# Getting updated files for Kindle books



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

I've seen this posted before and have searched but can't find the answer for the life of me. If it belongs in an existing thread, I trust the mods to move it and accept my apologies.

How does one go about getting an updated version of a Kindle book?

Yesterday I updated _Gone For a Soldier_ with typo fixes, but after deleting the old book and downloading again, the version on my Kindle is still the first one with the typos.

On another Kindle that doesn't have _Gone For a Soldier_, the sample is the new version so I know that Amazon has the updated file on their server.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,

Jeff


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Someone else had this problem before.... I don't think they ever got it resolved. Let me see if I can locate the thread....

Here's two of them:

Book won't update because it was annotated?

Re: "In Her Name" - an epic futuristic fantasy 

Here's something else:

http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/thread.jspa?threadID=4351


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> Someone else had this problem before.... I don't think they ever got it resolved. Let me see if I can locate the thread....


Thanks, Verena. I looked and found a thread where you and I tried to help somebody but he said it didn't work and that was that.

No help. There must be some trick that I'm missing.


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I really think this is a problem that Amazon has failed to address. Until they get enough complaints about it, it's probably way down at the bottom of their to-do list.


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

If you’re right, and I fear that you are, they’re missing a most important feature of digital delivery.

If I can find a workaround I’ll post it here.

Thanks,


Jeff


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

CS can delete files from individual Kindles.  If I call them as a customer and tell them that the book has been re-edited, maybe they will delete it and let me re-download.  It's worth a try.


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

gertiekindle said:


> CS can delete files from individual Kindles. If I call them as a customer and tell them that the book has been re-edited, maybe they will delete it and let me re-download. It's worth a try.


I'll try that and post the results here. It doesn't make sense to me that removing it and replacing it wouldn't get the newer version.


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

gertiekindle said:


> CS can delete files from individual Kindles. If I call them as a customer and tell them that the book has been re-edited, maybe they will delete it and let me re-download.


I just got off the phone with Amazon customer service. The woman I spoke with said that the file in the customer's active library is never updated and the only suggestion she offered was to credit the book to my account so that I could buy it again. I pointed out to her that the policy defeated much of the benefit of digital delivery and she said she would pass that on to her supervisor.

I chose not to return the book simply because I want to see if they ever fix it.

Thanks for your input, everyone.

Jeff


----------



## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Jeff said:


> I just got off the phone with Amazon customer service. The woman I spoke with said that the file in the customer's active library is never updated and the only suggestion she offered was to credit the book to my account so that I could buy it again. I pointed out to her that the policy defeated much of the benefit of digital delivery and she said she would pass that on to her supervisor.
> 
> I chose not to return the book simply because I want to see if they ever fix it.
> 
> ...


It is probably not popular, but their policy makes some sense. If you bought a DTV, and the next edition had corrections in it , you would not expect the publisher to give it to you just because you had bought the first edition.


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

intinst said:


> It is probably not popular, but their policy makes some sense. If you bought a DTV, and the next edition had corrections in it , you would not expect the publisher to give it to you just because you had bought the first edition.


That's perfectly true, but there's a great deal of cost involved in replacing a printed book. It would cost Amazon less to maintain only the current edition than it does to keep a copy of every revision and to issue credit each time a rev was offered. If I was a decision maker at Amazon, I'd give readers the option to download revisions.


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

intinst said:


> It is probably not popular, but their policy makes some sense. If you bought a DTV, and the next edition had corrections in it , you would not expect the publisher to give it to you just because you had bought the first edition.


Look at it another way... What if Windows charged you every time you wanted to download a bug fix to their operating system? In digital delivery, there is no great cost burden associated with updating files as there is with printing and distributing physical books.

If Amazon chooses to handle the issue by having their associates issues refunds and remove the original file, it is hugely inefficient. At lease people now know what their options are.


----------



## SusanCassidy (Nov 9, 2008)

Jeff said:


> I just got off the phone with Amazon customer service. The woman I spoke with said that the file in the customer's active library is never updated and the only suggestion she offered was to credit the book to my account so that I could buy it again. I pointed out to her that the policy defeated much of the benefit of digital delivery and she said she would pass that on to her supervisor.


That makes no sense. I've talked to authors about typos, and had them fix them, then re-downloaded the book and got the fixes just fine.

It would be insane to keep more than one copy of the "original" book on Amazon's servers. The customer's library should just have a link to the book, not an extra copy.


----------



## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

intinst said:


> It is probably not popular, but their policy makes some sense. If you bought a DTV, and the next edition had corrections in it , you would not expect the publisher to give it to you just because you had bought the first edition.


All of your arguments against my original posting have me rethinking it. My idea of equating updated editions of DTBs and eBooks doesn't work quite as well as I thought it would. I guess I still haven't wrapped my mind around the new way to read. ( Of course it would help if I had my own Kindle! 4 to 6 weeks,4 to 6 weeks,4 to 6 weeks) sigh


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

SusanCassidy said:


> That makes no sense. I've talked to authors about typos, and had them fix them, then re-downloaded the book and got the fixes just fine.
> 
> It would be insane to keep more than one copy of the "original" book on Amazon's servers. The customer's library should just have a link to the book, not an extra copy.


I only know for certain that Amazon has the new version of Gone For a Solider because someone else on this board has downloaded it. But so far, no one, including me, who has an older version can replace it.


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

And, apparently the same thing is happening with In Her Name, a book by another one of our authors. New purchasers get the latest version, original purchasers are not getting the updates.


----------



## chynared21 (Oct 28, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> And, apparently the same thing is happening with In Her Name, a book by another one of our authors. New purchasers get the latest version, original purchasers are not getting the updates.


*If we're talking about age going from 12 to 14 around location 1235, can't remember specifically, then mine did change. I bought Mike's book before he mentioned that he had an update. I deleted and re-downloaded and I have the correction.*


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

chynared21 said:


> *If we're talking about age going from 12 to 14 around location 1235, can't remember specifically, then mine did change. I bought Mike's book before he mentioned that he had an update. I deleted and re-downloaded and I have the correction.*


I don't know, I have not downloaded this book. There were two people in the thread I noted earlier that had problems getting updates to this book, I haven't seen any updates that they got it resolved.


----------



## chynared21 (Oct 28, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> I don't know, I have not downloaded this book. There were two people in the thread I noted earlier that had problems getting updates to this book, I haven't seen any updates that they got it resolved.


*I see...CS and Praisegod. I do wonder if they finally got the updated version. I still wonder why mine was updated.*


----------



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Some people seem to get the updates and others, following the same procedure, don’t.


----------

