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Geographical Restrictions, Take Two

Old key chain in the shape of a small Earth globe

After last week’s post, there was quite a bit of discussion in a number of areas about the issue of geographical restrictions, some in response to the creation of lostbooksales.com, a site that I, Maili and Keishon created based on a comment made by Suze

If I had the time and computer savvy, I'd set up a lostebooksale.com site where people could submit each book they didn't buy, and why. After the first three or four hundred stories about "I didn't buy Book X because it's not available in my country, so I got a pirate copy", maybe somebody in publisher with the drive, imagination, and ability could prod the industry into action.

Lostbooksales is a place for readers to record the book that they wanted to buy and how they were prevented from completing the purchase.   Remember last week when authors were telling the readers that we should contact the publisher? In fact, one author, under the cloak of anonymity,   was emphatic that even if a reader had attempted contact, she should TRY AGAIN (all caps used by original commenter).

@GrowlyCub:

Helen,

my experience is the exact opposite over the years. I got very few responses and the few I did get either didn't address my questions at all or completely blew me off. Clear indication they couldn't have cared less about me as a reader.

Two things:

1. I am very sorry this happened to you. No one should ever be made to feel like they are undervalued or unimportant.

2. TRY AGAIN.

Another author said:

I know emailing customer service is a fricking pain, but maybe that's the foreign customers need to start doing. Regularly. Making a point of just how many sales are being lost because of geographical restrictions-but don't email the booksellers. Email the publishers.

Asking a reader to contact a publisher about in territory availability is akin to a self published author asking readers to send letters and emails to random US publishers telling them to publish the author’s book.   It’s possible that some authors don’t understand the complexity of this issue either.   Here’s why reader’s should not have the responsibility to contact publishers.   Which publisher, exactly, should the reader contact?

Take, for example, Simone Elkeles‘ “Perfect Chemistry”.   This book is published in the US (and maybe Canada) by Bloomsbury USA.   Simone Elkeles (represented by Kristen Nelson) did not sell world rights to Bloomsbury. There is a Bloomsbury UK division.   Instead Whitney Lee of The Fielding Agency, on behalf of Nelson, negotiated International rights to Simon & Schuster UK Children’s and Susanne Stark at Bertelsmann Children’s in Germany. (This information I got off of Publishers’ Marketplace which is a pay for website).

In 2009, Nelson negotiated another deal for Elkeles with Bloomsbury to publish the sequel, Rules of Attraction, and again Nelson sold only the domestic rights. The entry on Publishers Marketplace gives the email address of Whitney Lee presumably so that interested international publishers can know who to contact for international rights. This book is thus not available to the a reader like Sarah Tanner in Switzerland, at least not in a digital format. (I will note that it is possible that this book’s international rights have been sold but I don’t see it on the PM site. It could have happened and the agent/author didn’t post the sale).

Tessa Dare’s contracts for her first six books with Ballantine were for World rights.   The last contract for three books with Avon,   however, were all for World English rights. The right to distribute the books world wide rest with Ballantine for the first six books   These last contract gives Avon the right to distribute Dare’s books throughout the world but only in English meaning translation rights and foreign language print are still to be determined. Strangely, however, the first book in Dare’s series with Ballantine is not available in digital format in Canada even though the other five are.   Update:   The Dare books are all available in Canada but currently (and at least since March 2009) Sony Canada has shown these books to be unavailable.   Ms. Dare has taken the information and is attempting to get the issue resolved for those readers who shop at US Canada.   When we have resolution of this issue, the post at lostbooksales.com will be converted into a “found sale”.

Bronwyn Parry’s Australian romantic suspense books are not available digitally in the US because no US publisher has bought the rights to these books. Parry sent me the books but I hate reading paper so after reading the first few chapters in the print version, I resolved to find the digital books. I found them at Waterstones and bought them (with my US address and US credit card, if you were wondering).   Amazon UK says that they aren’t available to me.   As much as I enjoyed Ms. Parry’s books, I don’t have the energy or initiative to start a letter writing campaign to the big 6 publishers in the US asking them to publish Ms. Parry’s books. (and not that she has ever asked me to either).

As Darkness Falls

Stephanie Laurens has a page dedicated to audio and ebook enthusiasts including a list of where individuals from different territories can buy her books.   She does note that she has no ability to control the format of the digital ebook.   For that, a reader has to contact the publisher.

And yes, some older formats appear to be no longer available. It seems to be Kindle, iBooks, and Kobo everywhere, and the other formats only in the US. If you want to complain, you need to complain to publishers and/or the originators of your devices. Authors are unable to do anything about this (and believe me, I’ve tried).

Laurens does suggest that SHE has made sure her books are available in all different territories which would indicate to me that she does have some control over this (unlike the different formats of the books):

Speaking of e-books, I have finally got to the bottom of what’s making many authors’ e-books so hard to access from outside the US (although mine should be available–see below!). Sadly, there is little I can do aside from making sure my e-books are available in all the different “territory” stores. That, I have done and will continue to do, especially if you let me know whenever you find any book of mine that is not available to you at any of the major e-book stores (like Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Google when it comes). My books should always be available at those four stores at least, regardless of whatever territory you are in.

Over at eReader.com, readers are instructed to NOT contact the publisher directly:

Should I complain to the Publisher of the eBook?
No. The problem is that the rights to these eBooks is not held by a single publisher. In some countries it might be one publisher, in another country a completely different publisher. The publisher who gives us the right to sell the eBook only has the right to grant us that for customers who live in the geographic region their contract covers.

The fact is that readers feel a bit helpless because we have authors saying that publishers aren’t using the rights granted:

Are most authors holding on to digital world rights? According to my Random House contract, I don't retain those.

We have publishers saying that it is likely for a large percentage of the books that publishers distribute, the publishers don’t have world rights. In fact, Evan Schnittman says:

Perhaps most interesting about my new role is that I am one of the few people in my industry who runs sales and marketing operations on both sides of the Atlantic. Seeing how London differs from New York in trade is fascinating, but what has struck me most is the prevailing zeitgeist regarding world English rights.   The proposition that one publisher should NEVER be sold world English rights for a work seems to have become the default position, especially by UK based agents.

This is consistent with what Chris Meadows was told at the Frankfurter Book Fair this year:

A week ago, I mentioned this problem in regard to comments from agents at the Frankfurt Book Fair who were concerned that American publishers might be trying to undermine territorial restrictions with e-book deals. One agent said that "It would upset the whole publishing dynamic if one let the digital edition seep into another market" and "Anyone trying to do that would really mess up their relationship with the author and the agent."

The Bookseller says the purpose of territorial restrictions is to foster domestic publishing industries:

Territorial copyright was set up to protect a market from overseas competition, which in turn would encourage local investment in authors, in theory leading to thriving publishing markets worldwide, a sort of anti-food chain that can prohibit big global publishers gobbling up smaller territories. Although publishers in some markets, notably Australia, have chafed at some of the restrictions of this, it has largely worked.

It does appear that some agents and publishers and authors are restricting non domestic digital book sales in order to protect regional publishing markets.

Then, we have agents saying that unless the foreign publisher buys a book then there must not be enough demand for the book:

Michelle Wolfson twitter international rights

My entire exchange with Agent Wolfson was really illuminating. Essentially, she looks at the foreign rights issue as a supply/demand thing. If no foreign publisher offers for the work, then she presumes that there is not sufficient demand. (This might be why authors say to write the publisher but as I pointed out before, which publisher would that be?   Just random pubs and say, hey, “buy this author’s work” even though the same house that publishes the book in country A is not necessarily going to be the one that buys and publishes it in country B.) I pointed out that a lack of legitimate market leads readers to illegitimate channels.

Consider this cautionary tale of ceding the territory to pirates and illegitimate channels:

The combined economic impact of the informal publishing industry is roughly equal to that of their legitimate counterparts. Pirated books printed in Lima are shipped all over the country, and have been seen in Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and as far away as Argentina.

There is one problem with the myth about pirates bringing literature to the masses: street-level vendors tend to congregate in the same middle and upper-class neighborhoods where you find the bookstores. Their clients are people with money.

The territorial rights issue is rife with problems.   The authors are telling readers to contact the publishers.   The publishers are saying that they don’t have the rights.   The readers, particularly the international readers, are in the dark and feel buffeted on all sides.

The Bookseller article mentioned above refers from a blog post from Peter Donoughue, thirty five year publishing insider. I spent the weekend trawling through this guy’s blog posts and feel so much more educated! I highly recommend it. Mr. Donoughue says this  about territoriality and digital books:

But separate territorial ebook editions are a nonsense. The better solution would be to have all publishing parties around the globe who have bought the rights to their territories share revenues on the one original ebook edition. It really shouldn't be hard to administer this. Thus the ebook would be available from day one to all customers globally, and the original ebook publisher simply keeps track of customer locations and rights sales and disburses revenues accordingly. Ebook suppliers like Amazon and Apple can easily report territory sales.

All of this simply shows the futility of placing the burden on the reader to figure this stuff out. No reader should have to figure this out in order to get a legitimate channel of purchase in her region.   How does a reader know all these details? She doesn’t, of course, and nor should she. I barely understand all the complexities and I am actively asking questions (which I often do inelegantly and cause authors to get offended and publishers to be pissed off).

Here is what we know for sure. Authors start with the rights. The rights flow from the author to the publisher. The publisher can choose to buy any set of rights and the author can choose to sell any set of rights. The decisions publishers and authors make about what set of rights to sell and buy are dependent upon what makes the best business decision for them. More often than not this will favor one set of readers over another usually the reader of the domestic market.   This is a systemic problem that needs to be resolved and it will take the combined efforts of authors and agents demanding for a change in the standard contractual language and publishers agreeing to such a change in order for this issue to be resolved.

The best thing we can do as readers is raise awareness of the issue. We do need to keep talking about it because unless we talk about it, how important it is to us as readers, the issue can fade in importance.   Thus the lostbooksales.com site.   It’s a place where readers can voice their frustrations and publishers, agents, and authors who may be interested can see what is going on in the consumer mind.   If anything, perhaps it will show how important it is for this issue to be worked out and sooner rather than later.

I want to make one last point. The existence of world English digital distribution does not always mean that foreign saleability is impaired. Case in point is Kindle best selling author Amanda Hocking whose success caught the attention of Steve Axeldrod, an agent who reps folks like Christine Feehan and Julia Quinn:

After being contacted by a publisher in Hungary that wanted to buy her foreign rights, she landed one of the top agents on the planet, Steven Axelrod. But here's where things get interesting: Mr. Axelrod began selling her foreign rights, her movie rights, and other ancillary rights. However, he purposely didn't sell her most important rights.

…..

Mr. Axelrod realized that Kindle was the engine of Ms. Hocking's success. Instead of taking her books offline, he built a supporting structure around her Kindle editions.

As far as I can tell, Ms. Hocking’s books are available to Kindle readers worldwide (they were available in the UK and in North America).

Jane Litte is the founder of Dear Author, a lawyer, and a lover of pencil skirts. She spends her downtime reading romances and writing about them. Her TBR pile is much larger than the one shown in the picture and not as pretty. You can reach Jane by email at jane @ dearauthor dot com

71 Comments

  1. Tweets that mention Geographical Restrictions, Take Two | Dear Author -- Topsy.com
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 04:18:21

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Has, Nadia Lee and girrlitsbooks.com.au, dearauthor. dearauthor said: NewPost: Geographical Restrictions, Take Two http://bit.ly/by5MWN [...]

  2. farmwifetwo
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 06:32:24

    “Reader’s should contact publishers”… HUH?? Why should I contact them b/c you didn’t negotiate a proper contract?? “I have no say”. Since when?? You signed the contract didn’t you?? Or were you simply desperate enough to make the sale you took whatever they gave you and now you expect me as a reader to renegotiate that contract for you…. Not going to happen.

    I don’t need to read a particular author badly enough to hunt up the book illegally or have someone buy for me in another country and mail it, that the author refuses to paper or e-publish in Canada. Although we rarely have that issue, suspect NAFTA helps with that, I still feel there’s plenty more authors out there. Many more genres.

    Even Nora made certain Indulgence in Death was available Nov 2nd on Kobo – half the h/c price and that’s the format I bought it in. I’m certain if she can negotiate an e-release the same day her book came out in h/c… other’s can too.

    Oh…. and when you switch from pb to h/c in the middle of your series… we’re parting ways… Except for JD Robb and LRK… I’m not buying a $30+/book. And even then, most likely, I’ll just wait for it to come via the library and not bother buying my own copy at all. At approx 300 books/yr… just think of the lost sales revenue due to an amazing ILL system…

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  3. Ros
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 06:35:16

    I definitely agree on that last point. If non-US readers were able to easily access ebooks which are not currently being published overseas, then I think that could actually enhance the print book sales of those authors overseas. I’d happily buy print copies of several authors that I currently only have in digital format.

    Here’s hoping someone starts taking notice soon!

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  4. sao
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 06:38:36

    This is a really hot button issue for me, as an expat in a country with limited English book availability.

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  5. Milena
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 07:45:45

    I can sorta understand publishers and agents fearing that e-books available worldwide would eat up at least part of the foreign rights income. I don’t agree with that, but I do think it reflects the fact that most people have still not grasped the point of digital distribution at all.

    As a supreme example, I must mention Amazon, which lost me as a customer completely (how would that translate into lost sales? I buy at least five or six books a month, so it’s a lot.) because they want me to pay $2 for all their “free” titles. Why? It’s payment for shipping over the whispernet – which I do not have, since I don’t own a physical Kindle, only the app. I could create a fake-US account to get around it, but I don’t want to. Instead, I’ve moved on to venues and publishers who at least try to behave as if they respect me as a customer.

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  6. Statch
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 07:53:00

    I really appreciate your taking on the complexity of this issue. I imagine that big-name authors find it much easier to negotiate terms, though still not easy, than new, or less well known, authors, who probably just want to get, or stay, published. When things get as complicated as this, change is tough.

    I think the new web site for reporting lost book sales is going to really help by quantifying the losses. It’s difficult to effect change with anecdotal evidence only.

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  7. Kathleen Dienne
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 08:04:39

    The earring in the photo made me laugh so loud that I scared the beagle. I HAD that earring in junior high school. It’s still around here someplace. The halves of the globe are even off kilter in the same way.

    @Farmwifetwo – I appreciate what you are saying in some ways. But two points – “the author refuses” and “If Nora can do it, anyone can” – are inaccurate.

    Authors don’t refuse to exploit rights. In many cases, they don’t know how to exploit whatever rights are left to them after signing a contract. It’s not like there’s a manual out there. For example, rights in Hungary. Good grief. I don’t have the faintest idea how to sell a book in Hungary. I know nothing of the Hungarian market, who the big players are, the differences between a good Hungarian press and a bad one, etc. Ignorance is no excuse, but it’s a far cry from “refuses.”

    “Get an agent” is no real help. There are thousands of agents, many of whom have no more clue than I have when it comes to foreign markets, and the ones with a clue don’t exactly glow in the dark for easy locating. I know who the big agents are – but if none of them want me, I’d rather not just pick some random agent and hope for luck.

    As for La Nora… I promise you, Nora can negotiate things into her contracts that the rest of us can’t. Just… can’t. Because if she walks away from the table, the publisher loses a sure thing. If I walk away from the table, publishing doesn’t exactly tremble.

    Still, if I wasn’t confident that the publishers I choose would/could exploit all possible rights, I wouldn’t sign the contract. It’s just that to sign or not to sign is quite literally the only power I have at this stage and for the foreseeable future, and while I may be green as grass, I know several midlisters who say the same.

    Really, this lostbooksales site is one of the better ideas I’ve heard in terms of sussing out data, and the article one of the best on the topic I’ve seen.

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  8. tricia
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 08:28:07

    Thank you for talking about this. There is no way I’m going to write emails to various publishers whining. They don’t CARE about me in Canada. It’s up to an author and agent to deal with these issues as they negotiate new contracts, not ME. I’m just as happy to pay for books that are available to me, and read the others from the library.

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  9. v
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 09:32:50

    Improving the product is up to the consumer and the producer. I don’t see the point of either abdicating and expecting to whine about it but do nothing. Seems a bit Little-Red-Hennish.

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  10. Sao
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 09:37:10

    The issue is not how to exploit rights in, say, Hungary, it’s prohibiting sales to people in E. Europe because you don’t know any thing about the Hungarian book market.

    If you aren’t exploiting some rights, why not allow sales of your English e-book in that country. It shouldn’t be too tough for an e-bookstore tp stop sales in say,Hungary, if you manage to acquire an agent or publisher there.

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  11. Jane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 10:05:22

    @v: In what way is improving the product the consumer responsibility? And, what exactly do you think the reader should do in these circumstances? Is the reader supposed to guess at what publishers in her territory might be interested in publishing these books? Is she to email the author? Because emailing the author is a great idea, but authors often reply with “I can’t do anything about it”.

    I definitely think that readers can abdicate a market. Why should they jump through hoops to buy a particular book? Why not just move on to a book they can buy? or go out? or surf the web or read fan fiction or other free content on the web? There is no “have to” for a reader.

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  12. Christine Rimmer
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 10:10:50

    @farmwifetwo: This is an important conversation and the lost sales site is a great idea. This whole “why don’t you negotiate better terms, authors?” argument is I suppose understandable from the point of view of a reader who knows nothing about how publishing works.

    Others have already mentioned this but it bears repeating, most authors have very little say in the way their books are distributed. Only powerful, bestselling authors can make stuff happen in terms of that. The rest of us get a boilerplate contract with very little wiggle room in terms of what we can change–agent or not. Most of us work constantly to get more power in the negotiating process. But I’ve been in this business for decades and, even with the help of the various author orgs I support, I haven’t gotten my publisher to change much of anything in terms of my contracts.

    Yes, we could stop writing as a job and go work at Target–if they happen to be hiring–and write for the sheer love of the process in our copious “free” time. But most of us choose to write for a living as much as possible so that we can make a living doing what we love. Telling us we should be braver and refuse to sign a contract because the terms are not ideal, well, that’s not the least helpful.

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  13. Moriah Jovan
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 10:16:55

    @Jane:

    Why should they jump through hoops to buy a particular book? Why not just move on to a book they can buy? or go out? or surf the web or read fan fiction or other free content on the web?

    Heh. Day before yesterday I chose to paint my foyer instead of reading–because I couldn’t get the book I wanted.

    No, I’m not going to buy another book to read instead of the one I wanted. I’m going to hit the to-do list. Thanks, publishers, for allowing me to live without the guilt of having put off my responsibilities for an impulse buy-and-read!

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  14. Keishon
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 10:38:29

    @Christine Rimmer, we get it. We do. Authors who don’t sell well or have some moderate sales are without any power to do anything contractually while bestselling authors have more negotiating power. Also, you want to make a living and generating sales is important even while leaving out a segment of your readers/and or your fan base. We get it. We really do.

    However, I’ve yet to hear any author say, well, let me look into this and see what I can do to fix this problem. Haven’t heard anyone coming up with any solutions yet. All I am hearing is what can’t be done and as a reader, I don’t want to hear it. What can you do going forward, folks? Put your thinking caps on and figure it out. From what I keep reading on the net, sales continue to plummet in publishing. So, somebody better to figure something out.

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  15. Mike Cane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 10:42:32

    >>> …the author can choose to sell any set of rights.

    *snort* Yeah, good luck with that stance.

    One of the reasons why someone like Konrath dumped the traditional model. They want it ALL of they’ll take NOTHING.

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  16. Tessa Dare
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 10:58:29

    Jane, I’m not sure where you are getting your information about my contracts, but it is incorrect. My first two contracts with Ballantine were for World Rights, period–that includes foreign, digital, and other subsidiary rights.

    A few words about negotiations: Regardless of whether authors retain or sell certain rights, there’s no guarantee they’ll be used. Simply because an author retains Hungarian translation rights, it doesn’t mean she’ll find a Hungarian publisher to buy them, etc.

    Another thing to remember is the speed at which all of this is changing, and the relative snail’s pace of a book toward publication. At the time I signed that first contract, I don’t think the Kindle even existed. I know the Nook didn’t. And by the time my next book under contract comes out, there will probably be yet another device or distribution method. I’m not claiming I would necessarily have done things differently. I’m just saying, if anyone assumes the nuances of digital distribution as they exist today were the crux of my decision process when I signed a contract 3+ years ago…they would be wrong.

    Like many (if not most) authors, I would love for my books to be available in every language, in every country, in every format. When readers can’t buy books, it hurts authors too.

    It’s just not as a simple as “Readers should complain” or “Authors should negotiate different contracts.” There are situations where a request from a reader can have more traction than a request from an author. There are situations where an author’s request can get the job done much faster. And there are situations where neither approach is likely to make much headway.

    Some examples from my personal experience:

    After the Nook went live, a few readers wrote to tell me that GODDESS OF THE HUNT was not available for Nook, even though the rest of my books were. I thanked the reader for telling me and promised to look into it. After some investigating, I found the correct person at my publisher to ask, and it turned out to be a simple uploading oversight or glitch. It took a few months, but it did get corrected, and now the book is for sale via Nook. And in that case, my direct request to the digital rights department probably remedied the situation faster than a reader comment would have done.

    (FWIW, I would bet a similar oversight is the reason this book isn’t available as an e-book in Canada. I wasn’t even aware of that, and now that I am, I’ll write the same person to ask about it. Jane, what site did you use to check that?)

    So, second example: Rhapsody and Doubleday book clubs carried my first trilogy, but not the second. Book club rights are something my publisher owns, and I have no place in those negotiations. I have no idea why the book clubs carried the first trilogy and not the second. Obviously, I would love for them to have offered the second, but it didn’t happen. When book club readers have contacted me to express their disappointment, I’ve told them I share it and I’m sorry for their inconvenience. And I’ve suggested, gently, that if they mentioned their interest to their book club, that might increase the chances that my next book *is* picked up. Sure, I could write the book club myself–but an author’s personal desire to have her books carried by the book club is not going to speak as loudly to them as their regular customers’ input.

    Same situation when readers write to ask if there will be an audiobook. I’d love for audiobooks to be available, but I can’t control whether the audio rights sell. It’s a long shot, but a customer request *might* help.

    So, third situation: A reader in southeast Asia emails me to say she’d be interested in buying my books, but she can’t find the print versions in her bookstores and the e-book is unavailable to her because of geographical restrictions. I first thank her for her interest and taking effort to ask (because I know she probably could easily have downloaded a pirated copy in the same time it took her to write me). I tell her about Book Depository, and I tell her I’ll look into whether she can purchase the ebook. I forward the email to my publisher, asking if there’s a way for her to legally buy the e-book, and…I get no answer. Because I don’t think they have one to give me. At this point, I don’t think it’s a matter of a my publisher’s desire to sell or a reader’s desire to buy, but the business vagaries involved when a publisher that has been set up to sell print books internationally starts to offer digital ones. Courtney Milan recently blogged about this.

    And yes, in that case, what I say to the reader (and myself) is that I hope there will soon be a legal way for international readers to buy those e-books. I let them know about Book Depository as an alternative, or I encourage them to check out my Samhain novella, which is available as an e-book internationally (but not in print, and FWIW, I get emails from readers who would like to buy that in print and can’t.).

    Whenever a reader contacts me to say they’d like to purchase one of my books in a format that’s not currently or easily available to them, I am honored that they would take the trouble ask and I try to find a way for them to read the book.

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  17. Christine Rimmer
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 11:03:06

    @Keishon: Good point. I’m going to find out whom I should address at Harlequin with distribution issues on my books. Please email me at [email protected] with where you live and what book of mine you can’t get because of geographical restrictions. I will see complaints get to the right person, at least. Yes, chances are we’ll just get a form-type response about contracts with subcontractors. But Harlequin is actually very responsive to readers and if enough reader complaints are lodged, some good may come of it. Yes, I know this is only a drop in a very large bucket, but you asked what I was willing to do.

    I actually believe this issue will change over time for the better. With ebooks, geographical restrictions seem kind of idiotic–at least to me.

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  18. Jane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 12:04:14

    @Tessa Dare I got the information from PM and yes, I did get that incorrect. PM reports your Avon deal for World English and the first two with Ballantine for “World”.

    As for the Canada issue, I don’t know what book is available and what book is not in Canada. A reader reported that the first book was not available to her digitally in Canada. On Amazon, it says its available for me, but I have a US address.

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  19. Jane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 12:16:31

    @Tessa Dare What reader action do you recommend a reader take? I.e., how would she know who to contact, other than you?

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  20. Statch
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 12:25:08

    I’m afraid this isn’t about geographic rights, but since lostbooksales.com was mentioned, I wanted to say that I just finished entering my wishlist. This is the list I’ve been keeping since the Agency ebook pricing model prevented the etailers from discounting those publishers’ books. It only includes my auto-buy authors.

    In about the last six months, I recorded a total of 44 books on the wishlist, all of which I would have bought immediately if the pricing model hadn’t changed.

    Of those, I didn’t buy 26 because the ebook price was the same as (or even higher than) the print version. I bought 4 at full price just because I really wanted them. I decided not to buy 2 because while I was hesitating because of price, they got bad reviews.

    Twelve books had publishers who allowed ebook discounting, and I bought all 12 of those.

    That doesn’t count all the new authors I didn’t try because I was hesitant to spend that much for an author I’m not familiar with.

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  21. Author On Vacation
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 13:00:33

    Per Jane:

    In fact, one author, under the cloak of anonymity, was emphatic that even if a reader had attempted contact, she should TRY AGAIN (all caps used by original commenter).

    I gave Growlycub the same advice I would give any person experiencing unacceptable customer service. If I felt disrespected by a company’s representative, I would insist upon talking to someone else until I felt the pertinent issue was handled to my satisfaction.

    Please do not manipulate my comments to add dramatic emphasis to your articles, Jane. Your articles are interesting, involved, and well worth consideration without resorting to transparent theatrics.

    Regarding customer refusal to ask for what s/he wants, that’s entirely up to the customer.

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  22. Tessa Dare
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 13:04:02

    @Jane: Specifics on the Canadian issue would be very much appreciated, so I can know whether it’s limited to one vendor (like the Nook issue) or is a problem across all retailers.

    Thank you for the correction, but now I am not at all sure what point you’re making by mentioning my books in your post. But anyway…

    As for my personal suggestions to readers… I don’t know that I’m the best person to make suggestions, honestly. I can forward reader complaints to my publisher(s), and have done so in the past. I don’t see it as readers’ “responsibility” to change the current situation. My gut feeling is that publishers already know they’re missing sales. And since they like to make money, I suspect that when they figure out how to make the books internationally available given the contractual issues they face, they will do so. I understand that this is a frustrating conundrum, and I share in the frustration. I think the new site is a nifty idea. I hope it helps accelerate the process.

    ReplyReply

  23. Maili
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 14:01:50

    What I find interesting is publishers and book sellers that crop up the most at lostbooksales.com are British and American.

    I know that in some cases, British and, maybe, American publishers’ world rights cover all “English” (or commonwealth) countries including Canada, Australia, etc. But aren’t there any digital editions from publishers in those “English” countries? New Zealand and Australia, for example?

    It’s that part I don’t quite understand. Are Australian and NZ publishers indifferent to acquiring English digital rights? Or do right holders think there is no market in those countries, hence lack of availability?

    And – excuse a slight change of subject but this interests me a lot – what about digital books in foreign languages? There are very few English-language reports of international progress of digital publishing. Are there any available? What’s the state of play for readers / book buyers? I’m referring to those in The Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, European countries – particularly France, Poland and Germany; South Africa, China, etc.

    Are they having problems buying, say, digital French edition from outside France if any at all? Do non-English publishers impose geographic restrictions on their digital editions? How is it going so far?

    In short, what’s the status on the digital publishing within those countries, regarding digital editions of local/native novels and textbooks?

    ReplyReply

  24. Author On Vacation
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 14:13:18

    @Keishon:

    However, I've yet to hear any author say, well, let me look into this and see what I can do to fix this problem. Haven't heard anyone coming up with any solutions yet. All I am hearing is what can't be done and as a reader, I don't want to hear it. What can you do going forward, folks? Put your thinking caps on and figure it out. From what I keep reading on the net, sales continue to plummet in publishing. So, somebody better to figure something out.

    Several posters, including authors, offered various suggestions addressing the original question on the original thread.

    To refresh everyone’s memory, Jane asked this question:

    “How Do We Solve a Problem Like Geographic Restrictions?”/

    Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I thought Jane’s use of the term “we” referred to the reading community, not to authors. If the reading community does not want to take the industry to task for not providing them with their desired products, I’m uncertain how the “problem” can be solved.

    ReplyReply

  25. Janine
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 14:28:43

    I just wanted to say this article and links within are very much appreciated. I feel more knowledgeable on this issue than I was last week.

    ReplyReply

  26. Courtney Milan
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 15:08:33

    I just want to caution against statements like “Kristin Nelson did not sell foreign rights to Bloomsbury,” coupled with the implication that had she done so, the situation would have been better for foreign readers.

    It’s not always the case that rights sold to publishers are exploited, and to be frank, Kristin (who, full disclosure, is also my agent) has a really, really great (and aggressive) subsidiary rights person–something that is NOT always true for any given publishing house.

    One of the reasons authors may choose not to sell a US publisher foreign rights is if the author knows that her agent will do a better job of getting foreign rights sold–and thus, used, and in the hands of more readers–than otherwise.

    You just don’t know–Bloomsbury UK might not have wanted to publish Perfect Chemistry, or might not have had room in its publishing schedule until 2014. If Bloomsbury US had bought the rights, it might have taken even longer to get the book over to the UK.

    Think about it: one reason to retain rights to your books is if you sell it to house X, the possibility that it will appear in a territory will depend upon whether ONE particular sister-publishing arm wants it.

    If you keep the rights to your book, and have an aggressive foreign rights agent, the possibility that it will appear in a territory will depend upon whether ANY publishing arm in the territory wants it.

    The latter is greater than the former.

    There are of course exceptions to this but I just don’t think it’s as cut and dry as presented.

    ReplyReply

  27. Kerry D.
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 15:10:07

    @Maili: First, be aware I’m speaking as someone who has no specific information, but I think part of the problem here in New Zealand is that we’re such a small market.

    I honestly don’t know if we have publishers here who release ebooks or not. If we do, it hasn’t been trumpeted about for the general public to know.

    I’m all for encouraging the local market, but in all honesty, many books that are published here are simply not books I want to read as a genre reader. New Zealand seems to have a strong literay establishment, but not much else.

    Two authors I wanted to by in ebook recently and couldn’t are both New Zealanders. Both have published outside New Zealand because (I assume) that’s how they can get sales in their chosen markets. Their books can be bought locally in print for a very high price, imported in print for a much lower price or bought in digital format if you DON’T live in New Zealand. Because I choose to read digitally, I can’t actually buy and support local authors. (Nalini Singh and Helen Lowe for the record.)

    I don’t know what the answer is, but the problem is hugely frustrating.

    And for whoever was talking about J.D. Robb being able to make her ebooks available; that’s not true here. I can’t buy Indulgence in Death digitally in New Zealand. Good thing I put it on my library holds list months ago, isn’t it.

    ReplyReply

  28. Liz
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 15:38:16

    @Tessa Dare: I’m in Canada, and Goddess of the Hunt shows up as available to me at the Kobo store and at Amazon. At the Sony store, it says “Not available,” which suggests it’s not available AT ALL at that retailer(geographically restricted books there say “US Only”). (I’m glad this discussion made me check, because I hadn’t read any of the trilogy since I couldn’t get the first one from Sony, but I’d like to).

    ReplyReply

  29. Tessa Dare
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 16:02:03

    Liz, thank you for checking! (and for reading, if you go on to do so). It is strange indeed, because when I go to the Sony store, it looks available, but the cover art was missing. Apparently, there were a few glitches when this particular title was uploaded as an ebook to various retailers. I will most definitely forward the information to my publisher, and hopefully it will be fixed soon.

    Jane: since the ebook is apparently available in Canada, I hope you will amend the post?

    ReplyReply

  30. Lynnd
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 16:12:39

    @Jane: I just checked Kobo and Amazon and all of Tessa Dare’s books are available in Canada at those stores (sorry, I didn’t check Sony and Books on Board). I know that her last three books were delayed for a few days (maybe even up to two weeks after release day at Kobo, but I think that this is probably an issue with Kobo and not a questiion of rights and I was able to buy those books in Canada shortly after they were released. I don’t remember if her other books were available on Kobo or elsewhere at that time as I had already read them and wasn’t looking.

    Nalini Singh’s latest is not available at Kobo but I got in on release day at sony. Sony was having problems with Canadian releases, but they sent out an email a couple of weeks ago saying that they had sorted out most of the issues and it appears that all of the November releases from the big 6 publishers were available in the Sony Reader Store on or within a day of the official release.

    ReplyReply

  31. tricia
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 16:18:49

    @Tessa Dare: Tessa, I’m in Canada–Goddess of the Hunt is marked unavailable for me when I access the Sony store. Sorry! The art’s missing, but the buy button is grayed out completely.

    ReplyReply

  32. Tessa Dare
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 16:28:44

    Lynn and Tricia, thanks to both of you, too. I should have been more clear in my response to Liz–I completely take your word for it that it’s not available from the Canadian Sony store. Liz had suggested that maybe Sony didn’t have it anywhere, and I was saying that it does look available from the US Sony site. I figure it must be some kind of glitch unique to the Canadian side of the Sony store, and I’ll definitely pass the info along so the publisher can fix it. I’m grateful to those of you who took the time to go check.

    ReplyReply

  33. Jorrie Spencer
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 17:05:27

    I had thought the Canadian issue had something to do with Canadian taxes, as for a while there were ebooks available on Kobo that weren’t available elsewhere. (Kobo is based in Canada and had Ontario’s tax, HST, added to the book.)

    For example, I searched out different places for the anthology Burning Up in mid-September (with Nalini Singh, Virginia Kantra, Angela Knight and Meljean Brook) and I could only find it available at Kobo, not at Kindle, say. But now, if I got to Amazon it appears available in Kindle. So that makes me wonder if things are changing, at least in Canada, with geo restrictions.

    ReplyReply

  34. Christine M.
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 17:07:15

    @Tessa Dare

    Just so you know, Goddess of the Hunt has been unavailable at the Canadian Sony store since *at least* March 2009.

    ReplyReply

  35. MaryK
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 17:34:25

    Do countries like Switzerland, Germany, Japan have English language publishers who might potentially be interested in publishing an English language ebook?

    If they don’t have English language publishers (or if they do but the pub isn’t interested), whose market would US publishers be encroaching on by selling English ebooks there?

    It sounds like either a dog in the manger attitude – “I don’t want to sell it but you can’t either” or gambling – “Maybe she’ll get so popular there’ll be huge demand for books she wrote X years ago and somebody will finally buy the rights.”

    I’m sooo glad I live in the US. I couldn’t handle the frustration of inaccessible books. I’d probably stop reading altogether and spend my time crocheting while watching US tv shows on youtube.

    ReplyReply

  36. Tessa Dare
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 17:34:29

    Christine: I wish I’d known about the Sony issue sooner, believe me. But I didn’t. All I can do is apologize for any inconvenience and do my best to get it fixed now. I am sure the publisher will be glad of the chance to correct it.

    This is a technical problem with one title at
    one vendor, not a geographical restriction
    issue. It is an unfortunate mistake, most
    definitely, for all concerned. But neither I nor the publisher are refusing to sell the book to Canadian customers, as Jane’s post seemed to suggest.

    ReplyReply

  37. Marg
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 17:47:07

    I am not sure that anyone really knows the state of play in relation to the the Australian and New Zealand market. A lot of the time the publishing rights for those markets are linked to the UK market, but then again there seems to have been a recent move to stop us from accessing digital copies from the UK as well.

    I haven’t seen a lot from the Australian publishers in terms of ebooks. I am sure that we will catch up eventually. It just might take a while.

    In the meantime, I will be continuing to add my lost sales to the list.

    ReplyReply

  38. Jane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 17:52:52

    @Tessa Dare: I think its safe to say that readers have no idea why a book isn’t available to them. I noted that while the English world rights seem to rest in the publishers’ hands, it wasn’t available to a reader in Canada.

    Strangely, however, the first book in Dare's series with Ballantine is not available in digital format in Canada even though the other five are.

    ReplyReply

  39. Tessa Dare
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 18:04:03

    Jane, that part you quoted simply isn’t correct. It is, and has been, available digitally in Canada. I am sorry for the problem at the Canadian Sony store. I was also sorry there was a temporary problem with the same title’s availability for the US Nook. Believe me, i want the book available everywhere it can be. A
    problem with one vendor is not the same as “not available in digital format in Canada.”

    ReplyReply

  40. Christine M.
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 18:22:05

    @Tessa Dare:

    Maybe, but how was I to know? Like I explained to Jane, I received a voucher to buy for the Sony Store when I bought my Reader so the only store I checked at when I was browsing to buy books was the Sony store. It never occured to me to look elsewhere since I wouldn’t have been able to buy books with that money anyway. Like I also mentionned to Jane, at the same time I find GotH was unavailable, so was the third book in Molly Harper’s Nice Girls series. Which is, just like GotH, still unavailable to Canadian customers.

    It might be that it is Sony’s fault but back in March, it cost you and Ms Harper 3 sales each. And it never came to my mind that I should contact anyone (publisher, Cony, author etc.) about this issue–especially since I wasn’t very au fait of the publishing industry back then. So, I bought other books instead.

    ReplyReply

  41. Deb
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 18:29:36

    Jane, really nice job on the website. I particularly like the sort by publisher presented within a word cloud. That is a great visual to demonstrate to anyone who views it, which publishing houses have lost book sales. I also like the links page. Providing alternative sources for books turns this into a fine resource for readers. A far cry from the whiny, entitlement attitude some have suggested digital readers posess.

    To all involved and Suze who suggested it, great job. A positive outcome of a really sad state of affairs.

    ReplyReply

  42. frustrated aussie
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 18:31:31

    Well I found some ebooks on Harper Collins AU, but no way to buy them..
    http://www.harpercollins.com.au/searcheng/2PageSearchx.aspx?type=allbooks&search=ebooks&bisac=FIC027000&categorydesc=Romance&mode=search&siteid=5&action=ApplyBisac
    But that could be my brain (or tech skills) malfunctioning.

    The main problem in AU, is that so few romance genre books get released here. There was one pub I was looking at, can’t remember which, but they basically had four releases in a month.

    The thing is with our small print runs on genre fiction, the majority of romance books are not going to get released here, so any argument of the availability of ebooks being detrimental to print sales is kinda irrelevant.
    (Any other Aussies remember how long it took them to release Kenyon and Feehan books here?? It was something like 2005 wasn’t it? Well after they had reached major US status)
    I do not see why they do not “rent” out the digital rights to the smaller markets, it might actually improve the print market, by showing there is a demand for certain authors and genres etc..

    Dammit why can’t every pub be as awesome as Harlequin??
    (Even though I am still pissed at them for having Courtney Milan’s book in trade here in Aus, and the ebook at trade prices. grrr)

    ReplyReply

  43. Tessa Dare
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 18:36:05

    Christine, really – I understand. You have my apologies for the inconvenience. I wouldn’t expect you to have done anything differently. I am sorry you didn’t find the book when you wanted it.

    My only complaint is with Jane, who took your anecdotal experience and wrote it up as a categorical fact. Now that we’ve established the book is available at several Canadian retailers, I am asking her to correct the post. That’s all.

    ReplyReply

  44. Kerry D.
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 18:41:50

    Would it be possible to have a running total of entries for lost sales on the lostbooksales.com website? I think that would be very interesting to, as the entries are coming in fast and there’s no easy way to figure how many have been added in just a few days.

    ReplyReply

  45. Tabitha
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 18:43:06

    Hmm, the lost book sale link up there isn’t going through — it should be lostebooksale.com not lostbooksales.com.

    ReplyReply

  46. Jane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 19:04:50

    @Tessa Dare I’m happy to correct the post and I apologize for getting it wrong as I try to be as accurate as possible.

    ReplyReply

  47. Jane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 19:09:07

    @Tabitha actually, I had a lot of debate as to which name would be the best for the site and I couldn’t decide so I ended up buying a few of them including lostebooksale.com and they all point to lostbooksales.com. So they all work.

    ReplyReply

  48. Jane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 19:09:27

    @Kerry D. I actually think that is something I can add (or maybe there is a wordpress plugin for).

    ReplyReply

  49. Tabitha
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 19:10:49

    Sorry Jane. It wasn’t working for me earlier when I tried several times on the site here. But I clicked on the same link from someone else’s blog a few minutes ago and it works now. Weird. Sorry again about that!

    ReplyReply

  50. Jayne
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 19:57:46

    @Tabitha: The first link doesn’t work for me either. The one in the middle of the post does and that’s how I got to the site.

    ReplyReply

  51. Jane
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 20:11:43

    @Jayne Oh! I had a comma in the link which is why it didn’t work. Sorry and thanks for pointing that out @Tabitha

    ReplyReply

  52. Lesley
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 21:53:02

    Have been finding this really informative. Thanks Jane.
    I’m in Australia, and haven’t got into ereaders yet. All this discussion has further convinced me that I’m right to wait a bit longer. There are a few ebook-only that I’d like to read, but I can wait for them. I can certainly do without the frustration of this geographic nonsense.

    ReplyReply

  53. Sao
    Nov 07, 2010 @ 23:00:45

    I dontw know about availability, but I’ve seen plenty of Russians with e-readers, reading inRussian. Generally not the brands you see in the us, which may cause compatibility issues. There’s a thriving illegal download market, so I imagine Russian publishers either do or will very soon offer many e-books.

    The best way to prevent piracy is to license your rights to a local firm who will aggressively pursue pirates. We now get Hollywood movies almost as soon as other markets because the studios have figured out that it’s far better to sell a legal, dubbed version for 3 or 4$ with a local firm suing all pirates than to withhold the movie for fear of piracy and complain to industry groups about massive piracy.

    ReplyReply

  54. gous
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 01:24:04

    Some more thoughts on this at http://www.idealog.com/blog/why-offshore-ebook-customers-are-so-often-frustrated
    Especially liked this bit:’every publisher should be harvesting and analyzing data from Jane's site’

    ReplyReply

  55. Ros
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 03:05:34

    @Keishon: The only author I have contacted directly in my frustration at not being able to buy her books because of GR is Loretta Chase. She forwarded my email to her agent who wrote me a lengthy and helpful response which indicated that she is trying to get Loretta’s publishers to resolve this issue and was grateful for my email as further evidence to use to persuade the publishers to act. I am not holding my breath for a resolution, but I did at least feel that both the author and her agent in this example understood the issue and were working to overcome it. I think it’s true that many authors feel as powerless and frustrated as readers with respect to this issue, but I don’t think it’s fair to say that no authors are doing anything to help. I’ve been very impressed with Tessa Dare’s responses in this thread as well.

    ReplyReply

  56. Keishon
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 07:34:41

    @Ros: I went back to read my comment. I didn’t say that authors were not helping. You inferred that and it is incorrect. I said let’s quit talking about what can’t be done and see what we can do going forward to resolve the issue. Additionally, no one is powerless and there’s always something to be done even if it is to convey the information to the right person who can DO something. There’s always something that somebody can do.

    ReplyReply

  57. Ros
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 11:08:01

    @Keishon: You said ‘However, I've yet to hear any author say, well, let me look into this and see what I can do to fix this problem.’ All I was intending to do was to give a positive example of an author responding by seeing what she and her agent could do to fix the problem. I agree that in general there’s been a lot of shrugging shoulders and admitting defeat, when action could be taken.

    ReplyReply

  58. Ranty McRant Time: Geo Restriction Style | The Book Pushers | Book Reviews | Book Chatter
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 13:31:33

    [...] I was shocked at how many readers there are who have to deal with geo restrictions. Jane also has part two of her geographical restriction posts [...]

  59. Bren
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 14:17:43

    I’m scratching my head trying to understand the reasons behind the animosity aimed at the authors both in the post and in the comments. Should you not be railing at the publishers’ restrictions? How is this the authors’ fault? I can imagine any author would like her books out in as many markets as possible. How are authors limiting who can get what?

    ReplyReply

  60. tricia
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 14:31:16

    @Bren: I don’t think there’s overmuch animosity directed toward authors here. Those of us who can’t read what we like because of a territorial boundary are allowed to share our frustration here, though, at a website that is reader-focused. Jane’s always as precise as she can be with the facts at hand, although she acknowledged that sometimes she’s “inelegant” about that. (Jane, it’s one of the things I love about DA. Never Change.)

    I don’t believe that authors have any power with these issues, and I don’t blame them that I can’t download anything I’d like. That said, I can sure as hell appreciate the authors who DO go out of their way to make their readers’ voices heart. I DO appreciate Tessa getting the facts straight here. And I know that eventually this is all going to change and I’ll be able to buy whatever I want (albeit at an indecent markup) in ebook format. But make no mistake–we know that authors don’t set prices or arrange distribution. They aren’t the annoying ones in this fight.

    ReplyReply

  61. Ros
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 16:13:25

    @Bren: I think it seems like that mainly because, as Jane outlined in her post, readers don’t really have any useful way of being in contact with publishers. So authors are our intermediaries in this process, even if they are subject to a lot of limitations and frustrations themselves.

    ReplyReply

  62. AmyW
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 18:10:52

    As a Canadian reader, I’ve also run into territory restrictions on the Sony site but they are sometimes temporary. There were both new releases (The Iron Duke) I couldn’t buy through them (or other sites), and a few books I had bought previously were no longer available. However, I also got the email Lynnd did stating that a lot of territory issues had been cleared up, and those books were available again.

    So word of advice to fellow Canucks: check a few stores to see if the territories are indeed restricted, or if it’s unique to that site. At least with epub devices we have the option to shop around!

    ReplyReply

  63. Bronwyn Parry
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 18:30:02

    Jane, thanks for your continued thoughtful coverage of the complex issues around digital books. And thank you for mentioning my books – even if you can’t currently buy them in digital format.

    I keep getting reminded of the EDS ad from some years back about building airplanes while they fly – it seems to be a useful analogy for digital book technology & publishing! As an industry ‘we’ (I use the term loosely) put wings on a car, threw it up in the air, and it’s flying on the breezes – but we’re building the actual flying systems around it as we go. (I can imagine a panicked ‘driver’, hitting turbulence – ‘hey, we could do with some sort of stabilisation system here! Right now! And make sure it talks to the other systems!)

    Progress is being made, but as both a reader and an author, I do find it frustratingly slow. Finding the right balance between the sound reasons for territorial rights, and the realities of a global marketplace is tough; like you, I hope that a system of assigning sales to the various territorial rights holders at the point of sale could be the answer, as this would still make print contracts appealing to foreign publishers.

    In terms of the situation with my books, Hachette Australia bought world rights, and sold sub-rights (print and digital) to Piatkus in the UK (part of the global Hachette Group) and Blanvalet in Germany (a division of Randon House) for their respective territories. Technically, as a non-UK person, you weren’t supposed to be able to buy my digital books (although I’m glad you did!); an error in the meta-data for the files originally allowed booksellers to sell it widely, but this has since been ‘corrected’.

    As no US publisher has bought rights, the books are sadly (for all of us!) still unavailable in the US.

    In good news, though, the launch of Apple’s Australian iBookstore took place last week, and many great Australian books will be available in digital format through it (including, in a few days, As Darkness Falls) – although I don’t know whether that is only for Australian purchasers or not. I’m hoping, if not now, then those with relevant rights will be available widely soon. I’m also hoping that they will be available through other distributors, too, as I’m well aware of the current limitations of Apple’s ibook system.

    In the meantime, at least I have a few more choices of digital books to read – although not yet all that I want!

    ReplyReply

  64. Kaetrin
    Nov 08, 2010 @ 21:48:13

    @ Jane. Is it okay to add audiobooks to the lostbooksales site? There are many audiobooks I can’t buy because of geo restrictions – I’d imagine the issues are essentially the same.

    ReplyReply

  65. Jane
    Nov 09, 2010 @ 06:56:59

    @Kaetrin Yes. Under “preferred format” one of the choices is “audiobook”

    ReplyReply

  66. DS
    Nov 09, 2010 @ 06:57:06

    It’s very strange to see “blame” referenced here. The purpose I see is to provide information in the aggregate that is freely available to anyone who cares to look. Valuable information about book buying habits and interest that no one else seems to be collecting. I think defensiveness is unwarranted here.

    ReplyReply

  67. Lynnd
    Nov 09, 2010 @ 14:50:33

    @AmyW: I “shop around” frequently to see if a book is available at another source (and what the price is – depending on the value of the Cdn $ vs. the U.S. $ sometimes it makes a difference and sometimes Kobo has specials on some books). I was able to purchase The Iron Duke at Kobo on its release day.

    ReplyReply

  68. Kaetrin
    Nov 09, 2010 @ 17:54:28

    Sorry Jane! I had a quick look at the site but didn’t explore very thoroughly. :)

    ReplyReply

  69. Profiteering Publishers « book'd out
    Nov 09, 2010 @ 20:57:17

    [...] and two recent blog posts prompted my decision to finally weigh into the debate, this one at Dear Author, along with her LostBookSales campaign and a link posted by ReadInASitting regarding piracy. [...]

  70. shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
    Nov 09, 2010 @ 21:29:25

    I finally decided to have my say on the subject of book selling restrictions in Australia. Thanks for your article Jane, and I hope people make use of the lostbooksales site.

    http://bookdout.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/profiteering-publishers/

    ReplyReply

  71. Stumbling Over Chaos :: The Return of Linkity!! Now with even more linkity!!
    Nov 12, 2010 @ 07:22:16

    [...] Dear Author on geographical restrictions: Part 1 and Part 2. [...]

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