Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST books

[Danoz]

Some spoilers below in DS9 relaunch.

Anybody notice how Amazon.com has no new copies of most of these relaunch novels? the copy of "Rising Son" has a giant red stamp on it that says "discarded by Lake County Public Library" and it's entirely unread. It's too bad I'm stuck with a hand-me down from some vendor for all of these books when I would much prefer supporting the authors themselves, most of whom I imagine aren't millionaires.

One thing I have noticed is that Amazon has kindle copies for damn new every Star Trek book I've ever read. If I had the money, I'm throw down for one of those-- but as of now I'd have to wait until I have gift cards from the holidays and the price comes down significantly.

Anyway, I just put in my order for "The Lives of Dax" and "Unity." Looking forward to continuing the series! Some of my favorite authors so far are S.D. Perry and Keith R.A. Decandido (ending of Gamma: book one had me in tears... apparently I'm a big baby).

"Rising Son" was pretty neat, Star Trek meets Firefly with a lot of creative new species. For some reason "Dez" caught me as an easy Nathan Fillion and Morena Baccarin as "Facity." Couldn't shrug the associations after I thought of them (probably not the first).

Anyway back on point. Keep up the good work, guys.

Does anybody know a better way of getting a hold of these books and not paying an arm and a leg for seperate shipping costs all the time?

 

[RobertVA]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

Wouldn't there be some Barnes and Noble and/or Borders locations in the metro DC area? I thought they were willing to order any book in print and deliver it across the counter for the suggested retail price.

 

[Turbo]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

Well, the problem is that the DS9 Relaunch is no longer "new".

Here's what is currently available new:
WoDS9: Cardassia and Andor
WoDS9: Trill and Bajor
WoDS9: Ferenginar and The Dominion
Warpath
Fearful Symmetry

Avatar, Section 31: Abyss, Demons of Air and Darkness, and "Horn and Ivory" were collected in Twist of Faith.

Twilight and This Gray Spirit were collected in These Haunted Seas.

A Stitch in Time, The Left Hand of Destiny, Cathedral, Lesser Evil, Rising Son, and Unity are all out of print (though Amazon still has copies of TLHoD: Book Two).

As to your question about getting them without paying an arm and a leg, have you checked out your local secondhand bookstores? I got most of my DS9 Relaunch books there (up through Unity).

 

[JWolf]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

Even if you cannot afford a Kindle, if you have Windows, you can download a free copy of Mobipocket Reader and purchase the eBooks (not from Amazon) from Simon & Schuster, Fictionwise, BooksOnBoard, or other eBook shops. Then you can read them on your computer and because these are not 2nd hand copies, the authors will get paid for each copy sold.

 

[Lee]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

I bought a Kindle. Not quite sure what you want to know about it... if you have any specific questions about the Kindle, I'd be happy to answer them, and I'm sure JWolf would be happy to answer any questions about the Sony Reader (on which you can also read Star Trek novels).

By the way, many thanks to JWolf for creating ebook reader versions for both Kindle and Sony Reader of garamet's Music of the Spheres and posting them to the Mobileread forums. It's greatly appreciated!

 

[MMCL]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

I use Mobipocket reader on my mobile phone and that has almost every book I've ever searched for except SCE #8 - Aftermath Omnibus

Oh - and I never bought Death in Winter as they wanted $22.50 for the Ebook!

 

[DimesDan]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

I use Mobipocket reader on my mobile phone and that has almost every book I've ever searched for except SCE #8 - Aftermath Omnibus

Oh - and I never bought Death in Winter as they wanted $22.50 for the Ebook!

Although I am unversed in how much ebooks cost and admittedly, it would be slightly more expensive than a MMPB here, but twenty-two US Dollars isn't that much in Pound Sterling!

 

[MMCL]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

Considering most of the other E-books I've bought are $6.99 it's a big price difference...

EG - My last order was:

The Brave And The Bold Book One : 8.36 USD
The Brave and the Bold Book Two : 8.36 USD
Star Trek: TNG: Q & A : 9.56 USD
Star Trek: SCE: Wounds : 14.34 USD
---------------------------------
Total Price Incl. tax : 40.62 USD

 

[Lee]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

If you want a cheaper alternative to the Kindle or Sony Reader, you might take a look at the ebookwise reader. It's considerably cheaper than the Kindle or Sony ($110 to $140 depending on memory). It uses standard LCD backlit screen technology instead of the Kindle and Sony's e-ink display. You can read books purchased from the ebookwise site. ebookwise sells Star Trek novels. I haven't checked to see if they have a good selection of Trek books.

 

[PaulSimpson]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

I use Mobipocket reader on my mobile phone and that has almost every book I've ever searched for except SCE #8 - Aftermath Omnibus

Oh - and I never bought Death in Winter as they wanted $22.50 for the Ebook!

Although I am unversed in how much ebooks cost and admittedly, it would be slightly more expensive than a MMPB here, but twenty-two US Dollars isn't that much in Pound Sterling!

£15 for something that's in the shops for seven quid cover price... that's my definition of more expensive!

 

[BrotherBenny]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

I use Mobipocket reader on my mobile phone and that has almost every book I've ever searched for except SCE #8 - Aftermath Omnibus

Oh - and I never bought Death in Winter as they wanted $22.50 for the Ebook!

Although I am unversed in how much ebooks cost and admittedly, it would be slightly more expensive than a MMPB here, but twenty-two US Dollars isn't that much in Pound Sterling!

£15 for something that's in the shops for seven quid cover price... that's my definition of more expensive!

QFT

eBooks should be cheaper by far since there is no print cost associated with them and the work has been done. Convert the finished MS Word document, or whatever program you're using (including cover) into a PDF and BAM!! instant eBook. Why the big price????

 

[Dayton Ward]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

A lot of the pricing for e-Books -- particuarly with titles released as hardcovers or trade paperbacks -- is driven at least to some degree by bookstores. Barnes & Noble's not going to order a bunch of hardcovers if you're simultaneously offering the e-Format at 1/4 to 1/3 the price.

Now, why those titles' e-Book prices aren't adjusted down once the mmpb version is released, I don't know.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

A lot of the pricing for e-Books -- particuarly with titles released as hardcovers or trade paperbacks -- is driven at least to some degree by bookstores. Barnes & Noble's not going to order a bunch of hardcovers if you're simultaneously offering the e-Format at 1/4 to 1/3 the price.

Now, why those titles' e-Book prices aren't adjusted down once the mmpb version is released, I don't know.

Thinking about it, it's probably because it is still a relatively new technology and book stores are hedging their bets.

I'm looking for Have Tech, Will Travel for my Sony Reader but Waterstones.com, Sony's official UK representative, do not stock it, and my bank charges me an administration charge for stuff bought in US$. It's frustrating!!!!

 

[MMCL]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

The biggest problems with e-books are availability and price - typos are often an issue too. But it is not consistent.

Mobi-pocket is a French company owned by Amazon, I believe, but it has format that is different from all other readers. I started with them as they have the largest selection with the most standard pricing - however there are still issues.

I can't get/won't buy SCE Omnibus #8 - Aftermath or Death In Winter as a result.

Otherwise I own 86 Star Trek E-books... and think the E-book concept is great.


Reference Aftermath Omnibus Edition:
I've bought #s 1 - 11 (without #8) for around $7.99 each.

#8 is not available - so (I think it was KRAD) someone suggested I buy the books individually.
#8 consists of 8 books which are priced at individually at $3.49 each = $27.92 for something that I have been paying $7.99 for.

However Book 1 of the set is missing individually - Christopher L Bennett's Aftermath - I don't think they like anything with Aftermath in the title. So I can buy an incomplete individual set to get most of the stories for $24.43 - but that's craziness.

I could go and buy the paperback version in my local shop for $9.75 but then I have most of the stories in the set in one format, and this in one book in a different format.

Very frustrating!

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

I recently purchased an iPod Touch, and combined with the free eReader app, makes for a great reading experience. Currently reading Forged in Fire on it...

 

[JWolf]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

Is it OK to talk about stripping DRM from eBooks?

Anyway, I'm currently in the provess of reading Kobyashi Maru & Lost Souls on my 505.

Sometimes you have to email the eBook store and tell them the pBook is in paperback for $7.99 and sometimes they will come back with a lower price for the eBook

 

[Steve Roby]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

Is it OK to talk about stripping DRM from eBooks?

Isn't that kind of illegal? I think it might be an issue under US copyright law, and it's almost certainly a violation of the terms and conditions you agree to when you buy an ebook.

And it's kind of an odd decision to talk about it in a place where the writers and editors hang out...

 

[Dayton Ward]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

"Odd" wasn't the word I was using.

 

[tranya]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

I recently purchased an iPod Touch, and combined with the free eReader app, makes for a great reading experience. Currently reading Forged in Fire on it...

Does this read .lit files? I wasn't sure if there was an iPhone/iPod Touch program that actually read the Microsoft eReader format, which is what I'd prefer to buy the books in.

 

[Marie1]

Re: Has anybody here bought a Kindle? <--- annoyed at getting new ST b

I may have missed this somewhere else on the board, but since we have bks 1-5 of the DS9R in Twist of Faith, and MG1&2 in These Haunted Seas (that name perplexes me a bit) then will some of the other books be reprinted in that way? I've been dragging people into the DS9R lately due to the creation of ToF...

Like you (OP) I prefer to help support my favourite series and authors. But on the bright side- if the books have covers, the author were originally paid when the book was first purchased (most likely) so at least the book is still being read by someone who appreciates it. And tho I'd never give up my ST books, I'm glad there are people who are willing to give them up to used bookstores when they're done... so I can have them!

But I see your point... the more the new ones are purchased, the more accurate the ptb see the demand, so the more likely they'll have more written, and print more... I know my local book conglomerate only has DS9R from FS on I think... =(