i'm composing a post on how project gutenberg
should approach an arrangement with amazon...
but it appears that real life has just whizzed by.
according to this post on morris rosenthal's site:
> http://www.fonerbooks.com/selfpublishing/?p=626
amazon is not accepting public-domain e-books.
after preparing and submitting a book with content
in the public-domain, morris got this from amazon:
> We’re implementing a new policy that addresses
> the customer experience problem caused by multiple,
> undifferentiated copies of public domain titles
> in our Kindle catalog.
>
> Our vision is to have high-quality editions of every
> public domain title in the world available on Kindle,
> including a free edition of each, and to avoid the
> confusion that is caused by having a large number of
> undifferentiated (or barely differentiated) versions of each.
>
> To protect the customer experience we have decided
> to stop accepting and selling duplicate, undifferentiated
> versions of public domain titles where there is a free edition
> already available for sale. As a result, we are removing
> the following title(s) for sale on our web site:
>
> Charles Dickens Tale Of Two Cities
> (The Works Of Charles Dickens) by Dickens, Charles,
> Digital Item ID: 847429
interesting, eh?
morris goes on with his own reaction:
> I checked, and sure enough, Amazon published
> their own free copy of the book the day before,
> on December 1st 2010.
> ...
> I decided to check on how many classics they’ve
> already published in their new push to protect
> the customer experience, Here’s the complete list:
> A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
>
> I thought that was pretty funny too.
remember when i asked whether anyone here would
want project gutenberg to veto other public-domain
republishers, if it were to magically be given that veto?
and remember how i said consider the answer carefully?
that's because the situation could also come up where
project gutenberg would be the _victim_ of such a veto.
and that scenario might well be coming to pass.
amazon can create their own "blessed" copy of _any_
public-domain book, and then refuse to carry others.
because, as far as amazon is concerned, p.g is just
another one of the republishers who are creating a
confusing situation, a "customer experience problem."
now how does it feel?
now you want to get up on a high horse and complain
about how the public-domain belongs to everyone, eh?
morris goes on:
> Update: A Tale Of Two Cities is a new Oprah pick,
> and her people must notify the trade beforehand
> to prepare for demand. So my guess is that Amazon’s
> newfound sensitivity will be one-and-done.
just in case you thought that the new amazon policy
was brought about by the recent brouhaha with p.g.,
don't get a big head. there are bigger fish in the sea.
much bigger fish. including a great whale called oprah.
-bowerbird