# The Stand is back!!!



## chobitz (Nov 25, 2008)

OK here is a mystery for ya'll..

The Stand by Stephen King:


There WAS a kindle version listed but now its gone. Formatting issues? Maybe BUT my copy is still on my K1 AND its still listed on my accounts page!! If it was pulled by the publisher, or King himself why is it still on my kindle?

It was the first kindle book I bought last november and of course I had used whispernet since then.

The book was only 2.43 so could it been a bootleg? It has a cover, toc etc intact and if it was bootleg why would it still be on my kindle?


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I have a half-dozen books on my Kindle that were pulled from Amazon for whatever reason. The four Nero Wolfe books I bought back in July 2008 were removed from Amazon last August, and a question sent to the ebook version publisher was replied to with the statement I should write to Harcourt (I think) about ebook versions. I assume there was a copyright problem.

The books remain in my Amazon library, and I just downloaded them to my Kindle 2 within the last week or so, and they display just fine. But you can no longer purchase them.

Mike


----------



## PraiseGod13 (Oct 27, 2008)

I have purchased several books from Amazon that are no longer listed for sale, including The Stand.  I wonder what this means for us in terms of our being able to re-download them.... or being able to download them to my husband's Kindle when he gets one since we'll be on the same account.  I'm wondering if it's safe to remove books from my Kindle as I read them with the assurance that I can always re-download them whenever I want.  Hopefully, my copy will always be in my Amazon library even if it doesn't appear that Amazon has it available.


----------



## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I also have several books that I have purchased that are no longer available from the Kindle Store. All are still available to download to my Kindle (including the Stand)


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

jmiked said:


> I have a half-dozen books on my Kindle that were pulled from Amazon for whatever reason. The four Nero Wolfe books I bought back in July 2008 were removed from Amazon last August, and a question sent to the ebook version publisher was replied to with the statement I should write to Harcourt (I think) about ebook versions. I assume there was a copyright problem.
> Mike


You know how jealous I am that you got those books. Go ahead, rub it in, tell me which four you got.

I also purchased _The Source_ for $2.50, which still shows in my content manager after it was pulled from Amazon's list. All of the drawings of the artifacts are missing, so I assumed that's why it was pulled for later reissue. I noticed that _Caravans_ was Kindlized in January, so there's hope all of Michener's will be soon.


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Some Buried Caesar
The Second Confession
Three at Wolfe's Door
And Four to Go

   


Mike


----------



## SusieQ (Feb 18, 2009)

I think I might cry!!    As a recent K1 purchaser, I bought books I hadn't read yet. My first purchases were the "Temeraire" series, as I love dragons, (these are the "His Majesty's Dragon" books by Naomi Novik) and the only Stephen King books I hadn't read yet, The Dark Tower series. I had planned to purchase The Stand in the near future, as it's one of my favorites! But...it's gone!!! Do they ever come back in a Kindle version once they are pulled??

Susie


----------



## busy91 (Feb 27, 2009)

I hopped on over to the Stephen King board to see if I can find out, the moderator will find out and let us know.  Good question, I hope it is available again, that was a book I wanted to download.


----------



## stargazer0725 (Feb 10, 2009)

Yes, chobitz, I mentioned this yesterday in the Stephen King thread, but nobody has an answer yet.


----------



## paisley (Nov 24, 2008)

Rats! I was actually planning on picking this one up soon, but I wasn't in a hurry since I've already read it years ago in DTV. 

Hopefully it's just a temporary thing and it'll be back up for purchase sometime...


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

jmiked said:


> Some Buried Caesar
> The Second Confession
> Three at Wolfe's Door
> And Four to Go
> ...


I just love torturing myself. Yesterday, I gave myself a paper cut and poured lemon juice on it.  Maybe someday, hopefully in my lifetime, they will all be Kindleized.

The only one of those I don't have in DTV is The Second Confession.


----------



## Kind (Jan 28, 2009)

That's strange? I haven't seen that before but apparently some of you guys have noticed that happen before.


----------



## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

Thank goodness it was one of my knee-jerk purchases!  There are some books that I know I have and will read and re-read many times over the years.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Here's something weird. Someone had mentioned being able to buy e-books from the author's website that weren't available through Amazon. I did a search for Michener which brought me to Random House and _Chesapeake_. I decided to click "buy now" to see if it was available in mobi. A window popped up directing me to either Amazon or Sony. I clicked on Amazon, only to be taken to a page that has nothing to do with Michener's book.

This needs further investigating.

ETA: The same thing happens with _The Stand_. I found it as an e-book on the Random House site. When I clicked e-book and Amazon, it took me to a page of other books with "stand" in their titles.

It might have something to do with the fact that Random House is listing it at $50.

ETA: One more search, this time on a book I know is still listed on Amazon. From Random House, I clicked buy now and Amazon, and was brought to the correct page. Here's the really interesting part. Random House lists the book at $14.95 and Amazon lists it at $8.00.

It's beginning to look like pricing is playing a very large part in whether or not Amazon will sell the book.


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

gertiekindle said:


> Random House lists the book at $14.95 and Amazon lists it at $8.00.
> 
> It's beginning to look like pricing is playing a very large part in whether or not Amazon will sell the book.


That also suggests that the publishers are not the ones that set book prices or make them fluctuate (assuming the Random House list price is for an e-book).


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

DAMN! "The Stand" was one of the books I downloaded a sample of, and intended to begin reading on an upcoming vacation! Not available on Amazon, I opened my "sample," and upon clicking "Buy," it brings me to a page stating "Not Yet Available." 

Very disappointing. This was a book I was MOST looking forward to reading next month.......

Meanwhile, Amazon has bumped the number of available Kindle books advertised to "245,000." Up another 5,000 - but how many books are dropped?


----------



## LaraAmber (Feb 24, 2009)

I hope it's just a temporary thing.  I was planning on buying this too at some point to reread.

Lara Amber


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Any word as to WHY this would be removed from the Kindle Store? The "sample" I have is listed as "The Stand - The Complete  & Uncut Edition." 

Can't believe that Random House sells the ebook version on their website for $50!! 

Hope the Kindle Store doesn't become like "Walt Disney DVD Vaults" - if you miss downloading it when it's available "for a limited time," ya lose.....


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

r0b0d0c said:


> DAMN! "The Stand" was one of the books I downloaded a sample of, and intended to begin reading on an upcoming vacation! Not available on Amazon, I opened my "sample," and upon clicking "Buy," it brings me to a page stating "Not Yet Available."


You'd be a perfect one to contact Customer Service and ask what happened. I actually bought it, so for me to ask why it isn't there anymore would be kind of silly.... Would love it if you would contact them and let us know what they say!

Betsy


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

r0b0d0c said:


> Can't believe that Random House sells the ebook version on their website for $50!!


Actually, Random House has it listed, but you can't buy it directly from them. A window pops up directing you to either Amazon or Sony. If you go to the Sony site, it is listed at $35.00.

Random House also lists the hardback for $50.00. Something is definitely wrong, here.


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> You'd be a perfect one to contact Customer Service and ask what happened. I actually bought it, so for me to ask why it isn't there anymore would be kind of silly.... Would love it if you would contact them and let us know what they say!
> 
> Betsy


Excellent idea, Betsy, so I did just that!

First time I've spoken with Kindle CS, and they couldn't have been nicer! Unfortunately, neither the first CS rep, nor the "specialist" she transferred me to, had any information. They said that sometimes formatting is a problem, in which case it should be back up in a few days, but that sometimes publishers decide, for whatever reason, to remove the Kindle edition from Amazon. They said they have no way of telling why this was pulled, or when (or even if) it would again be available.

I learned 2 things from this Kindle book removal: 
1. I'll never trust simply erasing a book from my Kindle, confident that "I can always download it again, any time I want" - for those of you who already bought it, I presume that since Amazon no longer offers it, you ALSO cannot re-download it?
2. If I find a book that I know I'm going to want - BUY IT NOW!

Hope it's just a formatting error, and that it will be reoffered (*fingers crossed*)


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

One of the books that I complained about is back:



I really like this book. I got a refund (and it disappeared from my Kindle). I'm going to buy it again. It's a keeper.

Mike

Product Description
Many books have been hailed as "in the tradition of" The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Not this one. It came first.
It may, however, be something of a precursor. A space-operatic comedy of manners and meditation on life, a cheerful noir thriller, New Celebrations comprises the first three, and so far only, novels about the enigmatic Anthony Villiers, a young man who trails both a mysterious past and a six-foot furred toad companion whose papers are not in order. From a space-station gambling resort, to a nice camping venue in a nature reserve, to the masquerade on Delbalso where arboreal peels grunt like clockwork, Villiers tours many odd social circles of the interstellar Nashuite Empire. Hounded by want of cash, by assassins and, worse, bureaucrats, he remains polite, has fun, and makes an impression. Meet him and see.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

r0b0d0c said:


> Excellent idea, Betsy, so I did just that!
> 
> First time I've spoken with Kindle CS, and they couldn't have been nicer! Unfortunately, neither the first CS rep, nor the "specialist" she transferred me to, had any information. They said that sometimes formatting is a problem, in which case it should be back up in a few days, but that sometimes publishers decide, for whatever reason, to remove the Kindle edition from Amazon. They said they have no way of telling why this was pulled, or when (or even if) it would again be available.


I e-mailed Random House about The Stand and Chesapeake. The problem may be at their end. I'll post their answer when I hear back.


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

r0b0d0c said:


> 1. I'll never trust simply erasing a book from my Kindle, confident that "I can always download it again, any time I want" - for those of you who already bought it, I presume that since Amazon no longer offers it, you ALSO cannot re-download it?


It is still in my Kindle library backed up on Amazon, it just isn't available to buy from Amazon anymore. As far as I know, I could delete it from my Kindle and still get it back. That's a guess, though, and I'm not going to try to be sure.

I would assume that the only way to lose it for good is if it was no longer in my Kindle library, and that's not the case.


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Well, here's another strange one! 

I was browsing through the Kindle Store on my K1, checking again for "The Stand," when I decided to browse through the 6 pages of Stephen King selections. Clicking on "Salem's Lot," the description page ALSO stated "Not Yet Available." 

I'm thinking "CRAP! King's taking his books away!" But I'd previously downloaded the "sample" of "Salem's Lot," and from THAT sample, I can still buy it for $7.19 - so I DID buy it, before Amazon can take THIS SK selection away, too. 

I think I'm going to download about 10 of my favorite Stephen King selections from the Kindle Store tonight, just in case......


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks, r0b0d0c, for checkiing with CS.  Interesting though not very useful.

Any books bought should be ok whether still available or not.  Another reason to back up your book collection to your computer and/or to a CD/DVD by dragging the documents folder from your Kindle onto your desktop.

Betsy


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

r0b0d0c said:


> Well, here's another strange one!
> 
> I was browsing through the Kindle Store on my K1, checking again for "The Stand," when I decided to browse through the 6 pages of Stephen King selections. Clicking on "Salem's Lot," the description page ALSO stated "Not Yet Available."
> 
> ...


There are two versions of _Salem's Lot_; one is currently available, one says to sign up to be notified when it is available. I don't think any book of King's has been pulled other than _The Stand_.


----------



## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Well, Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy apparently disappeared today--although the three sequels that have been available for a time are all still there.  I'm seriously ticked as I hadn't picked this one up yet & consider it a must have.

If it's not back shortly, I guess I'll be the next one calling Amazon CS.   And now I'm debating whether I should buy the others right away....are they going to disappear too?  Unfortunately I wasn't planning to pick them up for another couple of weeks as I've spent plenty in the last two!


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

A poster on a thread at Amazon.com states that: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy disappeared today too." 

I remember seeing his series available for Kindle just a few days ago - now the only ones I find for Kindle are "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," (#2) "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish," (#3) and "Life, the Universe and Everything." (#4) Hitchhiker's Guide (#1) and "Mostly Harmless" (#5) are no longer in Kindle form. The Douglas Adams series was another set of books on my TBR list - damn! 

Anyone see any other notable deletions from Kindle book selections these past couple of days?


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

VictoriaP said:


> Well, Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy apparently disappeared today--although the three sequels that have been available for a time are all still there. I'm seriously ticked as I hadn't picked this one up yet & consider it a must have.
> 
> If it's not back shortly, I guess I'll be the next one calling Amazon CS.  And now I'm debating whether I should buy the others right away....are they going to disappear too? Unfortunately I wasn't planning to pick them up for another couple of weeks as I've spent plenty in the last two!


I was typing about this very thing, while you were posting!

As above, the original and the fifth book of the series is now unavailable, although #2 - #4 are still there. If I can't get the original, I don't know if it's worth getting 3 or the 4 sequels in the series.

As I found today, the CS people at Amazon either can't say, or don't know, what's going on when selections are removed from the Kindle Store, nor whether any given selection will return.

This is VERY disturbing. I'm trying my damnedest to give Amazon (and therefore the publishers) my money to buy their ebooks!


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

This is interesting! 

If you search for the Google cached page of either "the stand kindle download" or "hitchhiker's guide kindle download" you CAN send a "sample" to your Kindle yet! But clicking "Buy" brings up an error notice, and won't go through. (Was hoping to "slip my money under the door and take the books," but no dice.....)

edit: these cached pages are dated 3/16 and 3/15 respectively, so the downloads have just been taken away a couple of days ago.


----------



## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Hitchhikers, at least, disappeared yesterday.  I had looked at it again on Tuesday & darn near picked it up; now, of course, I wish I had!  I gave in & bought the others this morning, and did download the sample from the cached page.  Sure enough, can't buy it either on the laptop or from the Kindle.

As for CS, I'm not expecting resolution or even knowledge.  I'm just hoping if they get enough complaints, they'll bring it back more quickly!


----------



## Suzanne (Nov 3, 2008)

Whew, I'm glad I read this. I was about to delete my copy of The Stand until I was of a mood to read it again. I also had bought Salem's Lot. After I read this, I deleted it since it was one I wouldn't read again. So just now for kicks & giggles I tried to re-download Salem's Lot from my Manage Your Kindle. It came through in a flash. Even though that happened, I'm not taking any chances with The Stand and will be keeping that one on my Kindle.


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

Suzanne said:


> Whew, I'm glad I read this. I was about to delete my copy of The Stand until I was of a mood to read it again. I also had bought Salem's Lot. After I read this, I deleted it since it was one I wouldn't read again. So just now for kicks & giggles I tried to re-download Salem's Lot from my Manage Your Kindle. It came through in a flash. Even though that happened, I'm not taking any chances with The Stand and will be keeping that one on my Kindle.


As stated before, there are two versions of _Salem's Lot_: one which is available for purchase, and one that is not. They never completely got rid of that one. See here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=salem%27s+lot

The only King book that has been deleted from the store is _The Stand_. Even that one is still in the "Manage Your Kindle" part of your account, so I don't see how it could disappear for good for those who already purchased it. It would have to be absent from there in order to lose it for good, even if you delete it off of your Kindle.


----------



## Mom of 4 (Oct 27, 2008)

Just FYI.  
I bought The Stand back in July.
Deleted it in August.  
Redownloaded it just now.
No problem, still there.


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

Mom of 4 said:


> Just FYI.
> I bought The Stand back in July.
> Deleted it in August.
> Redownloaded it just now.
> No problem, still there.


Thanks for checking that out for us and letting us know.


----------



## Buttercup (Oct 28, 2008)

Phew, glad I bought The Stand a few months ago.  Still haven't read it but at least I have it.


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Mom of 4 said:


> Just FYI.
> I bought The Stand back in July.
> Deleted it in August.
> Redownloaded it just now.
> No problem, still there.


Good to hear that Amazon hasn't gone back on their pledge to "keep it for you here forever," once you buy from the Kindle Store. BUT, I'll be keeping a copy of all purchases on my laptop, "just in case," from now on.

Sucks that they've taken "The Stand" and "Hitchhiker's Guide" away from Kindle owners. And, of course, it's AT LEAST these 2 that were taken away this week - anyone know of others that are now gone? I always had confidence that Bezos would continue to add and add and add to the list of Kindle books, never thinking there would be a limited window of opportunity to buy....


----------



## Shizu (Oct 27, 2008)

So.. many ebooks are disappearing from Amazon store. Do you think the publisher or Amazon is doing something to the file? The first thing I thought was like they might be adding some code or something to the ebooks to like control text-to-speech or download... Since these are the topic the kindle owners are concerning right now. What do you think? Maybe I'm thinking too much. lol


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

I would hardly say that the limited number mentioned on here so far (less than 10, I think) can count as many.  LOL

There are over 250,000 books available still.  More are added every day.  

I would think that it is simply either a formatting issue or perhaps something with text-to-speech.  I wouldn't worry about it as much as everyone seems to be worrying right now.


----------



## Shizu (Oct 27, 2008)

I posted in the Let's talk Kindle already but it seems Random House is disabling text-to-speech in its e-books. Will this relate to the fact that some books are gone from the store?

http://www.randomhouse.com/about/faq/index.php?ToDo=view&questId=130&catId=26


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

mwvickers said:


> I would hardly say that the limited number mentioned on here so far (less than 10, I think) can count as many. LOL
> 
> There are over 250,000 books available still. More are added every day.
> 
> I would think that it is simply either a formatting issue or perhaps something with text-to-speech. I wouldn't worry about it as much as everyone seems to be worrying right now.


Have you heard of more than the two (HGTTG and The Stand) being pulled? That's what I was trying to find, how many have disappeared.

They've been claiming "over 245,000" available (and, of course, that includes a HUGE number of public domain books!) for some time now, but as far as "more added every day" - is this true? Is there a link to check on new titles added daily/weekly/monthly? I'd love to be able to follow that - is it possible?

I might have given an "LOL," too, if it weren't for being unable to download a couple of books that I was REALLY interested in reading in my upcoming vacation. I'm hoping to "pace myself," rather than spending thousands of $$$ all at once to download those I'm most interested in. I've already purchased MANY books, and wasn't prepared for popular titles being deleted.

I also wouldn't mind a short wait IF Amazon would tell us that this is just temporary, for whatever reason. But CS can't (or won't) given ANY information about when, or even IF, these will return.

I'm trying to be a "good internet citizen," buying legitimate ebooks from Amazon, but............


----------



## J3ffro (Feb 24, 2009)

r0b0d0c said:


> Have you heard of more than the two (HGTTG and The Stand) being pulled? That's what I was trying to find, how many have disappeared.
> 
> They've been claiming "over 245,000" available (and, of course, that includes a HUGE number of public domain books!) for some time now, but as far as "more added every day" - is this true? Is there a link to check on new titles added daily/weekly/monthly? I'd love to be able to follow that - is it possible?
> 
> ...


While waiting for my kindle2 I was watching the general page for Kindle books, at the top gives big numbers on total books available. There were some days a few hundred were added, other days a dozen or two. I played fantasy sports long before it became cool, I've always been a stats dork so even though I'm spending a lot more time looking at my Kindle then my computer screen, I still check it every few days. Consistently going up.

http://www.amazon.com/Books-Kindle/b/ref=sv_kinh_1?ie=UTF8&node=154606011


----------



## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Well, if HG was as poorly formatted as the sequels are, I think we now know why it was pulled.  Read book 2, halfway through 3, and there are typos, misspellings, missing letters, punctuation issues....you name it.....on almost every page turn.  It's so bad that I'm going to contact Amazon for a refund--I haven't seen a public domain book this badly converted, let alone books you have to pay for.  And while I'm tolerant of a certain percentage of errors both in DTBs and in the Kindle books I've gotten so far, this is WAY beyond acceptable.  I'd rather spend the next six weeks hand typing these up myself than continue trying to read them with this many errors.  LOL

Hopefully they'll pull them all, get them cleaned up, and make them available again soon.  And hopefully the publishers learn their lesson from this--pay an editor a decent wage to clean this stuff up BEFORE you release it!


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

r0b0d0c said:


> Have you heard of more than the two (HGTTG and The Stand) being pulled? That's what I was trying to find, how many have disappeared.


Only what people mentioned on page one of this thread (something like four other books, but I don't know when they disappeared).



> They've been claiming "over 245,000" available (and, of course, that includes a HUGE number of public domain books!) for some time now, but as far as "more added every day" - is this true? Is there a link to check on new titles added daily/weekly/monthly? I'd love to be able to follow that - is it possible?


I don't know how to find the exact titles that are added. I wish there was a way, as that would make some things so much easier. LOL

I can say that the number of books has steadily risen. This link is actually used to see the percentage of books that are over $9.99, but it shows a continuous rise in the number of books, too: http://www.amazon.com/Boycott-anything-over-9-99/forum/FxBVKST06PWP9B/TxG4ROJHC161C5/81/ref=cm_cd_pg_pg81?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B000FI73MA&store=fiona-hardware&cdSort=oldest (page 81, is the latest count)

Here is a small part of that count, from the last ten days. It looks like they have added over 6,000 new books in the last 10 days:

"_20-Mar-09________252,748_________79,018_________31.26%
_19-Mar-09________251,648_________78,650_________31.25%
_18-Mar-09________249,970_________78,470_________31.39%
_17-Mar-09________249,607_________78,374_________31.40%
_16-Mar-09________249,269_________78,372_________31.44%
_13-Mar-09________247,515_________84,663_________34.21%
_12-Mar-09________247,131_________84,471_________34.18%
_11-Mar-09________246,739_________84,349_________34.19%
_10-Mar-09________246,116_________83,905_________34.09%"



> I might have given an "LOL," too, if it weren't for being unable to download a couple of books that I was REALLY interested in reading in my upcoming vacation. I'm hoping to "pace myself," rather than spending thousands of $$$ all at once to download those I'm most interested in. I've already purchased MANY books, and wasn't prepared for popular titles being deleted.


I didn't mean to seem insensitive. Believe it or not, I do know somewhat how you feel, but my deal is simply that there are a lot of books I want to see on Kindle that have never been made into an e-book.

I'm sure, though, that the titles will be back. Many of King's other books are on Kindle, so I cannot see why _The Stand _ wouldn't be made available again.



> I also wouldn't mind a short wait IF Amazon would tell us that this is just temporary, for whatever reason. But CS can't (or won't) given ANY information about when, or even IF, these will return.


The problem is just that CS doesn't have that information. The publisher of the book might.


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

mwvickers said:


> It looks like they have added over 6,000 new books in the last 10 days:


5,950 of which are self-published vampire porn, heh.  

Mike


----------



## webhill (Feb 12, 2009)

I posted a question on Stephen King's official website, asking what happened to the Kindle version of The Stand. The response I got from an assistant to Stephen King was "Sorry, but this isn't something we have control over but we can assure you that we did not request it be removed.  Your best source for finding out why it was taken down would be Kindle’s support team.  It may be as simple as their having found something that needs correction in the formatting and that it will be available again when that is fixed."

So.... Amazon support doesn't know what happened. Stephen King's people don't know what happened. I guess the publisher needs to be asked next! I did email the assistant back to ask for contact information for the publisher....


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

webhill said:


> I posted a question on Stephen King's official website, asking what happened to the Kindle version of The Stand.


Who hasn't?


----------



## WalterK (Mar 2, 2009)

Looks like *Deliverance* by James Dickey has been un-Kindled. I recall checking to see if a Kindle version was available while reading Stephen King's *UR* since that novel was mentioned in King's story. Re-checking Amazon reveals that the Kindle version is no more.

Like others I am assuming that this is a temporary situation and that these works will reappear in the coming weeks or months.

- Walter...


----------



## stargazer0725 (Feb 10, 2009)

Well, folks, it looks like this is most definitely a quality control issue and not a nefarious plot.

I actually spoke with customer service and she said that The Stand had been removed due to improper formatting.  She said that The Stand would be added back after it had been corrected (couldn't give me a definite timeline though).


----------



## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

stargazer0725 said:


> Well, folks, it looks like this is most definitely a quality control issue and not a nefarious plot.
> 
> I actually spoke with customer service and she said that The Stand had been removed due to improper formatting. She said that The Stand would be added back after it had been corrected (couldn't give me a definite timeline though).


I bought it and will report back Monday. FYI, I had an Amazon book from my K1 days saved to my pc. There was a different version (formatting) available for download from my account, so I guess they do this regularly


----------



## Shizu (Oct 27, 2008)

I have The Stand too but I haven't read it so I don't know about the bad formatting. Will we be notify when reformatted version is available? We will get the reformatted version right?


----------



## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

Shizu said:


> I have The Stand too but I haven't read it so I don't know about the bad formatting. Will we be notify when reformatted version is available? We will get the reformatted version right?


I don't think Amazon notifies customers. I would just wait til its back for purchasing, then try downloading again.


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

WalterK said:


> Looks like *Deliverance* by James Dickey has been un-Kindled. I recall checking to see if a Kindle version was available while reading Stephen King's *UR* since that novel was mentioned in King's story. Re-checking Amazon reveals that the Kindle version is no more.
> - Walter...


I did the same thing and DLed a sample, so I know it was there.


----------



## Suzanne (Nov 3, 2008)

Shizu said:


> I have The Stand too but I haven't read it so I don't know about the bad formatting. Will we be notify when reformatted version is available? We will get the reformatted version right?


I read The Stand on my K and hubby read it on his K and neither of us saw any formatting problems.


----------



## Mom of 4 (Oct 27, 2008)

Suzanne - Dewey Decimal #336 said:


> I read The Stand on my K and hubby read it on his K and neither of us saw any formatting problems.


ditto.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

webhill said:


> So.... Amazon support doesn't know what happened. Stephen King's people don't know what happened. I guess the publisher needs to be asked next! I did email the assistant back to ask for contact information for the publisher....


Here's what the publisher has to say about e-books that they make available to Amazon, but Amazon doesn't sell.



> Thank you for your interest in our publications. Random House, Inc. is not the distributor of our eBooks & Audio downloads. We supply our titles in the eBook & Audio Downloads format to online vendors. If you have questions, concerns or need to check availability of a particular title please contact the online vender directly. Again, Random House, Inc. offers our titles in the eBook & Download format to online vendors but unfortunately we do not control their inventory.
> 
> Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. Thanks you for your continued interest in our publications.
> 
> ...


I think the problem with The Stand is that Random House has it priced at $50. Sony is selling it for $35.

There are others that Random House offers but Amazon doesn't include in their inventory that are priced more reasonably. I saw one for $8.99. That _should _be okay with Amazon.

Nobody seems to want to give us a straight answer.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Jesslyn said:


> I bought it and will report back Monday. FYI, I had an Amazon book from my K1 days saved to my pc. There was a different version (formatting) available for download from my account, so I guess they do this regularly


OK, this is interesting! How did you know the different version was available? Which book was it? One of our member authors, Mike Hicks, has tried to offer an updated version of his book In Her Name to members, and we've never been able to download an updated version.

Betsy


----------



## kyliedork (Mar 20, 2009)

I don't think amazon would ever willing take stephen King off the shelves unless it was a quality issue. He would have to be in the top 5 earners for amazon


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

kyliedork said:


> I don't think amazon would ever willing take stephen King off the shelves unless it was a quality issue. He would have to be in the top 5 earners for amazon


Would you pay $50 or even $35 (Sony's price) for The Stand? That's how Random House has it priced for both the e-book and the hardback. Doesn't make sense. Amazon can't discount that price enough to make it saleable.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm not a SK fan. . . .nothing against him, just not my cup of tea.  But. . .he's clearly a Kindle Guy.  Given that he's probably not secretly a member of this forum, he may not realize this has happened.  Has anyone tried e-mailing HIM somehow??

Ann


----------



## wilsondm2 (Dec 8, 2008)

or e-mailing Jeff?  [email protected]  From what a CSR told me, he *does* read but delegates the reply.


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> OK, this is interesting! How did you know the different version was available? Which book was it? One of our member authors, Mike Hicks, has tried to offer an updated version of his book In Her Name to members, and we've never been able to download an updated version.
> 
> Betsy


I also had formatting issues with a book. When it was fixed, I had to actually have Amazon refund the money for the book and delete it from my Kindle library so that I could repurchase it and redownload it. That is the only way I got an updated version.


----------



## webhill (Feb 12, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I'm not a SK fan. . . .nothing against him, just not my cup of tea. But. . .he's clearly a Kindle Guy. Given that he's probably not secretly a member of this forum, he may not realize this has happened. Has anyone tried e-mailing HIM somehow??
> 
> Ann


Well, I heard back from his assistant again. I told her that her suggestion to contact Amazon CS to find out what happened was met with failure, and I asked about the reply someone got from Random House. She says "Random House isn't the publisher of The Stand so they wouldn't have been able to provide info for that anyway. That would be Doubleday, but we don't have close contact with them as they are not Steve's current publisher. Also, publishers don't contact Steve each time they want to do a different format; depending upon how the publishing rights were negotiated they don't always have to, so it's been a surprise to see as many titles offered in the Kindle format as there are. I'm going to try to see if I can get a contact at Kindle that I can get information about new title releases to post on the Board. Thanks for letting me know what you found out."


----------



## kevindorsey (Mar 4, 2009)

Its a matter of time before they put it back.  Too big of a title for them to mess up.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

webhill said:


> Well, I heard back from his assistant again. I told her that her suggestion to contact Amazon CS to find out what happened was met with failure, and I asked about the reply someone got from Random House. She says "Random House isn't the publisher of The Stand so they wouldn't have been able to provide info for that anyway. That would be Doubleday, but we don't have close contact with them as they are not Steve's current publisher. Also, publishers don't contact Steve each time they want to do a different format; depending upon how the publishing rights were negotiated they don't always have to, so it's been a surprise to see as many titles offered in the Kindle format as there are. I'm going to try to see if I can get a contact at Kindle that I can get information about new title releases to post on the Board. Thanks for letting me know what you found out."


Looks like you're getting somewhere. It still doesn't make sense that Random House is providing a link to Amazon and Sony (where you can buy The Stand) if they aren't the publishers.


----------



## Kind (Jan 28, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I'm not a SK fan. . . .nothing against him, just not my cup of tea. But. . .he's clearly a Kindle Guy. Given that he's probably not secretly a member of this forum, he may not realize this has happened. Has anyone tried e-mailing HIM somehow??
> 
> Ann


Okay, you got me. I am SK.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well then fix the problem, darn it all!  

Ann


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I'm not a SK fan. . . .nothing against him, just not my cup of tea. But. . .he's clearly a Kindle Guy. Given that he's probably not secretly a member of this forum, he may not realize this has happened. Has anyone tried e-mailing HIM somehow??
> 
> Ann


Since his assistant knows, I'd assume he knows.


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

stargazer0725 said:


> Well, folks, it looks like this is most definitely a quality control issue and not a nefarious plot.
> 
> I actually spoke with customer service and she said that The Stand had been removed due to improper formatting. She said that The Stand would be added back after it had been corrected (couldn't give me a definite timeline though).


Interesting! When I spoke with CS 4 days ago, the first rep forwarded my call to a "CS Specialist," who checked her info, and told me that they (CS) had NO info about why "The Stand" had been de-Kindleized, and when (or even IF) it would return to the Kindle Store.

Anyway, this action has resulted in a r0b0d0c surge in SK Kindle purchases - just doing my own little Stimulus Package® for Amazon......


----------



## Scathach (Dec 5, 2008)

omg I was just going to download The Stand right now, and it's gone... so sad so very sad


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

MichelleR said:


> Since his assistant knows, I'd assume he knows.


Maybe, maybe not....

Betsy


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

r0b0d0c said:


> Interesting! When I spoke with CS 4 days ago, the first rep forwarded my call to a "CS Specialist," who checked her info, and told me that they (CS) had NO info about why "The Stand" had been de-Kindleized, and when (or even IF) it would return to the Kindle Store.


Maybe the specialist took the initiative to look into it further.


----------



## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks has been removed as well.


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

On an Amazon discussion thread,

_"M. Scarborough says:
I downloaded "The Stand" and it ended up freezing my Kindle and customer support had to pull the book off my Kindle so it would work again. She told me to try to download it again in a few weeks (this was two weeks ago). I think that there must have been a corruption in a file, I was the second call that day about with the same problem from "The Stand". That might be why it's not available."_

Sure wish they'd put this back on for download (with necessary fixes!) - my vacation is approaching soon!


----------



## SusieQ (Feb 18, 2009)

Well, while not back yet, it must be coming. If you search now in Kindle Store, The Stand comes up but says "not yet available". Before it didn't even come up!

Susie


----------



## PianoManKD (Mar 20, 2009)

OK good that will be my next read....I'm currently in the middle of reading Carrie. I think it's safe to say Stephen King is my favorite author....


----------



## chynared21 (Oct 28, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> OK, this is interesting! How did you know the different version was available? Which book was it? One of our member authors, Mike Hicks, has tried to offer an updated version of his book In Her Name to members, and we've never been able to download an updated version.
> 
> Betsy


*Now that is interesting...when Mike mentioned a correction with a character's age, I deleted the book and redownloaded with the correct age. The only thing that I do remember is that I had not opened the book prior to Mike mentioning the change so I couldn't tell you if I had the character's "old" age.*


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

chynared21 said:


> *Now that is interesting...when Mike mentioned a correction with a character's age, I deleted the book and redownloaded with the correct age. The only thing that I do remember is that I had not opened the book prior to Mike mentioning the change so I couldn't tell you if I had the character's "old" age.*


When you say "deleted," do you mean you deleted it from Kindle memory and it went back into your media library, then you transferred it back to Kindle memory?


----------



## chynared21 (Oct 28, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'Turn to Page 390' said:


> When you say "deleted," do you mean you deleted it from Kindle memory and it went back into your media library, then you transferred it back to Kindle memory?


*Yes, exactly that...and I know that I purchased it before Mike said that there was a change in age.*


----------



## WalterK (Mar 2, 2009)

Just noticed that *In Her Name*, which has been discussed on this board is showing up as Not Available. Consider me extremely confused as to why these works are going offline. (??)

- Walter...


----------



## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

WalterK said:


> Just noticed that *In Her Name*, which has been discussed on this board is showing up as Not Available. Consider me extremely confused as to why these works are going offline. (??)
> 
> - Walter...


There are two listings for some reason, one of which says unavailable.

This one works:


----------



## WalterK (Mar 2, 2009)

Thanks.  I was just browsing SF by sales rank and stumbled upon the Not Available Yet listing.  Happy to hear that this didn't disappear.

- Walter.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

In the Amazon listings, the Stand is now shown as Not Yet Available for the Kindle version, a promising step. Just curious, I know a number of our members, including me, downloaded the Stand when it was first available. I haven't read it yet, but I did "thumb" through it, including going to one of the later locations with no problems. Have any of our members read or started reading the copy of the Stand they bought? Has anyone had any problems with the Stand?











Betsy


----------



## SusieQ (Feb 18, 2009)

stargazer0725 said:


> Well, folks, it looks like this is most definitely a quality control issue and not a nefarious plot.
> 
> I actually spoke with customer service and she said that The Stand had been removed due to improper formatting. She said that The Stand would be added back after it had been corrected (couldn't give me a definite timeline though).


This was posted earlier in this thread, Betsy. Also the "not yet available" is not new...it's been like that for almost 2 weeks. I'm getting disheartened again! 

Susie


----------



## webhill (Feb 12, 2009)

SusieQ said:


> This was posted earlier in this thread, Betsy. Also the "not yet available" is not new...it's been like that for almost 2 weeks. I'm getting disheartened again!
> 
> Susie


Here's what's confusing to me. If you go to the Kindle store and search for "the Stand," you get a list of books. The correct listing contains this text:

The Stand by Stephen King (Kindle Edition - Jun 24, 200 - Kindle Book
*Sign up to be notified when this item becomes available.*
4.5 out of 5 stars (951)

Well, ok - but HOW do you sign up to be notified when it becomes available? when you click on it, you just see the book listing, no "sign up" link or anything. I am so confused. I would LOVE to be able to sign up to be notified when it is available!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

SusieQ said:


> This was posted earlier in this thread, Betsy. Also the "not yet available" is not new...it's been like that for almost 2 weeks. I'm getting disheartened again!
> 
> Susie


Yes, I know it was discussed earlier, I was part of the discussion;  I was wondering if there were more than the one person who posted earlier that they had no problems reading the earlier version of the Stand on their Kindle--has anyone else has tried to read it and had freezing problems or not? I've been reading the Outlander series, so not in the mood for another HUGE book or I'd try it.

Missed the "Not Yet Available" posting here, it was just recently posted in the "I Want This Book on Kindle" thread. But two weeks isn't very long.

Betsy


----------



## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

As long as it's back up by June for my vacation, I can probably forgive the power that be over there... because, ya know, it's all about me  I'm a fan of his earlier work, some of his recent stuff hasn't really grabbed me, but The Stand is, far and away, my favorite King novel. I haven't read it in years, was looking forward to reading it while at the beach house.


----------



## Ephany (Mar 9, 2009)

I've been checking the listing daily, this is one of my all-time favorite books. Hopefully they resolve the issue(s) soon, I've been spoiled reading on my K2, and I really want this book!


----------



## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> In the Amazon listings, the Stand is now shown as Not Yet Available for the Kindle version, a promising step. Just curious, I know a number of our members, including me, downloaded the Stand when it was first available. I haven't read it yet, but I did "thumb" through it, including going to one of the later locations with no problems. Have any of our members read or started reading the copy of the Stand they bought? Has anyone had any problems with the Stand?


I read the whole thing a few months ago, and had no problems whatsoever. Even the artwork looked great, though obviously those specific pages took a little while to load (probably 5 seconds).


----------



## PJ (Feb 25, 2009)

webhill said:


> Here's what's confusing to me. If you go to the Kindle store and search for "the Stand," you get a list of books. The correct listing contains this text:
> 
> The Stand by Stephen King (Kindle Edition - Jun 24, 200 - Kindle Book
> *Sign up to be notified when this item becomes available.*
> ...


I was wondering this too. How do you sign up to be notified when it becomes available?


----------



## Chey (Feb 11, 2009)

"The Stand" was the very first book I purchased when I got my Kindle.  I didn't have any issues with it at all.  No freezing, formatting was fine.


----------



## Seamonkey (Dec 2, 2008)

I bought it for $2.95 on December 18.

The other day I searched it out and it had to load (had a K1 when I ordered and now have K2) and it took a long time.. kept starting and stopping, but it seems to have loaded.. and it apperas to be formatted and readable...

I jusst checked and Text-to-Speech works on this version.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for the feedback from members who've read it.  Makes the "formatting issues" reason for removal seem a little specious....

I'm not sure anyone has ever figured out how to be notified when the book becomes available.  It's a very good question.

Betsy


----------



## Buttercup (Oct 28, 2008)

I bought it for $2.95 way back when but I haven't had a chance to read it yet so I'm not sure about any formatting issues.  I hope it doesn't have any though.


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Well, it's STILL "not yet available" on Kindlebooks, but the amazon.com listing for it now states that for text-to-speech: "not enabled."

http://www.amazon.com/The-Stand-ebook/dp/B001C4NXKM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1242377243&sr=1-1

Has this been unavailable for the Kindle for 2 months (and counting!), just so the publisher could remove TTS?

Those of you who purchased this for a couple of bucks, and get TTS, got a real bargain! Wish I'd have pulled the trigger.....


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I don't think it has been available for quite a while, before text to speech.  I bought it soon after getting my K1 in November,  Nov 20 to be exact.  Text to speech was just a gleam in Jeff Bezos's eye.

Betsy


----------



## Wunderkind (Jan 14, 2009)

I actually bought this book (my first purchase with Whispernet) when I got my K2 on Feb 25th, so it was available for at least a short time after TTS was out there. I'm not sure how soon after that date the book was pulled.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Interesting!  Have you tried the TTS on it?  You should back it up offline--sounds like they're turning TTS off on selected books.

Betsy


----------



## Wunderkind (Jan 14, 2009)

I just tested TTS with The Stand and it still works. That may not be the case if they ever make the book available again, so I will back it up offline just in case.


----------



## Shadowraven (May 7, 2009)

r0b0d0c said:


> I learned 2 things from this Kindle book removal:
> 1. I'll never trust simply erasing a book from my Kindle, confident that "I can always download it again, any time I want" - for those of you who already bought it, I presume that since Amazon no longer offers it, you ALSO cannot re-download it?
> 2. If I find a book that I know I'm going to want - BUY IT NOW!


While I won't buy it now even at the risk of not having it later... I already have issues of a much larger "TBR" pile (or box) from when I had "real books."

However, I appreciate that you posted #1 because I never would have thought of that. But after talking to my husband last night about what I'm liking so far about my k I commented that recent statements I've made to fellow English teachers that the k holds over 1,500 books doesn't help convince them about the merits of the device. So we talked about how many books that is... at my reading speed/consumption rate and the fact that I started reading heavily in about 4th grade... for me to have read 1,500 books by now (about 22 years of reading), I would have had to read nearly 70 books a year to reach 1500. At most I estimated I read 20-30 a year when I was in college (heavy forced reading compared to the slower leisure reading I do now). So really... this is like a LIFETIME of books for me (kinda sorta... granted the older I get and the older my children get, the more time I'll have to read).

Anyway, long comment made longer by side-tracking kinda. But at this point, why delete if I'm not going to be running out of room... and why delete if there's not gaurentee I won't be able to order it later?


----------



## Wunderkind (Jan 14, 2009)

If you buy the book, you will be able to re-download it, even if it is no longer available for purchase to other readers. The only issue is if you wait to buy a book; it may not be available to buy when you are ready so if you really want it and it is on Amazon, you may want to get it then rather than wait. For me, it depends on how much I want the book on my Kindle.


----------



## SusieQ (Feb 18, 2009)

Just purchased it for Hobs!



ENJOY!!! 
PS-I hope whoever it was that wanted this for vacation sees it in time!

Susie


----------



## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

Awesome!


----------



## cheerio (May 16, 2009)

have fun on that vacation


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Thanks for the heads up! I'm SURE not waiting to download it this time! 

Although a couple of months late for my vacation, I'll savor the read more gradually over time!


----------



## WalterK (Mar 2, 2009)

BTW, another book that disappeared around the same time is now back...



- Walter.


----------



## koolmnbv (Mar 25, 2009)

Thanks!


----------



## AnelaBelladonna (Apr 8, 2009)

I bought it.  Thanks!


----------



## sixnsolid (Mar 13, 2009)

Thank you!


----------



## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

Sweet. This will be my next purchase. But it will have to wait 'cause I just bought Dune.


----------



## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

Looks like it's finally back... I bought it but haven't looked yet... I loaned my Kindle to someone


----------



## PianoManKD (Mar 20, 2009)

I've never read this book, it looks like an epic....Going to buy it right now and get started tonight.


----------



## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

The Hitchhiker Guide To The Universe by Douglas Adams is also back up at $6.39

http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy/dp/B000XUBC2C


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Sporadic said:


> The Hitchhiker Guide To The Universe by Douglas Adams is also back up at $6.39
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy/dp/B000XUBC2C


Again .... lesson learned! Downloaded this one, too, as soon as I read it was again available!

Oh, happy day!


----------



## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

Wonder how Stephen King feels about the TTS being turned off?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hope y'all don't mind, I've merged the two threads celebrating the return of the Stand to Amazon's catalog!

Betsy


----------



## Ephany (Mar 9, 2009)

Yay! Snagged it, even though my DH is laughing at me. It's one of my all-time favorite books and I didn't want to miss it again.


----------



## kevindorsey (Mar 4, 2009)

I'm putting this into my quee, hopefully its stil lthere when I get through some books.


----------



## danfan (Apr 17, 2009)

$40? $40?!! Am I seeing things? Was it pulled to build enough suspense so we'd spend $40?? I know it's a great book but really?? I am really shocked. I'll stick to my back-breakingly heavy DTB for a while.

Off to grumble on SK's forum.

ETA: Darnit. I forgot his forum closes after work hours. I did find a comment about _The Stand_ from Ms Mod though, about why it may have been pulled for those months:
"Sorry, I don't have an update as to why. I've only heard the discussion about possible infringement of audio books but this one hasn't been released as a mass market audiobook. There was an audio version of the 1978 text but that is not widely available. "


----------



## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

danfan said:


> $40? $40?!! Am I seeing things? Was it pulled to build enough suspense so we'd spend $40?? I know it's a great book but really?? I am really shocked. I'll stick to my back-breakingly heavy DTB for a while.


Holy cow! I got it for $2.95! Maybe someone misplaced the decimal point...


----------



## danfan (Apr 17, 2009)

marianner said:


> Holy cow! I got it for $2.95! Maybe someone misplaced the decimal point...


Maybe so! It has Digital List Price: $50.00, Kindle Price: $40.00

Given that the rest of Sai King's books are more reasonably priced, maybe it is a mistake.


----------



## danfan (Apr 17, 2009)

danfan said:


> Maybe so! It has Digital List Price: $50.00, Kindle Price: $40.00
> 
> Given that the rest of Sai King's books are more reasonably priced, maybe it is a mistake.


Heck, it doesn't look like a mistake. It's $50 on ebooks.com & 42.50 of fictionwise.com

YIKES!


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Though not as high as The Stand, the price of Salem's Lot has gone way up as well ($19.25)....


----------



## katbird1 (Dec 10, 2008)

and = $19.25 each!

Kathy


----------



## danfan (Apr 17, 2009)

pidgeon92 said:


> Though not as high as The Stand, the price of Salem's Lot has gone way up as well ($19.25)....


OMG you're right. And...

The Shining 19.25
Nightshift 19.25
Carrie 17.88

I wonder if they are all going up?? I had planned to buy one a month until I had all of his. I already have them all as DTB but wanted them for K too. I don't think I will now. 
I understand bestsellers starting high, but this is crazy.


----------



## JimJ (Mar 3, 2009)

There has to be some sort of mix up, at least I hope so.  King is a Kindle fan and, in UR, even wrote about how low the book prices are.  I can't imagine he would be in favor of his books being priced at such ridiculous rates.  Hopefully if the price doesn't come down soon we'll hear some comment from him on why this happened.  

I'm a King fan and was planning on eventually getting these despite already having the DTBs, but no way that's happening now until the price drops back into sane levels.


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

katbird1 said:


> and = $19.25 each!
> 
> Kathy


To quote Frank on "Everbody Loves Raymond" ....... HOLY CRAP!

Fortunately, I bought Salem's Lot for a hair over $7 a couple of months ago, and The Stand for $8 and change when it reappeared! I also bought Night Shift for $8, and it's also now $19.25.



Unfortunately, I didn't yet buy Carrie (it's $17.88!) or The Shining (which is $19.25).



I expect prices at Amazon to vary a few bucks here and there, but THIS is insanity in pricing. What the hell is going on here I won't spend that kind of money on ebooks, when paperbacks are 1/2 - 1/3 that price.

All this does is encourage electronic piracy.


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

I noticed something else - all of these new "hyper-priced" King books have text-to-speech "not enabled," so they are replacing the previous ebook versions. 

Well, I was waiting to download the 7 books of his "Dark Tower" series, but tonight I downloaded all of these, while the prices are under $7-8, and while they still have text-to-speech capability. After The Stand and 'Salem's Lot, these are my favorites from SK, and I don't want to get burned on these.


----------



## louiseb (Mar 2, 2009)

Good point on Dark Tower series, I just did the same. Luckily I just got a gift card, otherwise I would have had to wait till Friday


----------



## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

This is just ridiculous. Price gougers!


----------



## sixnsolid (Mar 13, 2009)

I'm a relatively new Kindler, but this seem odd  
Veteran Kindlers - have you ever seen this happen with an author's books before?


----------



## danfan (Apr 17, 2009)

louiseb said:


> Good point on Dark Tower series, I just did the same. Luckily I just got a gift card, otherwise I would have had to wait till Friday


Ohhhhh I hope they don't do it to DT! I can't afford them all yet  I'm also a huge SK fan and am really shocked to see these prices. I hope he disagrees with it too and weighs in to change it.

I went again today to his forum to see if the mod could shed any light but the board is down til next week. They only have one moderator over there so if she's not there then the board is closed.


----------



## rho (Feb 12, 2009)

wow that is weird - I got my copy on 6/5 for a little under $9 -- I would never spend $40 for a book - even a DTB those expensive ones are the ones I use the local library to read ...


----------



## Daisysmama (Nov 12, 2008)

Right now The Stand is up to........$40.00...!!!!!!!,,,


----------



## PJ (Feb 25, 2009)

danfan said:


> $40? $40?!! Am I seeing things? Was it pulled to build enough suspense so we'd spend $40?? I know it's a great book but really?? I am really shocked. I'll stick to my back-breakingly heavy DTB for a while.
> 
> Off to grumble on SK's forum.
> 
> ...


What the... I bought mine on May 30, 2009 for $8.09. What gives? That is nuts.


----------



## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

Very strange. 

On the 7th: The Shining, Night Shift, 'Salem's Lot, Carrie were $7.19 and The Stand was $8.09

Glad I bought The Shining and Night Shift when I did. Looks like I'll have to go through alternative channels to get Salem's Lot


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Sporadic said:


> Very strange.
> 
> On the 7th: The Shining, Night Shift, 'Salem's Lot, Carrie were $7.19 and The Stand was $8.09
> 
> Glad I bought The Shining and Night Shift when I did. Looks like I'll have to go through alternative channels to get Salem's Lot


I'm using "Price Drop" to notify me when Carrie and The Shining return to reasonable prices. NFW I'd pay those inflated prices..... wonder how many they sell now


----------



## Ephany (Mar 9, 2009)

$8.09 for me also, and I thought that was rather high! I really hope it's a mix-up, those are ridiculous prices.


----------



## rho (Feb 12, 2009)

r0b0d0c said:


> I'm using "Price Drop" to notify me when Carrie and The Shining return to reasonable prices. NFW I'd pay those inflated prices..... wonder how many they sell now


I can't tell you how much I Love this site - I never knew about Price Drop -- I can see I will be using that a LOT!

thanks


----------



## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

too bad they seem to go up more often than down!


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Two good ways to track prices:
> http://www.pricedrop.stuffstuff.org/ (I like this one, but it doesn't track all books).
> 
> www.shoppingnotes.com (I use this one when the other one doesn't work.)
> ...


Good info, Betsy! There are a fair number of items on Amazon (a small percentage) that Price Drop can't track - "this item cannot be tracked" with something about "not being sold by Amazon directly."

I'll try Shopping Notes for those!


----------



## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

That has to be some kind of weird error.

Thankfully, Hearts in Atlantis is still reasonably priced ($6.39). I just re-read it and it's as amazing as ever. I highly recommend it.


----------



## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I must be having one of those nightmares.  $40 is crazy for The Stand and 19.25 for some of the others is out of line as well.


----------



## MaureenH (Dec 14, 2008)

I have been wondering if Amazon has some automated software that the more of a Kindle book they sell, the higher the price goes.


----------



## EllenR (Mar 31, 2009)

Well, that was a rude shock. I gave my daughter a Kindle for her birthday yesterday and wanted to buy The Stand in Kindle version for both of us. Not at $40!

Thanks for the info on Price Drop. I'm going to use it from now on.

EllenR


----------



## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

Good. _The Stand _ is back down to $8.09. Let's hope they all come down and it was a fluke.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

The weird pricing may have been related to the software/database change that made most books unavailable for awhile...Glad it's back to a good price!

Betsy


----------



## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

mwvickers said:


> Good. _The Stand _ is back down to $8.09. Let's hope they all come down and it was a fluke.


'Salem's Lot is back to $7.19

Only ones left that need to come back down are Carrie and Night Shift.


----------



## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

Thank God!  This is one of my all time favorite books and one of the few that I own in hardcover but wanted the Kindle version of as well.  Just came from Amazon and the price is indeed back down to $8.09.  If you are even remotely interested in this book, GO GET IT NOW!  before they (Amazon or the powers that be) hike it back up to $40.00.  I still can't believe the price was that high if I had not seen it for myself yesterday.


----------



## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

Wonder how many actually paid $40 for the book? I hope anyone who did realizes their mistake and demands a refund of the difference, because I'm pretty sure that price was a mistake.


----------



## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

Greg Banks said:


> Wonder how many actually paid $40 for the book? I hope anyone who did realizes their mistake and demands a refund of the difference, because I'm pretty sure that price was a mistake.


Anyone who paid $40 dollars for it probably is not too worried about money.....


----------



## melissaj323 (Dec 29, 2008)

Wow, so many people are saying the Stand is their favorite book. I will have to download a sample. I haven't read any of Stephen Kings' works before. I get scared too easily!


----------



## danfan (Apr 17, 2009)

melissaj323 said:


> Wow, so many people are saying the Stand is their favorite book. I will have to download a sample. I haven't read any of Stephen Kings' works before. I get scared too easily!


I've read all of King's books, and I have to say only one or 2 are really scary - and I actually think that his scariest are mixed into his short stories, rather than his novels (although I nearly threw up reading Gerald's Game). So many are just very good books, and many aren't even horror at all. Given that he's written, what? 45-ish novels, a couple hundred short stories - I think there is something for everyone in King's collections!

oooh maybe we should have a SK thread.


----------



## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

melissaj323 said:


> Wow, so many people are saying the Stand is their favorite book. I will have to download a sample. I haven't read any of Stephen Kings' works before. I get scared too easily!


_The Stand_ really isn't scary, at least not in a horror movie kind of way.


----------



## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

Night Shift and Carrie are back to $7.19

Everything is back to normal, crisis averted


----------



## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

My Kindle re-downloaded The Stand this week, evidenced by the fact that it's now at the top of my home screen and showing that I haven't read it.  Anybody know what the deal is with this?  Push of a TTS-disabled version?


----------



## r0b0d0c (Feb 16, 2009)

geko29 said:


> My Kindle re-downloaded The Stand this week, evidenced by the fact that it's now at the top of my home screen and showing that I haven't read it. Anybody know what the deal is with this? Push of a TTS-disabled version?


Same thing happened to my KK, although I'd only downloaded the "new version" of The Stand when it again became available for sale - a few days ago, it appeared at the top of my home screen, without having opened it during this time. I assumed it was a glitch, but did that signify a "re-download" from Amazon?


----------



## Figment (Oct 27, 2008)

Same thing happened to me yesterday.

And I had ordered The Stand months ago, before they first took it away for formatting problems.  I thought, perhaps they had decided to re-download it to those who had the earlier copies.  Hmmmm.....


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

The Stand also reappeared at the top of my Kindle yesterday, I also bought it months ago...

Betsy


----------



## Wunderkind (Jan 14, 2009)

Surprisingly, this new version still has TTS turned on. I thought that feature was going to be removed from this book.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I got an email from Amazon (interestingly, AFTER the Stand had reappeared on my Kindle) telling me they had replaced it in my account.

Now my question is, if this can be done in the Stand, why can't our member-authors have this done for their books?

Betsy


----------



## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

I just bought The Stand.

I was wondering though, if any of you have any recommendations for any of S.K.'s short stories??


----------



## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Sugar said:


> I was wondering though, if any of you have any recommendations for any of S.K.'s short stories??


I love S.K.'s short stories. _Skeleton Crew_ was very good. It has "The Mist," which is actually almost a novella and was made into a movie a couple of years ago.


----------



## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

marianner said:


> I love S.K.'s short stories. _Skeleton Crew_ was very good. It has "The Mist," which is actually almost a novella and was made into a movie a couple of years ago.


I looked up Skeleton Crew and couldn't find it??


----------



## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

Sugar said:


> I looked up Skeleton Crew and couldn't find it??


It's not on the Kindle yet which is a shame since it is a fantastic collection.

Only ones available on the Kindle store are Night Shift, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Everything's Eventual and Just After Sunset.

That is the order I would recommend reading them in.


----------



## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Sugar said:


> I looked up Skeleton Crew and couldn't find it??


Sorry, I didn't even think to look for it in the Kindle store before recommending it  It is good, though, if you don't mind reading a DTB


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I think this might be my favorite book of King short stories:


----------



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

If you are waiting for the Stand to automatically download to your Kindle DX, you'll wait forever. It's sitting in your Kindle 1 or 2 download bucket. Go up and manually download it from your list and directly to the DX.

Edward C. Patterson


----------



## Suzanne (Nov 3, 2008)

Time to resurrect this thread.

I bought The Stand last November. Both I read it on my Kindle and hubby read it on his. Neither of us had any problems whatsoever with it.

This past June when we had our Whispernet on for something, we got a new version of The Stand.

Well, I am reading it again. And I am a little over halfway through and I can tell you that I have read a chapter that wasn't there in the book I purchased last November! I read that chapter and thought I was cracking up. I said to DH, "Tim, do you remember such and such thing happening with The Dark Man, The Walking Dude?" And I told him what I read. He said he had no recollection of it at all! So I don't think I was cracking up.

Also, with this version I am having formatting issues. Some lines are double typed. It's like they typed over the same line and have two lines typed on the same line. I normally read on Font 4. I dropped back to Font 3 and am able to read the type. 

I thought those of you who read the older version which has now been yanked and replaced by the version we received in June would find this interesting.


----------



## akpak (Mar 5, 2009)

I didn't have the "double type" issue with that version. But also you're not crazy. If you read the introduction, this is the "author's cut" of the Stand... Almost 400 extra "pages" of stuff that was cut in the first edition.


----------



## Suzanne (Nov 3, 2008)

The copy I purchased in November was supposed to be the author's cut, with all the stuff that had been cut from the original publication. As I recall, the one I read in November was about 1100 pages long. This one I received when Amazon changed them in June has things in it that were not in the one I read in November.


----------

