# explanation



## Tanner Artesz (Feb 2, 2009)

When the book bazaar was announced, I liked the idea. A space was given to the overzealous authors to post their wares without overrunning the book discussion theads. To compensate, the Bargain Books and Free Books forums were placed in the bazaar area as well.

Several days ago, I posted a thread announcing the release of my new book below down with all the other author stuff. It remained visible on page 1 of the forum for almost a whole day. During that time I, two copies of my book were purchased. Rather than be pushy and obnoxious, bumping my announcement to the first page again, I posted in the bargain books thread that my book was available at a nice bargain price. It lasted there about four hours and five more copies of my book were purchased.

My one post seems to have been offensive though, since I received an email stating that as an author, I cannot post that my book is on sale in that thread. That thread is reserved for 'members.' I find this treatment degrading and insulting. I have never been pushy and overbearing. When my first book was on sale, I posted about it once in the Bargain books thread. The sale lasted through two months, but someone else posted it in the second month, so I refrained. I see no need to be redundant.

If this is the policy of Kindle Boards, you might as well take the Bargain/Free books threads back to Book Corner. You are doing nothing but insulting the authors that are 'members' by treating them this way. I would understand this treatment if someone were to make multiple posts there. I don't understand it at all for someone who makes one post.

I have removed all mention of my book and my name, though some will know who I am as this is not a promotion to sell my book. I am stating my grievance so that those who were wondering what has upset me know. Maybe, the moderators will see this and change that 'members only' rule and eliminate the problem.

A member of the sub-member species.


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## hackeynut (Dec 16, 2008)

As a non author member, I understand where you are coming from, but I would respectfully disagree with you.  I don't want to speak too far out of turn here, so if a mod wants to delete this, go for it.

Reading the Free and Bargain threads was often frustrating due to the shear number of independant authors in the thread.  This isn't necessarily directed towards you as I'm not even sure who you are.  But it did get frustrating when month after month the same 30 books would pop up in the thread several times.  Especially when I had personally purchased them several months previous.  Of course there are always new members and readers coming in and every author should have a chance to get them as buyers.

Authors are allowed what amounts to free advertising here.  I guess KB gets a teeny tiny cut of any book one clicked from the boards, but they are offering a free advertising service for indie authors.  Personally I think that is great, I love reading new authors and finding out about books I never would have stumbed across otherwise.  But it comes down to good and bad actors.

To try and thread the needle, they left the Bargain thread for books that were found by members and the rest of the book bazaar (and the Authors on KB) thread for authors looking to advertise.

I can understand you are frustrated that your post was deleted.  But lets face it, they could easily charge authors to put ads on this site.  They don't.  By throwing a hissyfit, all you are doing is ensuring that you don't sell any more books to KB members.  That seems pretty counterintuitive with the shear number of voracious readers that inhabit this site.  I would hope you reconsider.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Sub-member Species,

I think I have a good guess as to who you are, but in fairness to you and your work, I won't dare to mention your name here. But I would like to express my thoughts. I think you may have misunderstood the problem or the reason why Kindle Boards has enacted this policy. The problem, if there really is a problem, is not about how many times you have posted a message about your book. The problem is the sheer number of authors who are now Kindle Board members (most of whom arrived in the last 3 months). It is true that your one post in the Bargain Books section isn't really that much of an eyesore. But what would happen if every author who frequents Kindle Boards posts one message about their books in The Bargain Books section? What would really be unfair is if the moderators here on Kindle Boards allowed you to post messages about your book in the Bargain Books thread and not allowed the other authors to do the same. In fact, I, too, have had one of my posts about my book removed from The Bargain Books thread. But when I learned that there were new rules that prohibited this behavior, I quickly (and happily) amended my ways.

Here's where the problem lies: a couple of months ago, Kindle Boards was swamped with the arrival of several new members who were authors. When those authors, many of whom have written a number of books, created threads to promote their books in The Book Corner, it overwhelmed the forum and the veteran Kindle Boards members were annoyed that they couldn't find regular discussion threads, because they were buried under a sea of self-promotion threads. What was Kindle Boards supposed to do? The Bargain Books section was not unaffected as well. Before we authors began touting our books, it was much easier for Kindle Board members to discover new bargain books. But it had since become the place where the same books were being touted month after month. Again, what was Kindle Boards supposed to do? Since Kindle Boards is a place where Kindle owners (readers and authors) can mingle, rules had to be put into place to keep everyone happy.

Remember, Kindle Boards has always been a site dedicated to fostering discussion about Amazon's Kindle and the books that Kindle owners read. It was never created with the intent of being a site where authors could tote their wares. Even so, the moderators here on Kindle Boards have been kind enough to realize that authors are readers too and have allowed us the opportunity to showcase our works to fellow members. I understand your gripe, and even I considered the ramifications (and unintended ghettoization of Kindle Board members who are authors) by not allowing them to mention their books in certain threads. But understand, the moderators are not saying that you cannot participate in The Bargain Books thread. They are simply saying that if you want to mention your own book you need to do it on your own book thread. In my opinion, it's a fair and reasonable request. Especially considering that we authors are guests on this site and should treat our hosts with the same respect that we would like afforded to us in return.

I think the process works. Unlike Amazon which is not author-friendly, Kindle Boards has tried to strike an even-handed balance between the needs of all of its members, not just one group with particular needs. As you know from my recent history, I understand very well the need to obey the rules.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Not that I am an author... and I did notice that you had a "good-bye" and felt bad for you because I did not know exactly what was going on. But just like all things, especially  "FREE"  things, there have to be rules to keep everyone happy and to keep things balanced. I personally would like to give praise to the originators of this board for allowing us readers to be able to discuss books with one another as well as to "talk" to authors and "listen" to them "talk" to one another. I found this board thru another discussion board and am quite pleased to have another outlet to voice my opinions/thoughts with other like-minded people.
Thanks to you guys/gals who make this possible. And for all of you authors out there.... keep up the good work and bargain prices! Things are so bad with the economy that some of us have to stay at home for "stay-cations" now and what better way to do it than to chill-out, read good books and actually discuss the characters and plots etc. with the people who wrote them! 

Hope the OP just thinks about what actually happened and can move forward. This is an excellent place to grab them attention for your books and promote sells.  Besides if your book links are on your signature, you can enjoy all of the other threads, and when you post you are in effect getting a "free ad" so to speak.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Well said.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

The rest of you pretty much hit the nail on the head: the bargain/free threads were getting overrun with author plugs, and they became a chore to wade through. I think giving the authors *their own board* was a very nice compromise on the part of the KB staff.

I can understand why you'd post your qualms, "sub-member." That part is okay IMO. Free speech and all that. But changing your board name to something silly and trying to be anonymous? Pretty childish, if you ask me.

BTW, you're not even remotely anonymous. A quick search of your posting history tells the tale pretty well.


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## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

Well the only thing I agree with here is that the free books and bargain books should not be in the "author's" section if authors aren't allowed to post in them.  I love looking at those two threads and would greatly prefer if they were in the book section since it seems to pertain more to that then author's promotion.  I think it's fair that authors can't self-promote in those, but why have them in the forum where authors promote then?  Wouldn't it make more sense to put those in the book thread and maybe start some stickies here, like "New this month" where authors can list their books that are out this month, or have a sticky for bargains that's ONLY authors posting their sales.  I think that would make a little more sense.  Then the people that get annoyed by author self-promotion can avoid this forum altogether, but still get their free and bargain books, and those that like the indie authors promoting themselves here, can come in here and find all the good deals on them.

JMHO!
Rachel


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

Athenagwis said:


> Well the only thing I agree with here is that the free books and bargain books should not be in the "author's" section if authors aren't allowed to post in them.


I see your point, but I think Harvey and the gang did the authors a favor by putting those two heavily visited threads in the author's section. That gives the authors greater visibility and exposure, because people will automatically go to the section for the bargain/free threads. Otherwise, people might avoid the author's section altogether because it'll seem like a place to post "classified ads" (so to speak) and nothing more. The bargain/free threads give the author's section a greater purpose and can only help the authors by driving more traffic to their area of the board. Why knock a gift horse in the mouth? Any author who does so is really shortsighted and completely missing out on the big picture IMO.


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## MichaelS (May 22, 2009)

CS said:


> I see your point, but I think Harvey and the gang did the authors a favor by putting those two heavily visited threads in the author's section. That gives the authors greater visibility and exposure, because people will automatically go to the section for the bargain/free threads. Otherwise, people might avoid the author's section altogether because it'll seem like a place to post "classified ads" (so to speak) and nothing more. The bargain/free threads give the author's section a greater purpose and can only help the authors by driving more traffic to their area of the board. Why knock a gift horse in the mouth? Any author who does so is really shortsighted and completely missing out on the big picture IMO.


YEP!


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

I haven't been coming here much so quite a bit has changed but based on what I've read in this thread it would seem to me that whomever chose to use the word "members" chose their word poorly. What I'd suggest doing is approaching the Bargain Books and Free Books threads as a *reader*, not an author.

I'd also suggest getting over your paranoia about bumping your own thread, there's nothing at all wrong with wanting people to take a look at your books, I mean, that is the whole reason anyone writes, you know, hoping that someone else will read it, just be reasonable with the bumps. Also, the advice of using a sig to promote your books is a very good one. In between judicious bumping of your thread, posting as a reader with a sig promoting your books, you should be able to get a decent amount of promotion from these boards.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Selcien said:


> I haven't been coming here much so quite a bit has changed but based on what I've read in this thread it would seem to me that whomever chose to use the word "members" chose their word poorly. What I'd suggest doing is approaching the Bargain Books and Free Books threads as a *reader*, not an author.
> 
> I'd also suggest getting over your paranoia about bumping your own thread, there's nothing at all wrong with wanting people to take a look at your books, I mean, that is the whole reason anyone writes, you know, hoping that someone else will read it, just be reasonable with the bumps. Also, the advice of using a sig to promote your books is a very good one. In between judicious bumping of your thread, posting as a reader with a sig promoting your books, you should be able to get a decent amount of promotion from these boards.


I don't mean to be flogging a dead horse, but I think that's where the problem lies. I'm not sure I disagree with authors who every now and then choose to bump their book threads up more than once a day. (I think an author does more damage to him or herself by choosing not to reply to post made by KB members simply to maintain the appearance of not overstating their case. I do, however, think it is selfish and greedy to bump your thread up multiple times a day every single day. There are a lot of authors (like the aggrieved one who created this thread) who don't feel comfortable hogging up the forum to themselves. And I not only respect, but applaud these authors for their restraint. Where it gets tricky is when an author has posted a thread for more than one book. Then I think it's especially important to be judicial in your posts. This forum was created to allow a number of voices to be heard. When it becomes the dominion of one single author then it's a real problem.


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## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

Selcien said:


> In between judicious bumping of your thread, posting as a reader with a sig promoting your books, you should be able to get a decent amount of promotion from these boards.


The key word is 'judicious.' Bumptious bumpage riles more than it charms. 'One author, one thread' can't be a rule, but it's worthy as a suggestion.

I hope the promulgator of this discussion returns.

Discreetly,

CK


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

As usual, you are the voice of reason, Carolyn. I cannot agree with you more. The idea that in the end there can only be one would best be served as a movie quote. But selective (or judicious) posting means more to this forum than anything else. 

(I agree. I would love to hear the OP's thoughts.)


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Carolyn Kephart said:


> The key word is 'judicious.' Bumptious bumpage riles more than it charms. 'One author, one thread' can't be a rule, but it's worthy as a suggestion.
> 
> I hope the promulgator of this discussion returns.
> 
> ...


Bumptious bumpage? There speaks a writer who knows how to use words. 

Yes, judicious is the key word. I don't post in my thread, unless there is news to report. If someone posts in my thread, I'm certainly going to give them the courtesy of a reply. That's all I need or want to do.


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## Tanner Artesz (Feb 2, 2009)

I stated my frustration, which was the purpose of the original post. I thank all that responded. I will quietly move on and won't bother you nice people again.

Peace


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

When bargain books came over during the split there were already several author books in it. The rule came mid-month and I was given a heads up not to post any more of my books in that thread. I had already made a self-imposed rule (since all my books are $3.99 or less) that only those reduce to $ .99 were posted there. Then some authors didn;t get the word and took offense when the rule was applied. The moderators told me they were cleaning up the thread. I responded by removing all my books from there, by my own fat fingers, taking a negative post on my ever growing post count. I believe the Bargain book thread should stay in the Bazaar as it is not about book discussion, but about suggested bargain books that members, myself included (I just saw Kevis recommend one), recommend. I also follow the thread rule for my books. Each remain unbumpitty bumpaged for seven days, House rules) unless there is somethings special, a price change or imminent price change or a response needed for another member. The only exception is the poetry thread, which I post a new poem to every Wednesday, like anyone is going to buy that book.   I';m here to share with other members, readers and authors alike. I participate in many activities here now - start new and I hope interesting threads. It's where I should be as a Kindle owner, and avid reader and an author of 22 books, 12 published on the Kindle. 

Edward C. Patterson


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## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

CS said:


> I see your point, but I think Harvey and the gang did the authors a favor by putting those two heavily visited threads in the author's section. That gives the authors greater visibility and exposure, because people will automatically go to the section for the bargain/free threads. Otherwise, people might avoid the author's section altogether because it'll seem like a place to post "classified ads" (so to speak) and nothing more. The bargain/free threads give the author's section a greater purpose and can only help the authors by driving more traffic to their area of the board. Why knock a gift horse in the mouth? Any author who does so is really shortsighted and completely missing out on the big picture IMO.


Point well taken, but maybe perhaps in addition to these, there could be some author specific stickies too. A happy compromise I should think.

Rachel


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

As much as I love having people read my books, I am one of those authors who would much prefer not to have to promote himself via the used car salesman route. In fact, I'd much rather spend my time writing new books than promoting my books in the first place. Unfortunately, I have found that I have very little little success selling books if I don't shamelessly stand up on the podium and say, will you please buy my book? It's only 80 cents...

I have found that as time goes on I spend less time promoting ( I really don't enjoy it very much) and prefer to engage in participating in the discussion threads as a reader (and sometimes author). I don't understand why any author would take offense to a website creating rules to keep the locals in line, especially when that site invites authors to promote their works. To me that makes no sense and is ultimately self-destructive. But I have noticed that many authors have chosen to publish their books and not seek ways to promote them. In my opinion, that is a recipe for disaster and I personally don't expect those authors to have very long careers.

My goal is to write books and get them to the people who wants to read them. If you don't like children's/young adult fantasy books then you probably won't like The Legend of Witch Bane. If you don't like space operatic science fiction adventure books a la Flash Gordon or Star Wars, then you probably won't like Rogue Hunter. With that said, I have a responsibility to both myself and my readers to do what it takes to make my book successful. But there is a line that should never be crossed. And I am always trying to make myself aware of where that line is so that I don't create a situation where readers grow disgusted with me or my peers. If I sell fewer books then so be it. But my goal is to be a career author, not an overnight sensation or one-hit wonder.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Athenagwis said:


> Point well taken, but maybe perhaps in addition to these, there could be some author specific stickies too. A happy compromise I should think.


Like this one? http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,1819.0.html


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

Seems to me that in this case, the problem is very simple. Peace - Out (whoever it is), violated a rule that was in place when he posted, then completely misconstrued the reason for the rule in the first place. The Bargain and Free threads are not meant for "members" (as we authors are members too). They are meant for people to share books they've discovered, as in "Hey, such and such a book is on sale or available for free!" It is not a place for us authors to promote ourselves, and if you don't bother to recognize that, that is your fault, not a problem with the rules themselves.


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## rndballref (Mar 29, 2009)

Greg, I agree. This site provides an opportunity for authors like you (and me) to plug our scribblings without cost. Those running the site set the rules, and potentially change the rules. We play, or don't play - it's our choice. To criticize Kindleboards, for keeping potentially thousands of writers from overrunning these threads, seems unreasonable. I assume that they are trying to balance the readers' interests of finding books without harrassment and authors' abilities to introduce our stuff. I'm gratefull, whatever the rules are.

Yale R. Jaffe
author, *Advantage Disadvantage*


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

As a "member" or "reader" I would like to add that since the authors have been given the Bazaar to promote, I have spent more time reading about their books. Whenever I am looking for something new, I first look for freebies or cheapos, and then I scroll through the author threads to see what's new.


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## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

marianner said:


> Like this one? http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,1819.0.html


No, like a freebie/bargain thread for self-promotion only, or a sticky for new books out this month from local authors etc... I enjoy the bargain/free threads because they are condensed. So why not have an author-free and an author sponsored one? Best of both worlds! But it sounds like I am the only one who feels this way, so no biggie, it doesn't have to happen, just figured it might be nice.

Rachel


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## MonaSW (Nov 16, 2008)

MAGreen said:


> As a "member" or "reader" I would like to add that since the authors have been given the Bazaar to promote, I have spent more time reading about their books. Whenever I am looking for something new, I first look for freebies or cheapos, and then I scroll through the author threads to see what's new.


I am doing something similar, I run out of books to read, I come here to see what looks interesting. I just finished The Takers and enjoyed it very much and am looking forward to the next book in the series.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

Athenagwis said:


> No, like a freebie/bargain thread for self-promotion only, or a sticky for new books out this month from local authors etc... I enjoy the bargain/free threads because they are condensed. So why not have an author-free and an author sponsored one? Best of both worlds! But it sounds like I am the only one who feels this way, so no biggie, it doesn't have to happen, just figured it might be nice.
> 
> Rachel


I don't see the point of author-sponsored bargain/free threads when:

1) The authors have *an entire board section*_ to themselves already. 
2) Most KB author books are (thankfully) already bargains to begin with._


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

True speaking on keeping author books in Bargain Books. When they were allowed, I put mine there. I keep to the rules. But even hen, all my books are bargains, so I only listed the one's a $ .99.

Edward C. Patterson


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## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

CS said:


> I don't see the point of author-sponsored bargain/free threads when:
> 
> 1) The authors have *an entire board section*_ to themselves already.
> 2) Most KB author books are (thankfully) already bargains to begin with.
> _


_

Well I know they have a whole section already, but so does general book talk and they have sticky threads for bargains. I like a condensed version of sales. I know home grown authors sell a bit cheaper then others, but like I said maybe there could be an "out this month thread" or a "sale or free" thread so those authors that are having a sale or putting something out free has one place to post it, so people like me who absolutely detest searching through 100 posts to find a bargain can quickly find what they are looking for. My point is, I cannot follow every thread in the author's section (or any other section for that matter), and I want to quickly and easily see what freebies or sales our board authors are having and I just don't think it's fair to them that there isn't a condensed version of this. I am not an author, so I have absolutely no stake in a thread like this, other than being a consumer that would prefer it to searching through all the threads in the board. Just like I don't like searching through all the threads in the book board to find non-board authors freebie or bargains, I enjoy the bargain and freebie thread created for them, and I would also enjoy one created solely for board authors.

And the best part about making it a separate sticky is that if there are people (like I assume you) that don't want to see such a thing, you can still go to the non-member authors thread and skip over the member's authors thread all together.

Rachel_


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

Athenagwis said:


> My point is, I cannot follow every thread in the author's section (or any other section for that matter), and I want to quickly and easily see what freebies or sales our board authors are having...


Rachel has a valid point there. I hate having to dig through a forum to find what I want too, especially if the information is scattered.


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

I think the one thread per author would at least help with this, if the authors post links to their books at the top and maybe add "*sale*" to the title whenever they put a book on sale, it would be easy to scan the first couple pages to see if there was anything new with our beloved resident authors. I really think this is a great idea! And a sticky thread with JUST the book links, might be a good addition as well.


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## webhill (Feb 12, 2009)

Kevis Hendrickson said:


> Sub-member Species,
> 
> I think I have a good guess as to who you are, but in fairness to you and your work, I won't dare to mention your name here. But I would like to express my thoughts. I think you may have misunderstood the problem or the reason why Kindle Boards has enacted this policy. The problem, if there really is a problem, is not about how many times you have posted a message about your book. The problem is the sheer number of authors who are now Kindle Board members (most of whom arrived in the last 3 months). It is true that your one post in the Bargain Books section isn't really that much of an eyesore. But what would happen if every author who frequents Kindle Boards posts one message about their books in The Bargain Books section?


I wonder if it is possible someone could explain this to me a little better. I am NOT an author. I am a Kindleboards member, and avid reader like most other members 
I do not understand why it's a problem if an author posts his or her work to the Bargain Books thread. Posts to that thread are helpful to me. That's how I find books. I like hearing about a book from the author as opposed to a random reader, too! So, why is it a problem if every author-member posts a link to his or her book in the Bargain Books section, exactly? I mean, assuming the books are in fact bargains...

Thanks!


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

webhill said:


> I wonder if it is possible someone could explain this to me a little better. I am NOT an author. I am a Kindleboards member, and avid reader like most other members
> I do not understand why it's a problem if an author posts his or her work to the Bargain Books thread. Posts to that thread are helpful to me. That's how I find books. I like hearing about a book from the author as opposed to a random reader, too! So, why is it a problem if every author-member posts a link to his or her book in the Bargain Books section, exactly? I mean, assuming the books are in fact bargains...
> 
> Thanks!


Because they're already posting their books elsewhere, and since everyone already knows about those books, it makes no sense for the bargain thread to become cluttered with redundant info.


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## Michael R. Hicks (Oct 29, 2008)

webhill said:


> I wonder if it is possible someone could explain this to me a little better. I am NOT an author. I am a Kindleboards member, and avid reader like most other members
> I do not understand why it's a problem if an author posts his or her work to the Bargain Books thread. Posts to that thread are helpful to me. That's how I find books. I like hearing about a book from the author as opposed to a random reader, too! So, why is it a problem if every author-member posts a link to his or her book in the Bargain Books section, exactly? I mean, assuming the books are in fact bargains...
> 
> Thanks!


There's a related discussion going on about how KB authors can better serve the readers here (and how readers can more easily find authors/books) on this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,9247.0.html.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

webhill said:


> I wonder if it is possible someone could explain this to me a little better. I am NOT an author. I am a Kindleboards member, and avid reader like most other members
> I do not understand why it's a problem if an author posts his or her work to the Bargain Books thread. Posts to that thread are helpful to me. That's how I find books. I like hearing about a book from the author as opposed to a random reader, too! So, why is it a problem if every author-member posts a link to his or her book in the Bargain Books section, exactly? I mean, assuming the books are in fact bargains...
> 
> Thanks!


Webhill, this is part of our policy intended to strike a good balance between author promotional posts vs non-author posts about books.

It is also a way that we can help our author members - who we value very much - by giving them a fairly even playing field in terms of getting their works in front of our members.

Our rules are intended to prevent our book board and bargain threads from being dominated by promotional posts, while still giving authors some good options for getting the word out there about their books.

And... like Mike (kreelanwarrior) said.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Webhill,

thanks for your question. In addition to the points made earlier by our esteemed leader Harvey, by Mike (KreelanWarrior) and by CS, the fact is that most of our KindleBoards authors are here for the long haul (we hope and expect) and their books are here long term, so many of the same books were appearing month after month. The Bargain Book and Free Book threads were always intended to be a source for readers to easily find those fleeting bargains that seem to come and go on Amazon.

When we didn't have a separate board where members could easily find author posts, it made sense to have them post in these two threads, as their author posts could easily have gotten buried in the Book Corner. Now, however, the author posts are readily available and it makes sense to have the other more temporary bargains easily accessible through the sticky topics. (Acknowledging that the author prices do fluctuate, many of them are still great bargains at the higher price points, be sure to check them out!) Please know that this decision was made after a lot of feedback from members, both authors and not-authors, and after much discussion in the secret admin caves that run under KindleBoards. Hope this helps clarify things.

Betsy








_still wearing my birthday hat!_


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

I applaud the moderators on this board for maintaining this balance. Posting on the bargain books thread becomes redundant when our names and links to our catalogs are in Leslie's sticky thread (which serves as a registry for anyone interested in a particular author's entire work or catalog) and the wonderful ability for each author to have one thread for each of their books, where they can present each title in its own specific way, as one does in a Book Bazaar. It's a brilliant standard that they whipped up in the "secret admin caves," a standard that makes the recent changes laudable.

Edward C. Patterson


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## webhill (Feb 12, 2009)

CS said:


> Because they're already posting their books elsewhere, and since everyone already knows about those books, it makes no sense for the bargain thread to become cluttered with redundant info.


I guess I'm not "everyone." I like to have the bargains in the bargain book thread so I don't have to look everywhere else for them!!! I gotta say there was plenty of stuff i found out about from authors in the bargain book thread that I didn't already know about. So when you say "everyone" already knows, it makes me feel like I am not part of "everyone" which is a little bit sad.


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## webhill (Feb 12, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Webhill,
> 
> thanks for your question. In addition to the points made earlier by our esteemed leader Harvey, by Mike (KreelanWarrior) and by CS, the fact is that most of our KindleBoards authors are here for the long haul (we hope and expect) and their books are here long term, so many of the same books were appearing month after month. The Bargain Book and Free Book threads were always intended to be a source for readers to easily find those fleeting bargains that seem to come and go on Amazon.


I guess that makes sense. So it's more of a "fleeting bargain books" thread, then. I didn't realize that. I kind of liked being able to look in one spot to see all the bargains, but I don't rule the world here or anywhere, so whatever . Thanks for the helpful response.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

webhill said:


> I guess that makes sense. So it's more of a "fleeting bargain books" thread, then. I didn't realize that. I kind of liked being able to look in one spot to see all the bargains, but I don't rule the world here or anywhere, so whatever . Thanks for the helpful response.


_Fleeting _is the operative word. That's why we jump on the bargain and free books in those threads pretty quickly. That's also why we double check the price before one-clicking. The price can go up in the time it takes to read this message.


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Not today, its not. Everything on Amazon's Willy Wonker machine for publishing seems to be schtuck. So No Irish Need Apply is in limbo where the reader gets it for $ .99 and Amazon pays me $1.40 royalty and Amazon sells it at a loss.  

Edward C. Patterson


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Jeff:

Yep, the Reporting system is not reporting sales, because I had a promise of a sale this morning here a Kindleboards, but nothing shows up on the sales reports. However, the book (TTP) had a positive ranking hit bringing it down to 11,000. Now, according to Amazon, I have had no Kindle sales in 2 days, but the rankings contradict that. TitleZ is gone with the wind, so my usual backup tracking is no longer.

Ed P


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Amazon isn't even showing previous month's sales.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Athenagwis said:


> I like a condensed version of sales. ... My point is, I cannot follow every thread in the author's section (or any other section for that matter), and I want to quickly and easily see what freebies or sales our board authors are having
> Rachel


COULD NOT AGREE MORE!! Time is precious and having to wade through the massive voulme of threads becomes self defeating. In fact, just list those free or bargain books - I really don't need to know everytime someone downloads one!


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## Tanner Artesz (Feb 2, 2009)

Athenagwis said:


> Well I know they have a whole section already, but so does general book talk and they have sticky threads for bargains. I like a condensed version of sales. I know home grown authors sell a bit cheaper then others, but like I said maybe there could be an "out this month thread" or a "sale or free" thread so those authors that are having a sale or putting something out free has one place to post it, so people like me who absolutely detest searching through 100 posts to find a bargain can quickly find what they are looking for. My point is, I cannot follow every thread in the author's section (or any other section for that matter), and I want to quickly and easily see what freebies or sales our board authors are having and I just don't think it's fair to them that there isn't a condensed version of this. I am not an author, so I have absolutely no stake in a thread like this, other than being a consumer that would prefer it to searching through all the threads in the board. Just like I don't like searching through all the threads in the book board to find non-board authors freebie or bargains, I enjoy the bargain and freebie thread created for them, and I would also enjoy one created solely for board authors.
> 
> And the best part about making it a separate sticky is that if there are people (like I assume you) that don't want to see such a thing, you can still go to the non-member authors thread and skip over the member's authors thread all together.
> 
> Rachel


Rachel,

I truly like your idea for an 'author' sticky thread for bargains. It is really the only way my books would get any notice since I don't feel comfortable with the 'car-salesman' approach and I don't like talking to myself to bump my book thread back into notice every week. I think it would be a great solution if:
A. It is reserved for new releases, and
B. It is reserved for new sales.

Granted, there are authors who would overrun the thread, but the quiet ones, like me, would still be seen when we make our rare post. The 'new' button on the forum headers will see to that.

Thanks for your idea. I wish I had it for my original post.


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## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

Harvey said:


> Webhill, this is part of our policy intended to strike a good balance between author promotional posts vs non-author posts about books.
> 
> It is also a way that we can help our author members - who we value very much - by giving them a fairly even playing field in terms of getting their works in front of our members.
> 
> ...


I think the separate forum is a great idea. What doesn't make any sense to me, and maybe you can explain it to me, is why we have two threads (which I thoroughly enjoy) in the "authors" section that the authors aren't allowed to post in? Wouldn't it make more sense to put these two threads back in the book section and have a few stickies here that condense monthly sales/freebies/new releases for the board authors? I realize that people were sick of seeing the same books over and over, but as a new member of the board, I was glad to see them, and I bet you have a lot of new members every day that probably will never see last month's threads and will be very glad to see those books in this month's (and not even know that they have been repeats). And if these threads are separated form the others, then the people that have been here a while and don't wish to look at them, don't have to. As a non-author, I have enjoyed finding and supporting board authors through these threads, but I simply don't have the time to go through the forum to find every sale or freebie for board authors. I think the forum would still be a great place to discuss the books, and the sticky would just help us find the deals faster. I guess I am just a child of the technology age, if it takes me longer than 30 seconds to find it, I am not even going to bother.

JMO, not trying to dissent, I am sure a lot of thought went into this decision, but I am trying to express how I feel as a board member about the decision not to have a separate board authors only sticky thread.

Rachel


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## Jill7475 (Jun 3, 2009)

MAGreen said:


> As a "member" or "reader" I would like to add that since the authors have been given the Bazaar to promote, I have spent more time reading about their books. Whenever I am looking for something new, I first look for freebies or cheapos, and then I scroll through the author threads to see what's new.


I also do the same as author=MAGreen. I wanted to read first the books under the freebies section and if I find it valuable to read again or say continue reading, then that is the time for me to buy the products from the same author.

______________________








It is not all books that are as dull as their readers.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Athenagwis said:


> I think the separate forum is a great idea. What doesn't make any sense to me, and maybe you can explain it to me, is why we have two threads (which I thoroughly enjoy) in the "authors" section that the authors aren't allowed to post in?


We're allowed to post in those threads, just not our own books. We can post any bargain or free books we find elsewhere. Would you want to open that thread on the first of every month and find 30 posts from KB author/members about their bargain books? I can understand why they stopped that practice. You can always find any promotional offers in the authors' individual threads.



> Wouldn't it make more sense to put these two threads back in the book section and have a few stickies here that condense monthly sales/freebies/new releases for the board authors?
> Rachel


The bargain and free book threads were placed in The Book Bazaar to encourage KB non-author/members to stroll into the Bazaar and maybe look around a bit. I'll just speak for myself. I'm happy they are there, even though I don't make a practice of bumping my thread so it's easily found. That's my choice.


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

I posted in the bargain books thread just yesterday.

Edward C. Patterson


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

vwkitten said:


> That's it! You folks are taking up my valuable advertising space with this silly argument. I think this whole subject ought to be moved to its own forum so that I don't have to read it or compete with it.
> 
> Of course, I could have just sifted through the threads and resisted reading the posts on the subject, but my time as a reader is so precious that I felt it was too much of a waste of my time to ignore all the varied posts on this "beat to death" subject.
> 
> ...


Preserved forever. Yuk Yuk.

Miss Chatty Foxworth


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Trish, I read your post first and that got me curious, so I went back and read the rest of the thread to see what this was all about.  I hate to add to the beating to death, but I, as a member, find a bargain and post about that book, I normally only post once.  I do not remind the other members over and over again that said book is a bargain, a freebie, well written, etc.  I really appreciate that authors have decided that our Boards are a great place to find new readers, and I appreciate the hard work they've put into their books.  I also appreciate that our moderators have made decisions that help our Boards not turn into "commercial breaks".
I hope I haven't offended anyone.  I really love our Boards and want everyone to be happy.
deb


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

edwpat said:


> Preserved forever. Yuk Yuk.
> 
> Miss Chatty Foxworth


Brat -- LOL!
Trish


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

edwpat said:


> Preserved forever. Yuk Yuk.
> 
> Miss Chatty Foxworth


Are you trying to steal my J. Worthington Foxworthy alias?

Author of

The Beverly Hillbillies go to Rome to Search for Illuminati
(A page of my personal paperback copy of Angels and Demons free with every purchase)


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

vwkitten said:


> Brat -- LOL!
> Trish


Hey Trish, where have you BEEN? I join one week and get used to reading your funny stuffesses and then POOF you are gone!   We have needed your silliness here!  Glad you are back.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Hey Trish, where have you BEEN? I join one week and get used to reading your funny stuffesses and then POOF you are gone!   We have needed your silliness here!  Glad you are back.


Oh, so that's how it is?  I leave you one day and go off to serve the public and you, my number one fan and detractor, suddenly deserts me altogether?  Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

vwkitten said:


> That's it! You folks are taking up my valuable advertising space with this silly argument. I think this whole subject ought to be moved to its own forum so that I don't have to read it or compete with it.


Amen to that, Kitten!  I hope you don't mind if I call you Kitten, or should I say Miss Kitten?  I'm tired of this and I was determined not to post here... ever... and yet, here I am, posting here!  Is this some kind of black hole viral thread that sucks all of us in and bites off our mouse fingers and leaves us screaming in the night? Is it? Please tell me it ain't so!


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Yawn.


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Hey Trish, where have you BEEN? I join one week and get used to reading your funny stuffesses and then POOF you are gone!   We have needed your silliness here!  Glad you are back.


I've been writing!!! And visiting my mother. The drive between Vegas and Bakersfield was long enough to work out the kinks in my sequel. I think my book has fallen to the last page of posts while I was gone. LOL. Fickle, fickle readers. =) Just kidding.... ooops... I think I squashed a feeling there somewhere... sorry, it's just that my feet are size 10.

and that vorpal tunnel/black hole thing... yeah man... I'm like totally sucked in... help.... smooches...
Trish


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

vwkitten said:


> I've been writing!!! And visiting my mother. The drive between Vegas and Bakersfield was long enough to work out the kinks in my sequel. I think my book has fallen to the last page of posts while I was gone. LOL. Fickle, fickle readers. =) Just kidding.... ooops... I think I squashed a feeling there somewhere... sorry, it's just that my feet are size 10.
> 
> and that vorpal tunnel/black hole thing... yeah man... I'm like totally sucked in... help.... smooches...
> Trish


OK, so I did read that, but I was thinking Bakersfield was HOME.... don't know why....   ..... Guess I was just thinking peoples don't LIVE there..... silly me we used to live there, well for only for a couple of years, but in a twenty year relationship, seems like no time! Sooooo, I just asked someone on PM where you were....NOW! Here you are, i am much better now. You actually seem to be a lot of FUN< so write, write, write, just don't leave us in the dark


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Brendan Carroll said:


> Amen to that, Kitten!  I hope you don't mind if I call you Kitten, or should I say Miss Kitten?  I'm tired of this and I was determined not to post here... ever... and yet, here I am, posting here!  Is this some kind of black hole viral thread that sucks all of us in and bites off our mouse fingers and leaves us screaming in the night? Is it? Please tell me it ain't so!


Kitten, Trish, Hey You, Best Selling Author -- take your pick -- LOL -- I'll respond to any of them...

You know the only way to resist the "black hole viral thread that sucks us all in and bites off our mouse fingers" (great imagery btw) is to talk about our cats ad nausium... "yawns" help too... LOL. Oh gawds, don't get me going on this stuff... It's Rianna... she's ... taking over... back to writing...

Trish


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

vwkitten said:


> Kitten, Trish, Hey You, Best Selling Author -- take your pick -- LOL -- I'll respond to any of them...
> 
> You know the only way to resist the "black hole viral thread that sucks us all in and bites off our mouse fingers" (great imagery btw) is to talk about our cats ad nausium... "yawns" help too... LOL. Oh gawds, don't get me going on this stuff... It's Rianna... she's ... taking over... back to writing...
> 
> Trish


Hey, you're not living with those soul-harvesting catts from I can haz cheeseburger, are you? You know that they harvested Miss Meredith's personality just last night? It was awflllllllll........


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Brendan Carroll said:


> Hey, you're not living with those soul-harvesting catts from I can haz cheeseburger, are you? You know that they harvested Miss Meredith's personality just last night? It was awflllllllll........


*whisper* but I like this personality for her... she likes me... if they really did harvest it... can we keep this one?

Odd note: Did you know that there is only one letter difference between whimper and whisper? I just realized that...


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

vwkitten said:


> *whisper* but I like this personality for her... she likes me... if they really did harvest it... can we keep this one?
> 
> Odd note: Did you know that there is only one letter difference between whimper and whisper? I just realized that...


I am well acquainted with both whisper and whimper and I can tell you another subtle difference betwixt the two words: Catt & Pug. Catts whisper silkily in your ear and make chill bumps run up your back, over your head and down into your eyes; however, pugs whimper in your face and make you LOL. They are such dogs of renown. They snore even while they are awake!  Sometimes, I'll be "In the Zone" as they (whoever they are) say around here and suddenly my pug will make some gosh awful snorfling noise right in my ear (she likes to sit in the other chair beside me and watch me type). I have to stop and laugh at her.  OMG. There I go talking ad maximus nauseum about pugs!


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Are we both avoiding trying to get back into "the zone?"

My cat's cat tree is right next to my chair and while she can't compete with Pug snortles, she does snore, which is odd since you don't really expect it from a cat.  I'm typing away and all of a sudden there's this wheezing and I'm wondering if my asthma is going to flare up, take a deep breath, and realize it's my cat not me, but in my search for my inhaler (just in case), I've lost the zone... 

Ack -- I have two hours of uninterrupted writing time tonight... must go in search of the zone... no more reading emails until 10pm dangit... and I muuuust resist the urge to go looking for my author chat thread...


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Trish:

Did you read my Guest Blog on the Zone, yesterday?

Ed P


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