm hoping the blog-us-sphere will make them reconsider. They could do this many different ways, but I'm sure the young buck that put this business plan together for a promotion won't be able to give up the power position over individual authors. It's true that 55% is the industry standard for these massive distribution structures, but come on, print on demand via electronic message to the publisher isn't exactly complex or expensive. Book stores work off 40% discounts. How about that? That would leave 15% to divvy up between the author and his publisher - don't get any ideas Tom.

Well, new news. Please read Tom Gregory's response to this bulletin. For Infinity published authors, the mix is different, and I must retract my comments about discouraging Amazon sales. Since Infinity has our books stored at Amazon and doesn't get paid until a sale is made - be kind and at least split your sales with Amazon.

J.Wolf
Fox&Quill

----------------------------------------------------------

Jack,

I'm not happy with these book wars, and I would prefer matters stand as they presently are, but I must agree with Lois Stern. I would be willing to pay Amazon $29.95 and be listed on their site. If Infinity offered our books at a discount, I believe we would generate more sales. At present, my book sells for $14.95 plus s/h of $4.95, a total of $19.90. That's a whooping amount for a 237 page paperback when compared to a bestseller, selling for considerably less.

I also need to have my book on Amazon, because people from Japan and Europe cannot order from Infinity. As you know, Infinity will ship to Canada, but not overseas. Several of my Japanese friends attempted to buy from Infinity and they were told to order from Amazon.

BTW, I have written several reviews on Amazon, including two of yours, and I have never been refused. Let's hope this book war simmers down. Tom Gregory is a very shrewd businessman, and I'm sure he'll work it out with Amazon.

My Best,

Pauline Hager
Email_address: pauline@thehagers.org
Sender's_name: Pauline Hager

----------------------------------------------------------

You have added a new excellent point, Pauline. Amazon is a great way to access foreign sales, although, it can apparently get out of hand with the exchange rate and the books way overpriced, which touches on your second point. As new authors it is hard to get people to buy elevated priced books. As a new author, you really want a wide readership and the price can be intimidating. Of course, from the business side, after all of these discounts and series of middlemen, the list price has to be high to satisfy their needs. I believe another alternative for overseas sales is being listed with Ingram. That also gives you foreign access.

My point being, that pricing and exposure can be improved, if we can swing the marketing angle to take advantage of the electronic age and place automated orders to high tech print facilities like Infinity that aren't associated with a manned distribution system that has its hands out for that big discount. But this doesn't solve your overseas sale block. Back to the drawing board. We need a better plan, but I agree, I could have made sales much easier with a price around $10 rather than $20. If you've been in the business a while, I would suspect that the pricing is very cleverly set to compromise all the variables.

J.Wolf
Fox&Quill

Return

Thanks Jack for bringing this to my attention. Shame on Amazon. It makes me very sad when the big guy won't let the little guy play.

Linda Meckler, Ghost Kids Trilogy
Email_address: lindameckler@cox.net
Sender's_name: Linda Meckler