Comments on: Open letter to sellers of eBooks

By: Rebecca J Clark

Rebecca J Clark — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:03:41 +0000

Thanks for an informative post, Courtney. Every time I read your blog, I realize how little I know about this industry, even though I’ve “been around” forever. I’m going to bookmark this page so that my book finally comes out, I’ll know what to do.

Becky

By: Courtney Milan

Courtney Milan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:16:52 +0000

Elizabeth, I know there’s mass ISBN confusion out there, which certainly doesn’t help.

The most important thing, though, is that there be ONE ISBN that can be used to access the sell page for a particular item. Because even though there are separate ISBNs for some of these products, if you will shunt them to the right product page given ONE of those ISBNs, my work is done.

Of course, if one seller only sells Adobe and the other one only sells LIT, there’s nothing to be done and I throw up my hands in disgust.

By: Courtney Milan

Courtney Milan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:07:48 +0000

I completely agree with the assessment! I lived in Portland for a brief period of time, and Powell’s was just awesome–I think I spent every ounce of available salary there. It was incredible enough that every subsequent trip to Portland just about requires that I make a stop in the store. There’s something about entering a building that contains so many books, from floor to ceiling, chosen by people who adore books, that just makes every bone in my body melt into a pile of book-buying goo.

By: Elizabeth Burton

Elizabeth Burton — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:06:09 +0000

Expect life to become even more complicated, as the ISBN organization still insists every format of an ebook should have an individual ISBN. They’re actually considering the ramifications of that, but in the meantime, don’t be surprised if you link to a vendor and discover there’s in number for LIT and another for EPUB and another for…well, you get the idea.

One of the reasons some vendors use SKU numbers instead of ISBNs is that they accept files from people who don’t have ISBNs. Many self-publishing authors see no reason to spend the money to obtain them, so the vendor assigns their own product number–at Amazon, it’s the ASIN.

One of the ways the ISBN folks are suggesting for cases where publishers won’t provide individual numbers for each format is for vendors to purchase a block of them and do it for them. So, you’re looking at having two or ten or twenty different ISBNs for the same book, depending on number of vendors and formats offered.

Good luck with that script.

By: Jennifer Roland

Jennifer Roland — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:50:22 +0000

I think Powell’s has the easiest link language out there. Plus it’s an awesome store. If you’re ever in the Portland area, it is worth a stop at the main downtown store. It’s an entire city block of books. New, used, out of print, signed–their selection is amazing.

And no, I don’t work for them. I’m just an Oregonian who loves books. Powell’s was one of my first destinations in Portland when I was old enough to drive myself the 100 miles from my hometown.

I hope the booksellers read this post and take it into consideration as they find new ways to reach consumers and leverage authors’ audiences.