Come, Mister Tallyman, tally me banana

[rolanni]

Brilliant, blue, and cold enough for the weather. I hear the mid-Atlantic is getting Maine's weather today and into tomorrow. Everybody down that way? Stay safe.

Hereabouts, the day-job is still out straight. I'm at the spot of needing to stop and think about something Completely Different for a couple minutes before re-shuffling the piles to figure out what's going on. I may not be as swamped as I feel. At least I hope that's the case.

For them what indulge, there's a new development in the Google Settlement. To wit: the US Department of Justice thinks that there are some few things that are, in its opinion, a Leetle Dicey in even the Amended Settlement. Read all about it here

The latest development in the Macmillan/Amazon slapfight shows Macmillan still in the lead, at least in terms of control over their own PR. Amazon appears to continue to be content to hide behind the lukewarm outrage of Kindle users against the Nasty Publisher. Honest to Ghod, you'd think that a company that wants to be the Biggest, Baddest Retailer on the Intertubes would have some grasp of public relations.

And? Hatchette Book Group is getting on-board with the so-called agency model of pricing, citing Macmillan's example.

Tired yet?

Here, have a Wodehouse quote

Comments

[masgramondou.livejournal.com]

Love the random Wodehouse quote

[brock-tn.livejournal.com]

Indeed! A hearty "What ho!" for the Wodehouse quote.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Indeed, Mr. Wodehouse. Back when she wrote letters to me, Wife could write them without postscripts. I did not realize then how rare this was.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Just realized that the quotes are from a random generator -- which means nobody knows to what I refer . . .

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Was that a postscript?

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Quite possibly.

[seabat4.livejournal.com]

Aren't we ALL full of p and v?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not a big fan of Amazon's business practices as a whole; but I support the right of a retailer to set whatever price they want. Just like I support the manufacturer's right to set whatever price they want. What I don't support is the manufacturer telling the retailer you have to sell at this point or you can't sell my goods.

JimF

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I'm not sure how this works in other parts of the retailing world, so bear with me. In publishing, the normal bookstore discount is 40%. What that means is that I, Publisher sell a book with a cover price of $10 to Them, Bookseller for $6. The bookseller may then sell the books at whatever price tickles its fancy -- even at a loss! The authors get their percent of cover, as stipulated in their contracts and everybody goes happily broke together.

Ebooks are ephemeral. Simplifying enormously, the inventory is One Master File, copies of which are downloaded to the folks who want to read said file on their ebook device. The old 40% pricing game doesn't work here, and the struggle between Godzilla and Mothra Amazon and Macmillan is the struggle to figure out how everyone involved in the sale of the ebook profits appropriately.

Amazon seems to be of the opinion that all your profits are belong to us. Macmillan thinks it ought to get a piece of the pie, too, and -- authors have contracts, the terms of which must be honored.

It's a right mess all the way around, bringing to mind the eggs-and-omelettes simile. My regret is that the authors are (one!more!time!) the eggs. I wouldn't mind popping some corn and watching two stoopid corps take pieces out of each other. It's the collateral damage that's worrisome.

[stitchwhich.livejournal.com]

The latest development in the Macmillan/Amazon slapfight shows Macmillan still in the lead, at least in terms of control over their own PR.

This didn't have anything to do with the push-back of your book's delivery date, did it? (Been sick, reading things sporatically so I think I missed the Big Picture while reading the details.)

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

This didn't have anything to do with the push-back of your book's delivery date, did it?

Oh, no; that was just a normal re-adjustment to the publisher's schedule. It happens. . .sometimes. . .and for any of a whole Chinese menu full of reasons, all of which are Much Less Dire than a staring match between two big companies. Baen is affiliated with Simon and Schuster for print books; and our ebooks are available from Webscriptions, so we're weathering the fracas in fine shape, personally.

Except for, yanno, watching our friends whose books have been delisted for no fault of theirs or their books freak out.

Feel better!

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

I'm sitting here watching snowplows go by, waiting for the sleet to change back to snow again. Because that 5+ inches we got just wasn't enough, you know.

[otaku-tetsuko.livejournal.com]

Here in Reading PA - more snow than I have seen in the 3 years we've been here - still falling (ongoing since 6 last evening) and the cars are buried well pas their hubcaps and the back patio is gone away, there are snow hats on the furniture that are AT LEAST 12 inches if not more, but I'm not going out with a yardstick! At least, not until it stops and I have to dig out the sidewalk, and this one may be a challenge, sports fans! Last Wednesday it was just a matter of pushing the shovel along at groundlevel and occasionally punting to right or left, but this? I confess, I'm worried for my back this time.

Sheesh! I finally convince my mom to come to PA because we measure our snow in inches, not feet, and this happens! Don't tell her, okay???