Kyle Timmermeyer's Blog, page 3
November 19, 2012
Full Text of My Message to amazon.co.uk
"Today I noticed that the price of my book has suddenly risen from free to .77p. As stated previously, Legend of the Elementals, Book 1: Reintroduction remains free on http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
"With reference to Amazon's wise and arguably fair general price-matching policies, I humbly request a renewal of the free pricing across all Amazon platforms--not only amazon.co.uk, but especially amazon.co.jp, as requested in particular recently. As was the case before, in light of the fact that the amazon.com version remains free, the discrepancy between that version and the amazon.co.uk (and amazon.co.jp) version(s) is incredibly disappointing. Although I acknowledge that Amazon has the right to set its own prices for its own services, the sudden, unexplained, and apparently arbitrary nature of the price increase--which is sure to be the interpretation by potential customers--is a discredit to Amazon's otherwise stellar "indie" distribution service.
"Offering me, the author and publishing agent, a proper explanation and/or warning would be among the very least technical details that Amazon has thus far twice failed to accomplish, even though a simple matter of not unilaterally changing the price would alleviate this situation entirely. And yet here I am again, writing to request if not an immediate restoration of the equitable pricing at the very least a proper explanation. In lieu of an adequate announcement from Amazon, and in light of the continuation of this disturbing trend of non-communication from the company, I have little choice but to post this complaint, in its entirety, on my website, for broadcast across my social network, as a stand-in for an explanation from Amazon. I eagerly await a timely and appropriate update, hoping that the ultimate effect of this message will serve as an opportunity for both authors and Amazon to experience better relations and bottom-line results in the future, lest another company capitalize on Amazon's pricing and communication weaknesses."
October 29, 2012
My Birthday, Your Present
If you haven't heard, Halloween is coming up. It just so happens to coincide with my birthday this year (and, well, every year, but that's beside the point). To celebrate, to make it even easier to get into my books, Legend of the Elementals, Book 3: Reform will be FREE on October 30th, my birthday. Keep in mind that Book 1 is already free, so don't miss the chance to get current with the series for $0.99, the price of Book 2. While most of the partying is over this weekend, what better excuse to lose yourself in fantasy--specifically my books--than Halloween/my birthday! And, if you already have all the books, if you want to get me a present, please read and leave a polite, honest, well-thought-out review on Goodreads or Amazon, etc. If you're feeling really generous, you could also gift the book(s) to someone who might be reasonably interested. Happy Halloween! Happy birthday to me! And happy reading for all!
October 15, 2012
Update: LotE 1 wasn't free on amazon.co.uk??
*Updated: Legend of the Elementals, Book 1: Reintroduction is again free on amazon.co.uk, and remains free on amazon.com.
Book 1 should be free. I checked up on the version at amazon.co.uk, and it was not listed as free, so I've contacted Amazon to correct the problem. If you've recently paid for Book 1, you can either go through the official rigmarole reporting a lower price, or straight request a refund and either go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140553 or contact me directly. I did receive a reply from Amazon, but only to confirm that the revocation of the free pricing was not unintentional on their end. I requested more information, an explanation for the disconnect between amazon.co.uk's pricing, and amazon.com's pricing. This was the latest reply I received:
"I am very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.
We have minimum list prices that we require to accept KDP books for sale on the Kindle Store. However, sometimes we match free promotions on other sales channels, and we may do that in the future for this or other titles.
We're sorry we haven't been able to address your concerns to your satisfaction. We will not be able to offer any additional insight or action on these matters."
In light of this distressing lack of transparency, of fickleness, apparently arbitrary pricing, I have alerted Amazon that I will be reconsidering my marketing and distribution strategy, especially since Book 3 is currently an Amazon-exclusive title.
Still, for the sake of consistency, because Book 1 is still free on amazon.com, and because the book could be listed as free again in the UK, I will leave the book listed on amazon.co.uk for the time being. I humbly request that anyone reading this with an amazon.co.uk account visit http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B007NJLWVW/ and click on "tell us about a lower price," with reference to the version free at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140553 so that, hopefully, as many people as possible can easily enjoy this story for free.
Book 1 should be free. I checked up on the version at amazon.co.uk, and it was not listed as free, so I've contacted Amazon to correct the problem. If you've recently paid for Book 1, you can either go through the official rigmarole reporting a lower price, or straight request a refund and either go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140553 or contact me directly. I did receive a reply from Amazon, but only to confirm that the revocation of the free pricing was not unintentional on their end. I requested more information, an explanation for the disconnect between amazon.co.uk's pricing, and amazon.com's pricing. This was the latest reply I received:
"I am very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.
We have minimum list prices that we require to accept KDP books for sale on the Kindle Store. However, sometimes we match free promotions on other sales channels, and we may do that in the future for this or other titles.
We're sorry we haven't been able to address your concerns to your satisfaction. We will not be able to offer any additional insight or action on these matters."
In light of this distressing lack of transparency, of fickleness, apparently arbitrary pricing, I have alerted Amazon that I will be reconsidering my marketing and distribution strategy, especially since Book 3 is currently an Amazon-exclusive title.
Still, for the sake of consistency, because Book 1 is still free on amazon.com, and because the book could be listed as free again in the UK, I will leave the book listed on amazon.co.uk for the time being. I humbly request that anyone reading this with an amazon.co.uk account visit http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B007NJLWVW/ and click on "tell us about a lower price," with reference to the version free at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140553 so that, hopefully, as many people as possible can easily enjoy this story for free.
LotE 1 isn't free on amazon.co.uk??
Book 1 should be free. I checked up on the version at amazon.co.uk, and it was not listed as free, so I've contacted Amazon to correct the problem. If you've recently paid for Book 1, you can either go through the official rigmarole, or straight request a refund and either go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140553 or contact me directly.
September 5, 2012
KDP Select Success!
On the 2nd (or 3rd?) day of availability and its first free promotion day, Book 3 is in the top 2000 free Kindle books, and #41 in free Epic Fantasy, whereas Book 1 is mysteriously stuck in the top 4000 or so...
September 3, 2012
Legend of the Elementals, Book 3: Reform Published!
Book 3, hot off the digital presses! Thanks again to Edison Victor, beta readers, friends and family for making this possible. You can fork over the dollar if you're in a hurry, or you can wait until the clock strikes September 4th, when the book will be FREE for the day...
August 17, 2012
LotE 1: Finally Free in the UK
Legend of the Elementals, Book 1: Reintroduction is finally showing up correctly as free on amazon.CO.UK, and not only is it in the top 1,500 free kindle books on amazon.co.uk, but it's cracked the top 100 free fantasy books on amazon.co.uk!
August 12, 2012
August 11, 2012
Book 3: Reform is in Beta Reading
I just sent out beta reader copies of Book 3. I'm on schedule. I'll be editing through Book 3 one more time, incorporating beta reader feedback, and waiting for artwork from Edison Victor. If you didn't get the e-mail and would like to get in on this beta reading, send me an e-mail proving that you read Book 2 (and liked it enough to want to keep reading the series) and promise that you'll do your very best to give me some quality feedback by the end of the month, in time for incorporation into the "final" version of Book 3, which should be out by early September.
August 6, 2012
Amazon Dot Confusion
So, Book 1 is in the top 100,000 PAID on amazon.co.uk ...when it should be free! If you're in the UK, try downloading the free amazon.com version or the free Smashwords version. I have reported the free Smashwords version directly on amazon.co.uk as the lower price, and it should be reflected. As it has yet to be corrected. Apologies across the pond! (Or, across Asia and Europe, since I'm in Thailand at the moment...)
