The question put to Amazon Customer Care was: "How come you're charging .99 for Randolph Lalonde's Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins ebook download when your competitors are giving it for free, and even the author is advertising the first book free?"
To which Amazon.com Customer Care answered: "I understand that you want to know why there is a charge of $0.99 for the Kindle book Randolph Lalonde's Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins.
The price you pay in the Kindle Store is based on a number of factors, including the initial publisher price. In some cases the publisher, not Amazon, sells the Kindle book or other content. In these cases the price is set by the publisher and you will see "This price was set by the publisher" on the product page.
In the case of Origins (Spinward Fringe), the price you pay has been set by the seller. You can see the price set by the seller on the product page here:
NAME WITHHELD
Amazon.com
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company."
Let me tell you my side of things. Amazon does not allow me to offer my book for free. Other indie authors can, and do, and I don't know how they manage it, but I can't. Here's what happens when I try to enter a price of $0.00 on their interface:
I'm not posting this to insult Amazon, they've been very good to me and to most of my readers. I just couldn't let Customer Service tell my readers something that's not entirely true without presenting my side. I hope to continue to have a good relationship with Amazon, and that the millions of Kindle users continue to enjoy their services.
RL
[Please don't sue me or pull my books from distribution, Amazon!]
3 comments:
Do you know any authors with free books on Amazon who you could ask how they got them up there? I've seen free books, but I think most of them are more like short stories, so perhaps there is a limit on the length that can be made available for free (since Amazon probably doesn't want to store large files on their serves for free)
I've tried other methods over the last few months, none of them worked out. Trust me, I've investigated this from every angle.
As far as storing large files on their servers for free is concerned, they're not large files. Every other eBook retailer is fine with hosting free eBooks. They understand the marketing benefits, which add up to real dollars.
Amazon does not.
Randolph - thanks for the free look at Origins - you have me hooked, and sir, you had better deliver the goods !
I am delighted to pony up for spinwards 1-5 - don't be afraid to push the price - it's that good !
(Goes to check the progress of the download)
Keep up the good work !
One point? your architecture descriptions (See the Pit) are very vague - instead of "hundreds of meters", say "as long as a football pitch, tall as the Tower of London, loftier than the twin towers BEFORE the plane strikes.
Post a Comment