August 21, 2012
Is author getting the raw end of the deal? 45
I’m not sure how many of you are aware, but in the past month Penguin Group (InterMix) released a serialized story, BECAUSE YOU ARE MINE written by Beth Kery. In the past, Beth has written for Ellora’s Cave and I believe currently still writes for Harlequin also. Beth’s last full-length release was WICKED BURN–which I did sample–and I can tell you this, Beth writes some very very hot stuff.
Well BECAUSE YOU ARE MINE is being doled out to readers in 8 parts, 2 chapters a piece for the price of $1.99 each. All said this entire novel will cost readers a whopping $15.92. Yeah, not a big fan of this at all. I have a threshold of how much money I will spend on a single novel and this definitely exceeds it. But none of this is hidden from readers. They know this going in so we can’t say it’s been done in an underhanded way. However, despite that, many of the reviews are pretty brutal and readers are blaming the author for that.
Now for those of you who don’t know this, most authors have no say in things like their cover art, their book’s release date, the format (mmpb, trade, hardcover) and in this case, the way the digital book is segmented. Sure, they may have spoken to the author about it, but in the end, that decision is probably made my the publishing company, not the author.
Just taking a look at some of the reviews from Amazon and Apple, I saw a lot of 1 and 2 star reviews based, not on how much or if the reader enjoyed the 2 chapter segment, but how annoyed they were that they felt the author was trying to cheat them by doling out the book the way it’s being doled out. As I said, while the book segments appear to be selling well, there does appear to be some bad will setting in and that ire is directed at the author, which I really don’t think is fair.
Now I could be 100% wrong and discover it was Beth who insisted on this format or when brought to her was all on board to do it but given the blow back, which in this case, is not unexpected, I’d be surprised about that. Some readers have given up reading the series and have vowed they will not buy another of Ms. Kery’s books. Of course that is their prerogative, to each his own and all that good stuff. Me, personally, well I knew I didn’t like the way the book was being released. I’ve tried those free online chapter deals before and never stay interested in the book long enough to remember to come back for the next chapter, much less the one after that. I knew I would only consider purchasing it when Penguin Group was offering it up in one single novel format.
Is this an experiment by Penguin Group? Yeah, I definitely believe that it is. Will it succeed? Who knows but I hope this isn’t a coming trend. Despite the fact that there’s millions of books out there to read, there are only a small segment that appeal to me–and I think I’ve read most at this point. I’d hate to see that pool of possibilities get smaller just because the publishers wants to feed it to me in pieces.
What about you, would you buy a digitized serialized novel that would total more than twice the average price of a book? And do authors deserve the blame when readers disapprove the manner in which their book is being distributed? Comment and enter to win a digital copy of WICKED BURN.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 11:16:21
I think that no, i wouldn’t buy it if it were serialized. Like you said, very rarely do I get into the free chapters offered to remember to come back and buy the next one. Also, the pricing that you pay after all is said and done I would NOT do for a digitized copy of a book. I believe that i wouldn’t necassarily blame the author because like you said it could be the publishing house that decided to do this. However, I think the blame should be reviewed more carefully instead of assuming its just the author. It may or may not be and people should read more before they buy, because we all know we love to do one click buying without reading the fine print.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 17:33:22
I went back to the Amazon page of these books and really, there’s no real “fine print” to be found. As one reviewer indicated, the paragraph that tells the readers the book is in serialized format is NOT under the description but below under Author Notes. I’m one of those readers who strictly reads the description to find out what the books about. I don’t read much beyond that unless I chose to read the reviews. I myself would have totally missed that had I not been looking for it because someone told me it was there.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 11:16:26
I personally don’t buy serialized novels unless one was free and I tried it and loved it. I don’t believe we should punish the author as you said they might not have a say in the whole process. I really dislike reading reviews when they complain about how short it was. I think people should look at all the information before they buy something. I really do believe that part of the blame can be placed on the consumer too.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 14:04:42
I consider myself to be a fairly sophisticated reader and consumer and I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve tried to find out exactly how many pages of “real” book I would be reading versus the filler or excerpts of the author’s upcoming books. It’s often quite hard to figure out. Why shouldn’t I complain? I’m happy to share in the blame — like why didn’t I check more carefully but this idea that people shouldn’t give * or ** stars if they’re not happy with the book (like the length). I don’t agree. Whatever.
Maybe they should email the publisher but I think that’s a real waste of time. And it certainly doesn’t get any publicity for a new method of selling books that it seems some consumers don’t like. On the other hand, some consumers really like it — they like the price, the length, the delivery method. I bet the publisher doesn’t mind those compliments being shared in a review.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 11:33:37
When I first noticed that Beth Kery seemed to have a new book out, I quickly realized, via the comments, that it was serialized. I did the math on this little experiment and did not like the results. So no, I would not buy a book if each of the 8 installments was priced at $1.99. I might if each one was .99.
In instances like this I very much appreciate that people talk about what is really going on in the comments so that I can make an informed decision. I do feel as if, in this particular example, it was not nearly clear enough to the buyer exactly what you were getting for your $1.99. I don’t blame the author enough to vow never buy her future works but it does make me suspicious and I now associate her name with a negative experience. Buyer beware, I guess.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 11:47:22
It’s disheartening readers are blaming the author for the publisher’s actions. Usually writers gripe about a publisher’s inaction, which is why I’m struggling to stay independent. Every once in a while I think, give up, send a query letter, get a publisher to take care of things, but loss of control can be detrimental, as Kery’s situation proves. I realize publishers have to come up with unique and effective marketing plans to stay in business in the digital book world, but not by ruining an author’s name.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 12:22:35
I don’t know how people got confused about how the book was coming out. I felt it was plainly stated how it was going to be sold. I knew right away that it wasn’t something I would buy into. Because so many people are buying it and then complaining I hope it doesn’t make more publishing companies do this. Good sales in their mind means it worked. I will be wanting to buy it when it comes out in a whole book, which I am sure it will at some point.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 12:34:58
No, it’s not something I would buy. I tend to blame the publishers for a lot of things lol. I know another author is getting flack for a reissue under another name. I use to think the author had to want this but now I know better. If you go to her site she tells you straight up. I am going to guess the same thing happened here. Publishers push what they think they can sell and sometimes don’t care how they accomplish it. I think they force some authors to write in certain ways and not necessarily what they want to write. Maybe the age of selfpublishing will make things better!
Aug 21, 2012 @ 12:38:34
No, I wouldn’t purchase a serialized book. It’s too much money. If I were a fan of an author, I’d wait and hope they eventually sold it as an entire book. This happened with Julia Quinn’s ebook epilogues. Readers purchased these epilogues individually, but Avon is now releasing them as an entire book.
I read that Stephen King serialized a novel several years ago. The 96 page novellas sold for $2.99. I think these were actual paperbacks, however, and not ebooks. I wonder if there was a backlash against him.
Finally, I don’t like how some readers abuse the ratings system. Why don’t they just email the publisher instead of hurting a book’s ratings? I also see a few readers give a 1 star because a book has been delayed. This is the case with Judith McNaught. There’s a sense of entitlement with some readers that is disturbing.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 13:08:20
I’m not a fan of serializations and would never buy a book in this format until the whole thing was published. I think that serials used to be popular because people didn’t have as many other entertainment options, but these days, that just doesn’t work. When I sit down to read, I want to know that I have a complete story in my hands. I even avoid books with cliffhangers for that reason. The price is also ridiculous. I wouldn’t pay that much for an eformat book by even my all-time favorite auto-buy authors.
I do feel very sorry for Beth Kery though, as I’m sure she had absolutely NO control over this. Penguin is trying all kinds of experiments to see how high they can push the price of ebooks and it’s not fair to the authors involved. It’s not the publisher that people pay attention to, it’s the author, even though the pricing is not their decision.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 17:29:46
But the more I thought about this today, the more I thought about the low score review issue. Where ARE readers supposed to express their displeasure? They are reviewing all everything that makes up the “book” and I guess the delivery element IS a component of that. So maybe that’s the only way they know how to express just how upset they are in the way the book is being doled out in pieces for the sole benefit of profit.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 13:12:12
NO!!! I do not purchase serialized novels. If they are free giveaways all along the way, yes. I downloaded Devon Monk’s blog novella before the release of Tin Swift BUT it was free each day and I knew that going into it. Price pretty well determines whether I buy a book in print or digital, whichever is least expensive. If it’s a toss-up price wise I prefer print ALWAYS. It really burns me that publishers are forcing us to go digital it seems. So many novellas are now ONLY digital. Also so many of my favorite authors are only found in Trade size that’s twice as expensive as mass market and IT’S THE SAME BOOK. Then there’s the trend for REALLY popular authors to suddenly go Hardback for their new releases that pushes the price into the stratosphere. I WILL NOT PURCHASE A HARDBACK. I have no room to store hardbacks and I will not spend my hard to get money on a book with an inflated price. I will read it from the library or wait a year if I must…YOU HEAR THAT PUBLISHERS, YOU ARE NOT MAKING READERS HAPPY. I’ll get off my soapbox now…
Aug 21, 2012 @ 13:21:20
Hehehehe. You told them!
But seriously, this is the kind of trend I DON’T want to see starting. And I hope readers at large just won’t tolerate it. I think also, readers are getting confused when they say Part 2, Part 3, thinking this is a series and Part 1 is Book 1, Part 2 is Book 2 etc. We love our series but there’s a HUGE difference to a series and serialization and I’m not sure readers are as familiar with this as we may think they are. I can see how they’d be confused into thinking they were getting either the first book in a series that was either a really really cheap novel ($1.99) or a novella. Who’d believe you were only getting 2 chapters of a novel at first glance?
Aug 21, 2012 @ 16:20:27
I didn’t realize it was a serialization at first at all and almost fell for the marketing strategy until I sat down and did the word count thingy.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 13:30:30
I am not against serial novels, but there is an issue with disclosure concerning content that is relevant to this discussion.
At $16, I would expect content to equal two full novels. The 60 page length referenced in Amazon for each volume is indeed deceiving. There are many pages of that 60 that are not true content of the serialized novel , ie a lengthy preview of another unrelated novel. So if we as purchasers, routinely purchase books at $7.99 (or less) for a 384 page novel, we can have a viable expectation that we should get Ms. Kery’s novel in the same form. But that us not happening here. We are not getting two novels, but rather possibly one novel at an unconscionable price (and whose ultimate length may indeed not exceed 300 pages).
Am I value conscious in buying books? Yes. I want two full length novels for this price. I bet I won’t get that. Publishers try gimmicks – sure, go ahead and try to entice me with a teasing reveal to a scintillating novel over the course of weeks – but make my money worth it and publisher, please also reveal the content itself warrants this premium rate.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 14:28:11
Doesn’t work for me and I’d hate to see serialization become the latest trend. I also hate to see people abusing the rating process with misdirected complaints.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 15:20:58
Unfortunately it might be a trend. I think publishers are losing money with ebooks so they are trying to think of ways to make that money back, plus more. Frankly – I find it awful that ebooks are the same price as printed books. One would think that the cost of overhead for e-books are a lot less than printing and publishing books.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 16:18:51
I don’t think they’re losing money on the ebook market at all, in fact I would say they are making a nice profit on it. I do know that Penguin is part of a class action right now with the government over ebook pricing so I think they are just trying to make as much money as they can before they have to change their ways.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 18:12:04
The issue with digital books isn’t that they’re losing money on it. However, they STILL have to support print books, which is not nominal in terms of financial overhead. Having to support both formats is the thing that ties their hands when it comes pricing.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 15:29:03
No I would not buy each book at $1.99. Just doesn’t work for me. I would rather just wait until they were all put together in a book and read that one. I refuse to pay $15 for an eBook.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 15:32:00
I’m with you, I like Beth Kery’s but, there is no way I would that much for a serialized book each week. It just baffles me that readers are willing to pay nearly $16 for an ebook and only get a little bit at a time. I’m hoping that this serialization doesn’t become a trend in ebooks.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 15:36:46
With a limited budget these days, I would not spend $2.00 for two chapters. I think the review and associated star rating should be based on the story itself. I also believe that it’s okay to comment about the pricing/format, but it shouldn’t be the primary focus of the review nor should the pricing/format reflect on the author.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 15:41:48
No would not buy. I like my reading material all at one time. Don’t blame the author until all information about the way they did this one is out.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 16:17:15
I really blame Penguin for this – they are capitalizing on the ebook market at the expense of their author – bottom line they probably haven’t thought of the backlash or of the damage it will do to Ms. Kerry – I know I’m not buying it but that won’t influence me from buying her other books. She still writes for Harlequin and I buy those books and she also writes for Samhain and I buy those. I can see selling a short series of novellas for $1.99 or $2.99 where the cost of the entire set of novellas doesn’t exceed the cost of say a mass market book but what they’re doing is just exploitation. As for the negative reviews – I think it’s okay for the reviewer to mention how ticked off she is with the publisher for doing what they’ve done but bottom line the reviewer’s the one who purchased the book so they shouldn’t whine about it and take it out on the author. If they managed to get it free from the publisher…well it didn’t cost them anything so they shouldn’t take it out on the author – though I certainly think they can warn their readers about what the total cost really is. Just my two cents.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 16:52:22
As a reader who loathes cliffhangers, I’m against serials on principle; it’s like reading continuous cliffhangers. Blech.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 17:31:07
No, I wouldn’t buy that book–both because of cost and format. I don’t like serials. It’s too long to wait between installments.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 17:32:46
I don’t think I would purchase it if I only get 2 chapters at a time. I don’t think I would even remember that I have to buy the next chapters since there are so many books out there that are also coming out that I want to read.
But as you said I would blame the author but wouldn’t they at least have some say in it? Otherwise just publish a full book so that none of this happens.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 17:34:43
I have no idea whether she did or not. I’m sure they threw the idea by her. But then how’re you going to say no to your publisher? I think that’s kind of hard to do.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 17:35:20
oops typo~ I wouldn’t blame the author for how it’s being distributed!!
Aug 21, 2012 @ 18:41:39
I don’t think it’s reasonable for stories to be sold in chapters much as serials were years ago. Today’s technology should take away any fair reason for dividing a book up to make more money from readers. I expect authors may not have a lot to say about the publishing of their works which gives publishers too ,uch power and the readers have 2 choices … buy or don’t buy.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 19:23:24
It’s not something I would buy. I don’t think an author has a lot of say in how their books are published.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 19:44:08
I wouldn’t buy a serialized book that only gives you a couple of chapters at a time. No, I wouldn’t blame the author for this because chances are, they have no say in it. Maybe if they were writing for different publishers, and it was happening a lot with them, then and only then, might they be blamed.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 20:01:44
Since I prefer print copies of books, most likely no. It is really too bad that people would rate a book based on price or things of that nature. A rating/review should be of the story.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 20:23:35
I will NOT buy any book unless it is a full length book, and then, it has to really be something that I must read AND be below the 7.99 threshhold or I will simply wait to see if the library gets a digital copy. Personally, for me, 7.99 is really the cut off for what I will pay for a digital full length copy – and even then I have to convince myself that I am worth it because I can usually find a paper version for alot cheaper (walmart, used, library, borrowed).
Aug 21, 2012 @ 20:32:15
I’m with you on that, Wendy P. I’m not buying serialized copies of any books. I recently saw on GR a review for this book and just as Bev mentioned, the review was about the price and length. Honestly, I hope this is not the trend that publishers are taking because I’m not personally going to jump on the bandwagon.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 21:10:32
I actually went and read the reviews on Amazon — the consensus seems to be that it’s a really good story but readers don’t like the price point and the shortness of each installment.
I think serializing a story is fine — comic books follow this practice with individual issues being sold monthly and then a trade paperback comes out a few months after and comes out cheaper than buying it in singles.
BUT, publishers should still give readers their money’s worth. $2.99 for 2 chapters is too expensive. (It’s $3.99 for international readers, btw.)
Aug 23, 2012 @ 01:06:20
Ooops — my mistake: it’s $1.99 for 2 chapters. Still too expensive.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 21:18:25
I would not buy a book unless I got the whole book all at once. I think that it ridiculous to end up paying $16 for one book!
Aug 21, 2012 @ 21:42:32
I don’t think I would buy this.
Aug 21, 2012 @ 23:48:52
I absolutely wouldn’t buy a book a chapter or two at a time. That price is ridiculous, when I could buy two books, maybe three if I caught a sale. However, I wouldn’t blame the author either. Business is business whether the author had a say in the way the book would be sold or not. If we know what the end price would be by buying the book chapter by chapter, we the public can only blame ourselves for the foolishness that Penguin is testing on the gullible. We the public can also refuse to buy the book in this manner and then Penguin, might give up the idea. I also agree with the others that said THE REVIEW SHOULD BE BASED ON THE STORY/BOOK, not the sale price or how it is marketed. Something to think about.~
Aug 22, 2012 @ 10:58:45
I got sucked into something like this a few months ago. I got the first installment of the book free. There were 6 parts to the story and the way the books were titled, it sounded like each book was a separate short story. However, when I got to the end of the free book, I discovered it was part one of a continuing story. To find out the rest of the story, one needed to purchase each of the remaining 5 parts at $1.99 each. It was only after buying 3 more parts that I discovered the story was also available combined in one volume with a slightly different title…making the reader/buyer to think it was a revisiting and/or continuation of the original story. When I realized it was the very same, I was faced with a dilemma…do I buy the whole book at $7 even thought I would be getting a repeat of the first 4 books and ultimately spend $13 for it or continue on the way I started and buy the 2 remaining parts separately? Either way, I was going to end up spending more than I normally do to buy a book. The story was good, but not THAT good. Shame on me…I got fooled by a marketing trick. I’ll be on the lookout for similar tricks in the future.
The only thing I can say for my experience as opposed to the problems with Ms. Kery’s book…while not a complete book, I got a whole part…not just a couple of chapters.
Aug 22, 2012 @ 12:17:51
I feel for the author. But, maybe it is good that there are so many comments in the negative. At least the publisher will note the lack of sales. I read a book not too long ago – I can’t remember the name – that did not end. I discovered that this full length book was continued in the author’s next release. I did comment on this and noticed that someone else was as disgusted as I was.
I hope releasing her book this way does not discourage Ms. Kery. Maybe she should try to find another publisher that is not quite so greedy.
Aug 22, 2012 @ 13:36:14
I would hate that serialization and price bloat. A student loaned me her copy of The Green Mile by Stephen King that had been released as a serial. There was so much “refresher” material that it was a detraction to the overall story, like those shows that give you a preview of what’s coming after the commercial and then repeats what happened just before the commercial. I don’t have the patience for being spoonfed much less being on someone else’s time schedule.
As for reviews in general, I wish those who did reviews would only review what they’ve actually read or a product they’ve actually used or that they actually provide valid reasons for their scoring. I’ve read reviews where someone says they couldn’t get past the beginning and therefore didn’t read the story. That didn’t keep them from blasting the author on a story they admitted they hadn’t even read.
Aug 22, 2012 @ 14:19:48
I would not be interested in buying a serialized novel. I recently became aware of how authors are usually at the mercy of the publisher. I did not know this before. Now that I do I would not blame the author at the outset.
I don’t know if many readers would know that the decision was made by the publisher and understand how the author would bear the blame as it is their name on the book.
In the case of Ms. Kery it is not clear who the made the decision and it would be wiser to reserve judgment until one has more information.
Aug 23, 2012 @ 15:50:31
I will not be reading this series until it is one book and at around half the cost. I want to have the decision to read the book in one sitting and I will never pay that much for an ebook, let alone a bunch of chapters. You already know how annoying it can be while reading a series and having to remember the book title for each installment if it is not on the cover. It is ridiculous to think of having to do the same for ONE BOOK. No way. I don’t blame the author, it is the greedy publisher. If I could stay away from Penguin all-together, I would. They are the worst at robbing ebook customers just because we are ebook customers.