Amazon Upgrade Goes Live
I was ready to title this post Amazon Upgrade goes live without me because my Foner Books application hasn't been approved (yet) but then I realized I have a book in the program. The 4th edition of Build Your Own PC which I author for McGraw-Hill is now showing the message:
"Upgrade this book for $2.48 more, and you can read, search, and annotate every page online."
One of the first things I noticed was that Associates links that use the Amazon thumbnail link that employs an iframe and takes the potential customer to the "You clicked on this item" page doesn't display the Upgrade option. Assumedly, they'll fix that, or maybe they'll offer at checkout time, though it won't have the same impact.
The $2.48 price also grabbed me - where did that come from. I did a little more research looking at other Osborne/McGraw-Hill titles and saw Upgrade prices of $2.48 to $5.98 and $9.98, with no obvious relationship to the cover price. It doesn't agree with page count or weight, and it wasn't based on the sales rank either. . If it's got to do with somebody's idea of the perceived value of the book, I'm properly insulted.
At this point, I don't know if the Amazon Upgrade price is decided by Amazon, by the publisher, or in conjunction. It will be interesting to see how they classify this income on my next McGraw-Hill royalty statement. I'm sure somewhere in the fine print this eventuality was covered and I got shafted:-)
As to what you get with upgrade, the main carrot is an instantly available e-book version of the title you are buying. Since they allow you to purchase Upgrade after the fact for books that are in the program, I'm sure some purchasers will resell the paper version immediately on Marketplace to get the majority of their money back, and live with the e-book version. I have to admit, though, it's a nice feature for accessing a professional book you've purchased while traveling, or if you've list the paper book or loaned it to that fiend who apparently eats the things.
They are also featuring high-end e-book functionality, like annotation and search, but I doubt this will be the deciding factor for most buyers. They have a service agreement for the Upgrade purchasers, and surprisingly, they are granting reading rights to your immediate family. Does that mean my sisters in NY and Israel can read the books I buy online? I didn't see anything in there about selling the paper copy and keeping the e-rights, which though unenforceable, may have reduced the incidence.
Overall, I'm not sure what I'll do if they approve me for the program. If I control the pricing, I might be inclined to give it a shot with one title, I'm not going gamble my whole list until I see how it all plays out.
"Upgrade this book for $2.48 more, and you can read, search, and annotate every page online."
One of the first things I noticed was that Associates links that use the Amazon thumbnail link that employs an iframe and takes the potential customer to the "You clicked on this item" page doesn't display the Upgrade option. Assumedly, they'll fix that, or maybe they'll offer at checkout time, though it won't have the same impact.
The $2.48 price also grabbed me - where did that come from. I did a little more research looking at other Osborne/McGraw-Hill titles and saw Upgrade prices of $2.48 to $5.98 and $9.98, with no obvious relationship to the cover price. It doesn't agree with page count or weight, and it wasn't based on the sales rank either. . If it's got to do with somebody's idea of the perceived value of the book, I'm properly insulted.
At this point, I don't know if the Amazon Upgrade price is decided by Amazon, by the publisher, or in conjunction. It will be interesting to see how they classify this income on my next McGraw-Hill royalty statement. I'm sure somewhere in the fine print this eventuality was covered and I got shafted:-)
As to what you get with upgrade, the main carrot is an instantly available e-book version of the title you are buying. Since they allow you to purchase Upgrade after the fact for books that are in the program, I'm sure some purchasers will resell the paper version immediately on Marketplace to get the majority of their money back, and live with the e-book version. I have to admit, though, it's a nice feature for accessing a professional book you've purchased while traveling, or if you've list the paper book or loaned it to that fiend who apparently eats the things.
They are also featuring high-end e-book functionality, like annotation and search, but I doubt this will be the deciding factor for most buyers. They have a service agreement for the Upgrade purchasers, and surprisingly, they are granting reading rights to your immediate family. Does that mean my sisters in NY and Israel can read the books I buy online? I didn't see anything in there about selling the paper copy and keeping the e-rights, which though unenforceable, may have reduced the incidence.
Overall, I'm not sure what I'll do if they approve me for the program. If I control the pricing, I might be inclined to give it a shot with one title, I'm not going gamble my whole list until I see how it all plays out.
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