Anti-eBabel tip: Go to the writers, remind 'em of lost sales

E-book publishers, take note: when you serve your customers, you sell more books, and when you don’t take care of them, you cost your author sales.

Here’s a success story from the front line, involving a favorite writer of mine, Kelley Armstrong (shown in photo by Curtis Lantinga).

Mid-month, concerned readers noted a spate of new releases at Fictionwise which were available in Mobipocket format only. This is a popular format, but it is not readable on many devices including my iPod Touch, and its DRM scheme is cumbersome and restrictive. It is also owned by Amazon.com, makers of the USA-only Kindle—so readers were wondering whether this Mobipocket-only “trend” was an attempt by Amazon to get their format out there by restricting authors.

When I noticed the Mobipocket-only availability on two titles which interested me, from authors whose prior works were all available in the more usual Mobipocket or eReader or PDF triad of options, I e-mailed Fictionwise about my concerns and was told the company had no say in which formats were offered by whom. This probably true, but it didn’t solve my problem or allay my concerns. If Fictionwise is not in charge, who is? To can one address such concerns? Nobody seemed to know.

Straight to the sources: The writers

I went straight to the source and e-mailed three of the affected authors with my concerns. I succinctly outlined my issues with the Mobipocket format, most notably that I can’t read it on my mobile device, and told them they had lost my sale on this. I asked them if they might offer me assistance on finding out whom to speak with about the problem.

Only one of the authors got back to me: kudos to author Kelley Armstrong for having a top-notch assistant who gave me some above and beyond customer service. She found out what was going on and e-mailed me back a week later to say that the Mobipocket-only issue had been a “computer mistake” and the book should now be available in the usual eReader and PDF options too. And she assured me that Ms. Armstrong loves and adores her e-fans and wants them taken care of.

I told this author that readers would support her work if they could buy it in their preferred format, and I was true to my word. When I saw that it was available, I went back and bought the book.

If they care about their sales…

In these days of shrinking readership, with so many entertainment options competing for people’s time and money, I think most authors would be loath to lose an all but assured sale over something so silly as this. I was glad to hear that the problem was fixable, and fixed, and that it was not some sort of evil plot by Amazon, or anybody else, to shut readers out. But I still don’t know who actually decides such things. Kelley Armstrong and her assistant may have learned more than they cared to about e-book formats thanks to my letter, but it will be slow progress indeed if one must personally educate every author one on one. Publishers, booksellers, distributors and organizations catering to authors need to band together, step up and say “This is a concern for us.” Readers who have their money in hand and are ready to spend it on a book should never, ever have to put their wallets away for such a ridiculous reason as “format.”