# to authors: Kindle team now reviewing our books before publish?



## Lynn Bullman (Aug 16, 2009)

I just hit the publish button on a new story... got this in the usual publishing message:

*Publishing River of Time. Your book is currently under review by the Kindle Operations team as we are trying to improve the Kindle customer experience. Please check back in 5 business days to see if your book was published to the store.*

Anybody know what this is all about? I thought they were trying to get the published time down...not take even longer to do it? And why review our books now?

Confused.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Probably because people have uploaded illegal, pirated copies of Harry Potter, 1984, etc. and users complained enough that Amazon needed to do something.

Once again it is a case of a few bad apples ruining it for the rest of us.


Spoiler



Sucks, doesn't it?



L


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

It's news to me. I published about six weeks ago and didn't get that message. I can only guess that it has something to do with the George Orwell fiasco last month. Maybe they're checking to make sure the author has the copyright.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

JimC1946 said:


> It's news to me. I published about six weeks ago and didn't get that message. I can only guess that it has something to do with the George Orwell fiasco last month. Maybe they're checking to make sure the author has the copyright.


I published two weeks ago and didn't get that message so it is clearly very new.

L


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2009)

Leslie said:


> Probably because people have uploaded illegal, pirated copies of Harry Potter, 1984, etc. and users complained enough that Amazon needed to do something.
> 
> Once again it is a case of a few bad apples ruining it for the rest of us.
> 
> ...


 Not just a few bad apples. You might also want to blame all of the screamers that said it was Amazon's responsiblity to check books first and that Amazon had no right to delete books customers bought. When the Orwell thing hit, I specifically noted that if customers expect Amazon to take 100% responsibility for content and not delete the occassional pirated book, then expect something like this to happen. Because you can't have it both ways. You cannot simultaneously hold Amazon accountable for all digital content AND allow instant uploads of digital content by publishers. They are mutually exclusive.


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

Makes sense. Just add some time to the publication time line.

Ed Patterson


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

bardsandsages said:


> Not just a few bad apples. You might also want to blame all of the screamers that said it was Amazon's responsiblity to check books first and that Amazon had no right to delete books customers bought. When the Orwell thing hit, I specifically noted that if customers expect Amazon to take 100% responsibility for content and not delete the occassional pirated book, then expect something like this to happen. Because you can't have it both ways. You cannot simultaneously hold Amazon accountable for all digital content AND allow instant uploads of digital content by publishers. They are mutually exclusive.


THIS! This is exactly what I have been thinking.

Personally, I never downloaded any of the illegal stuff. However, had I done so, it would not have bothered me at all for Amazon to delete it.

I have to add, though, that Amazon should have been at least a little more careful about letting anything be published on their site without any controls whatsoever. Even just checking titles would have helped the situaton.

Unfortunately, there could be another future side effect to this. Right now, the minimum an Indie book can sell for is $.99. If Amazon feels they must hire more employees to police the Indie publishers, they may raise that minimum price to help offset the cost.


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## kcgill (Aug 9, 2009)

Amazon, danged if they do, danged if they don't.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

lkcampbell, you are exactly right.  Amazon had to take a stand to protect the authors, publishers, and customers.  We can never expect the hesitant authors to join the e-book industry if they have fears.
deb


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

Well, there's a review of books uploaded to CreateSpace (besides the technical considerations of cover work and bar coding), rights are inspected. Of course, it would be hard for anyone to upload an Orwell book for POD publication because of the ISBN, which belongs to CreateSpace (that is Amazon),which would hang them up high and dry. With digital text publishing there is no ISBN regulatory and Amazon assigns a product code (the beloved ASIN) which must make them legally responsible or limited liability by the act of accepting, cataloging, and distributing items electronically. When you think about it, a review protects us as well from pirates (to some limited extent), and it is in everyone's best interest. My last work was uploaded and published and ready for sale within 2 hours (an unusual scenario, but a fact).

Edward C. Patterson


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

On the upside, I really doubt that any delay Amazon institutes will ever surpass the delay time from a commercial publisher.


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## Lynn Bullman (Aug 16, 2009)

I'm not griping about it, only was confused.  Since I have published 12 or more of my books and "not" seen that message before.  It may be a good idea, it probably is, but I'll reserve judgement on that until I see how it's going to turn out and or what (if anything) is going to be involved.  I'm a big fan of both Amazon and Kindle, but not a total convert to them thinking that they are only "always" looking out for "my" good.  They are a business after all, and being a business I would guess at least 95 percent of their business decisions benefit "them" more than it does "us."

Hopefully it'll be a fairly quick and painless process that will actually benefit ALL of us.


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

Lynn:

Since my next book release isn't until November (I know everyone - that long Ed! Go on, tell me anothr one!   ), and I publish a book on the Kindle DTPPROCESS (a Freebie now), I would appreciate it a great favor if you keep us (me) posted on how long it takes before you go live with this new step in the process. I'd ike to update my little author support book.

Thanks
Edward C. Patterson


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

lkcampbell said:


> I might get flogged for saying this, but I think it's a good thing. Apparently, there's too much illegal selling going on, and if this will help stop it, good enough.


If you wouldn't mind being stripped searched when you go to the mall because a you "might" be carrying a bomb, I can respect that opinion. If on the other hand you don't, then I think that to an extent, this is (or could lead to) a virtual strip search, or perhaps even worse, censorship of the content. Because once you start reviewing the content of stuff going up, at what point do you start saying "You know, this is really obscene or objectionable to me," perhaps we shouldn't publish this...." Or what happens when the right wing Christian nutjobs (and yes, I am a Christian myself) who thinks books like Harry Potter are the work of Satan, start demanding that things they object to should be screened and/or outright banned from the Kindle?

I'm not saying these things will happen, but as we've already seen, ebooks are an entirely new frontier with issues we don't even have laws or guidelines to address yet, and this sort of thing could very easily start the slide down a slippery slope that even Amazon hasn't anticipated yet. It's not that I have a problem with a review as it stands to assure a book is not pirated, it's that I'm afraid of where this might lead us to.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Greg makes a good point. There has to be some middle ground that works for everyone. I hope.


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

Greg:

Do you mean something like No Irish Need Apply signs?    I hear ya, being a censored and censured entity for most of my life. Yes, I'm too old to burn my bra, but . . .

Another practical, rather than an eternal, question ---- does this apply to price changes or only new submissions. That is the initial assignment of an ASIN. Has anyone changes a price in the last few days

Edward C. Patterson


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## gmholde (Aug 14, 2009)

Edward C. Patterson said:


> Another practical, rather than an eternal, question ---- does this apply to price changes or only new submissions. That is the initial assignment of an ASIN. Has anyone changes a price in the last few days
> 
> Edward C. Patterson


Edward,

I uploaded a novel three weeks ago through DTP...last night, after making a format change in the original source file for the novel, I uploaded the new html and upon hitting the publish button I was greeted with the same message as the OP. The only change I made was to the unicode.

Interestingly, my novel is still published and available, but not with the updated file. It would be great to know if the same thing would happen just because an author wanted to make a price change.

I suspect over the next week many more posts, both here and on the DTP support forum, will hit our screens regarding this new wrinkle from Amazon's DTP.

Gregory Holden


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## Lynn Bullman (Aug 16, 2009)

I will certainly watch this and let everyone know as it works out.

Good points, all.


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

I also asked a question in the DTP forum for no other reason (because you get no real answers there from Amazon), but to track other author's experineces with the new message.

Ed Patterson


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

I republished _Wrong Number_ 3 or 4 days ago because I noticed I had two words switched around in my product description.

I did not get the message. But, my product description has not changed yet either.

On the other hand, I seem to remember the product description as one of the longest things to pop up and takes 4-5 days.


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

From what I've seen on the DTP forums, in the last couple of days a lot of folks have been reporting that message after hitting the publish button, even if the changes they made were minor.

I think this is a responsible move on Amazon's part, if the intent of it - which we're really just assuming here, BTW - is to screen for content that violates copyright. A lot of folks have been downright shameless in what they've been putting on DTP. It's also possible (although highly unlikely, I'll admit!) that they're also doing some quality checks of the actual code to try and sort out some of the nastier code problems, but I won't hold my breath on that...


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

Greg Banks said:


> If you wouldn't mind being stripped searched when you go to the mall because a you "might" be carrying a bomb, I can respect that opinion. If on the other hand you don't, then I think that to an extent, this is (or could lead to) a virtual strip search, or perhaps even worse, censorship of the content.


This is just an extreme slippery slope argument. I've used ereaders since the mid 90's and Amazon is the only store authorized for the device I've used that didn't do _something, some time in the process of publication_ to assure that the book was legal and was formatted for the device. If that is what they are doing here, they should have done it from the jump.


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## Sam Landstrom (May 29, 2009)

Ya, I'm currently getting the "delay message" and all I did was update my existing content with a few editing fixes... not that they know that. Hopefully they will run some software that automates the review process some. I can't imagine the cost to Amazon to have a human manually check each entry, but how are they going to get around it? Hopefully indies won't get shut out completely due to revenue not matching overhead. As mentioned on this thread, Amazon is a business after all.

What I want to know is how can you post blatantly illegal content and not have it tracked back to yourself? I had to give Amazon all kinds of info including bank routing info. Give 'em fake info? A Swiss bank account? Why do some people have to be lame?

-----------------------------------------------
Sam Landstrom
Author of acclaimed "MetaGame", sci-fi novel for 99 cents
MetaGame


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

I wonder about the motive of illegal stuff. I mean the obvious is money but my understanding is that there is a delay in payment from time sold to publisher paid. So I would guess many aren't even paid.


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

I also think that the worst illegal offenders (The Orwell, Rand and Bradbury cases), were faux publishers, with publishing accounts.

Ed Patterson


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

Red said:


> This is just an extreme slippery slope argument. I've used ereaders since the mid 90's and Amazon is the only store authorized for the device I've used that didn't do _something, some time in the process of publication_ to assure that the book was legal and was formatted for the device. If that is what they are doing here, they should have done it from the jump.


That's exactly what it is, Red. Just because it is an extreme argument, it doesn't make the concern any less valid, and it most certainly isn't an improbable scenario. either. Unlikely, I'd like to think so, but very much possible, and that is enough to warrant concern and discussion.


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

I didn't say it wasn't a valid concern or wasn't worth discussing, I was just calling it how I saw it


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Stepping in here for a minute, folks. Lots of high emotions seem to be coming out over something none of us know much about at this point. Try to keep the discussion calm, please, and be aware that the personal pronoun "you" can be used as a generic, (I prefer to use "one" myself) as well as directing a response to an individual. Try not to take posts personally and let's not make them personal. And remember to use our emoticons. 

Thanks.

Betsy
your friendly local Book Bazaar moderator.


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

Betsy:

That hat covers it all.

Ed Patterson


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Oh ouchies... hurts a bit, but we're really at the mercy of Amazon.  Even changing the price of your book causes a 24 hour delay.  I changed the price of the Kindle download of my first book to $1.00 to celebrate the paperback release of the sequel and got a notice that said that if I changed the price, the book would not be available for download for 24 hours.  Another ouchies.  I didn't notice this before... is it new too?  Ed would know.

Political Science Note: The floodgates of freedom open to allow the oppressed to have a voice.  Inevitably, that freedom must be restricted by laws, checks, and balances because of the thieves who value quick gratification over the responsibility that comes with pure freedom.  

I could hope that some authors who have proven their integrity could be allowed preferential status, but that road is as politically slippery as the one we are on.


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

I haven't seen that one. Let me know if the book actually gets emoved from sale. It makes sense, because they had a glytch with pice chages where at some point Amazon losses money (on a few sales). I haen't changed a price, but I intend to send one down to the $ .99 level in a few weeks, and it might be a deterent if the book stops selling for a day or two. At CreateSpace, when you cissue a new book, this happens, but that's to be expected.

Ed Patterson


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Edward C. Patterson said:


> Betsy:
> 
> That hat covers it all.
> 
> Ed Patterson


Great use of emoticons, Ed!

Betsy


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

Trish:

Was that the crow and the Uniforn? (I've had it in my TBR for some time). I went there (actually both pages, and they are available. I'm just curious if the book actually stopped selling and for how long.

Thanks
Ed Patterson


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## jrector (May 24, 2009)

Maybe you're getting the message because there's another book on Amazon called River of Time.  It's possible they're crosschecking so they don't repeat the 1984 fiasco.


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

jrector said:


> Maybe you're getting the message because there's another book on Amazon called River of Time. It's possible they're crosschecking so they don't repeat the 1984 fiasco.


This may be their first test: To ensure there are no Kindle books by another title. But, it won't really fix the issue since people put up illegal copies of the Harry Potter books, too, and there were no Kindle books of those.

I would think they would have to compare it something more than the Amazon Database, though, since I am certain Amazon doesn't have every book ever written; although, it does seem like it at times. 

I would be interested to know how they figure out if it's a pirated copy of something. Could you imagine having that job?


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Edward C. Patterson said:


> Trish:
> 
> Was that the crow and the Uniforn? (I've had it in my TBR for some time). I went there (actually both pages, and they are available. I'm just curious if the book actually stopped selling and for how long.
> 
> ...


It's for Painting the Roses Red... I set it yesterday and sold one today so I don't know... it hasn't gone down at all yet, but neither has the price...


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

I've gotten the price delay message--I wanted to change my book from 1.00 to .99 cents because the .99 cents is just a popular campaign--and got the message it wouldn't be available for 24 hours.  So I just left it at 1.00 to avoid any glitches.  But it does make me hesitate to offer one of those "week long" specials on my other book (which is 1.99).  Knowing the restrictions helps because I can plan it a little better.


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

It looks like a price change doesn;t freeze sales. It usuaullu takes 3 days or so for a price change.

Ed P


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## Cat (Nov 10, 2008)

vwkitten said:


> It's for Painting the Roses Red... I set it yesterday and sold one today so I don't know... it hasn't gone down at all yet, but neither has the price...


Your link in your .sig takes me to
Kindle Price: $2.99 & includes wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

but below that a few inches, there's a box that says 
Also Available in:
Kindle Edition (Kindle Book)
$2.39

Clicking brings me to
http://www.amazon.com/Painting-the-Roses-Red-ebook/dp/B002BMLGGW/ref=ed_oe_k

Is this your lowered price? If not, I guess there are even more problems. 

_
re: thread topic

Personally, I would have been upset had I purchased a book, or any item from Amazon, or anywhere, and found out whatever I purchased wasn't sold legally. And, yes, I'd look to the store I bought XYZ from as the responsible party, in my eyes. I'd also be _flaming_ mad if something I took the time to decide to purchase, (whatever time was involved -from a simple search for the book, to time reading reviews, and/or price shopping, etc), was unilaterally removed from me. 
I know it's somewhat different, and it'd be nice to be more flexible in order to allow faster uploading of an author's book(s), but I, as the consumer, don't want to waste my time and money buying a book that wasn't researched ahead of time for legal ..uh, drawing a blank ...legality? legal_ness?_, urg, and may be taken away from me. 
Although future purchases won't disappear from the kindle, the idea of purchasing illegally uploaded books is unappealing, and unacceptable.
I like the protection.
Also, I acknowledge that there are glitches that still need to be worked out, for example, simple changes to an already published book having to go through the waiting period again for a new price to go through while possibly losing sales, isn't fair, or right, imho.

And really, for newly published books, does a 5 day wait really "ruin it" as a previous poster claimed, or does it just make it hella inconvenient?

Greg:
No matter how extreme, I wouldn't liken it to a strip search. Perhaps a patting down would be more likely, and I'll tell ya what, if my local mall had had several recent bomb scares - just as Amazon has had recent experience with illegal publishings,- then YEAH, let them pat me down, and everyone who chooses to go to the mall, and let Amazon implement some protections for the consumer that may result in an extra wait for the authors.

Discussion is good, no one wants to go down slippery slopes.
Your strip search as a comparison - not so much, imho


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

The five days is no problem, but I need to change a line in my Indie Publishing guidebook.   The one about how long it takes to upload a book to DTP and get it to a product page.

Edward C. Patterson


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Cat said:


> Your link in your .sig takes me to
> Kindle Price: $2.99 & includes wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
> 
> but below that a few inches, there's a box that says
> ...


No -- that's another glitch -- I didn't think to mention it because I thought it would clear itself up over a few days but it's been like that for two weeks. They took off that extra discount, but they didn't take down the page with the discount on it. If you search my name (Trish Lamoree) you'll see two different copies of Painting the Roses Red and the Crow and the Unicorn... the ONLY difference is that one is priced lower (reflecting their summer promotion? or maybe the new book promotion? I dunno, but they discounted my book from the list price to the lower one).


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

Trish:

It's funny, because one page has the "You Have urchased" reminder on the top (the page I used when I bought it, "while the other one doesn't. Which mean, I could buy it twice. (I don't think so). I didn't notice. Are you asined 2 ASINS. If so, they are reported a 2 different products. I have one such book.

Ed P


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Edward C. Patterson said:


> Trish:
> 
> It's funny, because one page has the "You Have urchased" reminder on the top (the page I used when I bought it, "while the other one doesn't. Which mean, I could buy it twice. (I don't think so). I didn't notice. Are you asined 2 ASINS. If so, they are reported a 2 different products. I have one such book.
> 
> Ed P


Actually yes, there are 2 different ASINs. Weird because it doesn't report as two different books on my bookshelf or in my reports. AND this is kinda a ghost effect because sometimes it shows up and sometimes it doesn't.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

vwkitten said:


> No -- that's another glitch -- I didn't think to mention it because I thought it would clear itself up over a few days but it's been like that for two weeks. They took off that extra discount, but they didn't take down the page with the discount on it. If you search my name (Trish Lamoree) you'll see two different copies of Painting the Roses Red and the Crow and the Unicorn... the ONLY difference is that one is priced lower (reflecting their summer promotion? or maybe the new book promotion? I dunno, but they discounted my book from the list price to the lower one).


Did you publish the book to Mobipocket? If so, the second book might be the copy that "migrated" from there to Amazon. It would have a different ASIN and different pricing. A common problem and a pain in the neck since you can't take the book down -- only the digital rights team can do that -- and getting their attention is difficult.

Even if you uncheck the box to sell the book at Amazon, it will still migrate. Very frustrating.

L


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Leslie said:


> Did you publish the book to Mobipocket? If so, the second book might be the copy that "migrated" from there to Amazon. It would have a different ASIN and different pricing. A common problem and a pain in the neck since you can't take the book down -- only the digital rights team can do that -- and getting their attention is difficult.
> 
> Even if you uncheck the box to sell the book at Amazon, it will still migrate. Very frustrating.
> 
> L


Actually, I did publish it to Mobi-pocket... I haven't been back there in months... I will check it out now... thanks.


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

If you uncheck the Kindle Amazon box at mobipocket when you publish at mobipocket it will prevent the second product page. I give this warning in my book. I guess, after the fact, it's no deal.

Ed Patterson


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Edward C. Patterson said:


> If you uncheck the Kindle Amazon box at mobipocket when you publish at mobipocket it will prevent the second product page. I give this warning in my book. I guess, after the fact, it's no deal.
> 
> Ed Patterson


Unfortunately, that is not 100% true. I have had several books that still have published to Amazon, despite the fact that the Amazon box is unchecked, in advance.

L


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

I guess I've been lucky, thank goodness, because I have all 13 books on mobipocket (not that I get any sales there).  

Ed P

PS: Another to change in the Freebie Book.


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

vwkitten said:


> Actually, I did publish it to Mobi-pocket... I haven't been back there in months... I will check it out now... thanks.


Just in case you weren't aware (as this is a really dorky thing Amazon does), the sales you make from books sold from the Kindle store that are distributed by Mobipocket will *not* show up in the Mobi publisher interface. That's dealt with through Vendor Central at Amazon. So, just FYI if you didn't already know...


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

kreelanwarrior said:


> Just in case you weren't aware (as this is a really dorky thing Amazon does), the sales you make from books sold from the Kindle store that are distributed by Mobipocket will *not* show up in the Mobi publisher interface. That's dealt with through Vendor Central at Amazon. So, just FYI if you didn't already know...


Do you mean that any sales you make on the Mobi platform will show up on our Amazon reports instead? So we might have been getting sales on Mobi and never know because they show up on Amazon. Hmmm... kinda good that way... don't have to worry about different spots to check but ... Nothing shows up on Mobi? At all? I'm so confused.


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

vwkitten said:


> Do you mean that any sales you make on the Mobi platform will show up on our Amazon reports instead? So we might have been getting sales on Mobi and never know because they show up on Amazon. Hmmm... kinda good that way... don't have to worry about different spots to check but ... Nothing shows up on Mobi? At all? I'm so confused.


You have every right to be confused! The way things are set up is really stupid. But considering that Mobi is owned by Amazon...go figure.

Anyway, here's how it works:

- If a copy of your book sells on the Mobipocket site or any of the other sites they distribute to that are in the retailers list - except Amazon - it'll appear in the Mobipocket publisher backend under the sales report section/links.

- If a copy of your book that you put up on Mobipocket, but that Mobi ported over to the Kindle store (which will happen if you have Amazon checked in the retailers list - and sometimes even if you don't - and if you've filled out the tax paperwork Amazon sends you for this purpose), any sales made from the Kindle store will show up after month's end in Amazon Vendor Central's digital media reports section. Again, just to underscore: Vendor Central doesn't have any instant gratification. You'll have no idea how many sales you'll have made until the month is over and they post the monthly sales report.

Tell me they didn't have to work hard to come up with such a stupid system!!


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

And now we have the new Catalog on Smashwords coming out, which goes to  . . . Barnes & Noble and Fictionwise. If you're not on Smashwords, I suggest you run over there and jump on a possible ePub boom.

Edwrd C. Patterson


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## Lynn Bullman (Aug 16, 2009)

Well to report on this (orignal topic here) it's been five days and more....  my book still hasn't been published by Amazon.  

It's definitely a legit book wholely owned by me...so what's up?  I'm thinking those five days are gonna' really stretch out there due to their small staff.


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## Archer (Apr 25, 2009)

Sigh.

Well, so much for trying to meet a deadline with Ravenshade. 
Phooey!

We'll see how long this takes...it's the third in a trilogy, the others have already been on Kindle for a while. Idunno.


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

Lynn Bullman said:


> Well to report on this (orignal topic here) it's been five days and more.... my book still hasn't been published by Amazon.
> 
> It's definitely a legit book wholely owned by me...so what's up? I'm thinking those five days are gonna' really stretch out there due to their small staff.


Important thing to remember is it's 5 BUSINESS days. Since you posted this on the 25th, it's only been 3 business days: W, Th, and Fri.

I know what you mean though. I just changed the description copy on one of my books and I'm still waiting for it to come up and change too. I'm in the same boat as you, having to go through the weekend, knowing nothing's moving on it. It's really annoying, but perhaps the price we have to pay now.


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

And here's the official poop from Amazon.com:

http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/ann.jspa?annID=55

Edward C. Patterson


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## Archer (Apr 25, 2009)

Well...poop!


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2009)

Well, given their example, Amazon has a valid point. If I was a customer looking for a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_, I would be frustrated by that as well. If you are going to republish public domain work, one should do so with some affection for the subject matter and at least bring something new to the table. Or at the very least, don't be lazy. Go find some obscure text that is interesting and bring IT back into the public eye.

They posted a similar notice to Mobipocket.



> We want to provide a heads up that we're working on a policy and procedure change that will fix a customer experience problem caused by multiple copies of well-known public domain titles being uploaded by a multitude of publishers. For an example of this problem, do a search on "Pride and Prejudice." The current situation is very confusing for customers as it makes it difficult to decide which "Pride and Prejudice" to choose. This note is just a heads up that we're working on a change. When we've worked out the details, we'll post them here. In the meantime, we ask that you please do not contribute to this confusion by uploading any public domain titles that are already in the Kindle store.


It appears that while there is not a complete ban on PD works via mobipocket, they are asking publishers to at least have the common sense to check first before uploading. I guess since Mobipocket services a lot of different ebook vendors, they are going to continue to allow PD titles through that venue since retailers can pick and chose which titles they want to list.


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

I had a problem with how the multiple copies of PD works showed up in the rankings. Every copy of the same book gets ranked together, meaning the next book after that title gets pushed way down the list only because there are 15 copies of 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea ranked ahead of it.


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

Greg Banks said:


> I had a problem with how the multiple copies of PD works showed up in the rankings. Every copy of the same book gets ranked together, meaning the next book after that title gets pushed way down the list only because there are 15 copies of 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea ranked ahead of it.


Yeah, that phenomenon is definitely a bit irritating!! Oy!


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Knowing it took five business days for changes to be made, I changed the price of WFS last week, to give it enough time to show up today. During the intervening days, it was available at the old price...all's well. Today, five business days later, it is "Not Currently Available." Does this perhaps begin the 24 unavailibility period?


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

So did I for Look Away Silence (I shouldn't have said that - now everyone will wait to buy it, as they have been, except you RJ   ).

Ed Patterson


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Well, there's always Smashwords.


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

After reading through the whole thread, I can understand some people's concerns, but given the situations we've witnessed and they've explained, I honestly think Amazon has no choice but to review what's being posted. If censorship comes into play, we can get worked up about it then, but I see no need to stress about it now.

And as someone else mentioned, 5 days -- heck, even 5 weeks -- is nothing compared to the traditional process.

Kristan


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

I agree with you Kristan. We just have to suck it in. As I say in my Freebie book on publishing, in traditional publishing we wouldn't be waiting 5 days, but 5 months, and changes, minor or major, would be absolutely not cost effective.

Ed Patterson


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

RJ Look Away Silence went "Silent" too - "unavailable: ahem! This happens also with CreateSpace changes when you upload a new version.

Ed Patterson


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## Lynn Bullman (Aug 16, 2009)

Okay...  checked first thing this morning and the book still wasn't published...checked five minutes ago and there it was.  So River of Time is NOW finally ready for purchase.

Good-O!



On the flip side though...  my sales transactions are missing again.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Great news, Lynn!

And yes, Kristan, it's _much _ better than the neverending wait going the traditional route. I was just wondering if what was going on with my book was similar to what others had experienced.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Lynn, it's the beginning of the month--the sales transactions disappear at the end of each month.  The "monthly" reports take about a week to appear.  If these are the reports you mean...

Best,
Maria


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

My book showed up--slightly corrected--this morning as well. I can tell it's the new version because the publisher is listed. However, what I changed is the product description, and that's still the old one. But, we all know product description is the last thing to show up, usually a day or two later. So I guess I won't know for sure everything is AOK until then. I'll keep you updated, but I think I'll be fine.


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

RJ. Question. Your Product Page looks like mine (price not available). Does your DTP screen have the message gone and the status returned to live (like mine also)? Just trying to undertand this process better. Because of my FREEBIE book, I get many questions from reader/authors.

Thanks
Ed Patterson


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Yes it does, Ed. That's why I was so confused this morning. For several days, it looked unavailable at the DTP screen, but it was available on Kindle. Now it's just the opposite.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Ed, WFS just became available again. Phew!!!!


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

I just announced mine on Kindleboards and now am rushing over to lower the price on Smashwords and Mobipocket. Now that wasn;t that painful.  

Ed


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## Lynn Bullman (Aug 16, 2009)

MariaESchneider said:


> Lynn, it's the beginning of the month--the sales transactions disappear at the end of each month. The "monthly" reports take about a week to appear. If these are the reports you mean...
> 
> Best,
> Maria


Okay...thanks for the infor, Maria. I wasn't sure how that worked as this is my first month selling. BTW...when I just checked, monthly sales were back, but only for sales I've made today...so, what happened to the other sales for the past month? Will they be shown in the other sale's report (eventually) that is still blank? Or are they gone for good?

Thanks for the help.


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Actually I noticed that change this month... there's no three day blind period where we don't see sales while the system catches up.  I saw sales today!  Nice!

And the price change and update finally processed today and I didn't have a downtime when my book couldn't be downloaded... at least it didn't look like it... so grain of salt on that little warning.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

> I didn't have a downtime when my book couldn't be downloaded... at least it didn't look like it... so grain of salt on that little warning.


They must like you better than me.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

For me the monthly report can show up anywhere from 3 to 5 days later than the "current month" sales.  If that makes sense.  So there's a lag at the beginning of each month, but all the sales will show up in the monthly report in a few days.


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

Checked today and the product description is the updated one. Yea! So it does all come out in the end, taking about a full week.


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

And so it goes on regarding the great Orwellian Amazon "Big Broher" act. I received the following (GOOD) email from Bezos this eveing:

"Hello,

On July 23, 2009, Jeff Bezos, our Founder and CEO, made the following apology to 
our customers:

“This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 
1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, 
thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly 
self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the 
scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going 
forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com”

As you were one of the customers impacted by the removal of "Works of George 
Orwell" from your Kindle device in July of this year, we would like to offer you 
the option to have us re-deliver this book to your Kindle along with any 
annotations you made.  You will not be charged for the book.  If you do not wish 
to have us re-deliver the book to your Kindle, you can instead choose to receive 
an Amazon.com electronic gift certificate or check for $30.

Please email Kindle customer support at [email protected] to indicate 
your preference.  If you prefer to receive a check, please also provide your 
mailing address. 

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
The Kindle Team"

Of course, since Orwell's Burmese Days was in the Trivia Thread this eveing and I want to read it, I'm opting for a restoration of my Orwellian Library forthwith and hitherto and anon.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I received an email from Amazon yesterday asking for verification on metadata for my publisher account. One of the questions specifically asked if I sell any public domain content (I don't) and if I have the rights to everything I sell (I do). So further verification that they are working on setting up a system that doesn't allow illegal stuff to get posted or hopefully not slip through as easily as it has been slipping through.

L


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

rjkeller said:


> They must like you better than me.


*blush*


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

Well, I dropped the price of _In Her Name_ on Mobipocket, and it took a few days for that to migrate to the Kindle store copy.

I'm going to go ahead and drop the price of the DTP version, although I'm a bit leery of the results with Amazon's latest "policy" silliness.


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## KLBrady (Sep 7, 2009)

Hello All, 

Yes, I got that same exact message and I published my book on Kindle last week. It took them three days to put the Kindle listing on Amazon. A fellow writer from goodreads had hers rejected because her novel had the same title and multiple books--even though it has a different author, different content, and she has a copyright certificate, they rejected it and said they'd have to look into it further. Hopefully, they'll get those issues resolved sooner than later. She said she may have to add a subtitle to differentiate it. So, that's something to be aware of as well.


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