Whoa! Nothing like stabbing Julian and Catherine in the back, Robert, and undermining your other books (not to mention mine)! You get way better royalties from NS than you'd ever get from any mainstream publisher, you have more control over everything involved from cover image to font, and everyone (every diverse group under the sun) can publish on Amazon, which is not true of major publishers. Your new book costs $32, which is pretty steep. That's what happened to my book NTG (my shortest book) when New Harbinger was publishing it–it was over $30. Now, with NS, it's down to a very reasonable $13. And I get better royalties. I also get medical supplies from Amazon that I can't find anywhere locally, and I get fast delivery. And I get books. Suzanne Visser is supposedly working on a Dutch translation of my last book, but honestly, this makes me want to withdraw the deal.
I don't think Suzanne's words were aimed at anyone in particular, Joan. She was expressing a wiew shared by many people who run small businesses. You can find opposition to Amazon and other monopolists all over the world. Julian and Catherine are great publishers, and I appreciate everything they do. Still, Julian has told me that Amazon is a bitch to work with. The advantage they offer is handling printing and shipping, but, as Suzanne was saying, that comes at a cost.
My comment here was directed to you, not Suzanne. As I just told Suzanne in my email canceling my deal with CleanMindPress for a Dutch translation of DTEOSI:
"I do not want any foreign translations or editions put out by a publisher that is actively undermining the book’s original publisher. I am deeply grateful to Julian and Catherine, and I’ve worked with them for many years now.
"I’m quite familiar with the many arguments against Amazon and the pervasive hatred of Jeff Bezos. When Amazon first appeared on the scene many years ago, I joined many other Bay Area California authors in a large event in support of independent bookstores. But eventually, I realized I was fighting the incoming tide.
"I have since talked with many authors who self-publish through Amazon and are very happy with it, and of course that is how all my books except my first book (which is with Random House) are now published, via New Sarum. Amazon has enabled many writers who would never otherwise find publishers to publish. I’ve found Amazon to be a wonderful resource not only for books but for the many medical supplies I now need and cannot find anywhere locally (not to mention that it is harder now for me to get around in search of things)."
In other words, my views on Amazon are not black and white. And you have every right to your opinion, Robert, as does Suzanne. And many people will agree with you. I'm not uncritical of Amazon, and what I found shocking and disturbing was not the content of what Suzanne is saying in her article, but the context in which it is being said here given your publishing history with NS.
You are a very dear friend, and I love you, even when we disagree.
Joan, I tried to put myself into your point of view, and just can't. Three of my books are available only from Amazon, and I am happy if people want to read them and buy them. However, if a book is available directly from a small press and costs a little more than Amazon charges—mostly because Amazon's shipping is a massive, in-house operation (which, BTW, many people say mistreats its workers)—I'd buy it from the small press. Why not?
I don't think New Sarum and Clear Mind Press are competing, so I don't see why you think this is an issue.
I love Julian and Catherine and would never do anything to undermine them. If they published a book and sold it directly, even if it cost a bit more than Amazon's price, I'd buy it directly from them, not Amazon. Wouldn't you?
I wasn't implying that NS and CMP are competing, only that Suzanne's position on Amazon and your sharing it on Substack as part of announcing and promoting your new book does seem to me to undermine NS. None of my books published by New Sarum are available only on Amazon. B&N online carries most if not all of them, and bookstores can order them. Again, yes, I'm very familiar with all the many criticisms of Amazon, and as I said, I boycotted them for quite a while when they were first around. I guess I've become less of a purist. And if I were buying your new book, I'd buy from Amazon. Easier, less expensive, and I'd get it sooner. Anyway, we can disagree, and that's okay. 🙏
Well, you won't have to choose. A copy is on the way to you. My gift. Sure. I respect your point of view. I tried it on in good faith, but could not make it fit.
I look forward to reading your book, which you'd told me you were going to send to me. And I can easily believe that you did not intend to do anything that might hurt Julian and Catherine, and I can totally believe that you still can't see how this might. I get that you were simply encouraging people to buy directly from CMP so that Suzanne would get a better share of the profits than she would if people ordered through Amazon. And that's a perfectly legitimate and even admirable thing to suggest to folks, but in the context of your long, both past and recent, history with NS and Amazon publishing, it has (to my ear anyway) a possibly different implicit meaning, albeit apparently completely unintended on your part. We see this differently, as we've sometimes seen a number of other things differently, and that's okay. We're still good friends. 🙏
I imagine this is a complex topic, but I also have no idea how the behind-the-scenes of online publishing works, so I appreciate hearing directly from a publisher about their take. I ended up buying the 21st Century Self in the epub edition to read with a free web app-based reader.
Great ideas but everytime i clicked through to the publisher's website from the announcement emails I was met with a blank page. So after several days of this I went to Amazon, and presto, ordered the book. So at least in my case, trying to buy from the publisher was a frustrating failure. Alas...
hi Scott - i had the same problem with the publisher’s website. it was much better when i viewed it on my computer. (i suspect it may not be setup for mobile viewing.) i ordered from the publisher and received an email saying the book would be printed in the next 5 days and sent to me 🤔. okay. when i saw your post here, i went to Amazon out of curiosity. it says the book is “out of stock”. so i wonder if you’ll actually get the book or if you will be waiting for it to be back in stock (printed?).
this has been frustrating for me too. i’m highly motivated to read Robert’s work, so i persevered. i do wonder about the publisher’s decision to announce that the book is available (not distinguishing between ebook and print) before there’s a supply on hand to ship.
Here's an alternative to Amazon etc, that an author I know / read uses to sell his books. It may be worth checking out. https://www.smashwords.com/
Whoa! Nothing like stabbing Julian and Catherine in the back, Robert, and undermining your other books (not to mention mine)! You get way better royalties from NS than you'd ever get from any mainstream publisher, you have more control over everything involved from cover image to font, and everyone (every diverse group under the sun) can publish on Amazon, which is not true of major publishers. Your new book costs $32, which is pretty steep. That's what happened to my book NTG (my shortest book) when New Harbinger was publishing it–it was over $30. Now, with NS, it's down to a very reasonable $13. And I get better royalties. I also get medical supplies from Amazon that I can't find anywhere locally, and I get fast delivery. And I get books. Suzanne Visser is supposedly working on a Dutch translation of my last book, but honestly, this makes me want to withdraw the deal.
I don't think Suzanne's words were aimed at anyone in particular, Joan. She was expressing a wiew shared by many people who run small businesses. You can find opposition to Amazon and other monopolists all over the world. Julian and Catherine are great publishers, and I appreciate everything they do. Still, Julian has told me that Amazon is a bitch to work with. The advantage they offer is handling printing and shipping, but, as Suzanne was saying, that comes at a cost.
My comment here was directed to you, not Suzanne. As I just told Suzanne in my email canceling my deal with CleanMindPress for a Dutch translation of DTEOSI:
"I do not want any foreign translations or editions put out by a publisher that is actively undermining the book’s original publisher. I am deeply grateful to Julian and Catherine, and I’ve worked with them for many years now.
"I’m quite familiar with the many arguments against Amazon and the pervasive hatred of Jeff Bezos. When Amazon first appeared on the scene many years ago, I joined many other Bay Area California authors in a large event in support of independent bookstores. But eventually, I realized I was fighting the incoming tide.
"I have since talked with many authors who self-publish through Amazon and are very happy with it, and of course that is how all my books except my first book (which is with Random House) are now published, via New Sarum. Amazon has enabled many writers who would never otherwise find publishers to publish. I’ve found Amazon to be a wonderful resource not only for books but for the many medical supplies I now need and cannot find anywhere locally (not to mention that it is harder now for me to get around in search of things)."
In other words, my views on Amazon are not black and white. And you have every right to your opinion, Robert, as does Suzanne. And many people will agree with you. I'm not uncritical of Amazon, and what I found shocking and disturbing was not the content of what Suzanne is saying in her article, but the context in which it is being said here given your publishing history with NS.
You are a very dear friend, and I love you, even when we disagree.
Joan, I tried to put myself into your point of view, and just can't. Three of my books are available only from Amazon, and I am happy if people want to read them and buy them. However, if a book is available directly from a small press and costs a little more than Amazon charges—mostly because Amazon's shipping is a massive, in-house operation (which, BTW, many people say mistreats its workers)—I'd buy it from the small press. Why not?
I don't think New Sarum and Clear Mind Press are competing, so I don't see why you think this is an issue.
I love Julian and Catherine and would never do anything to undermine them. If they published a book and sold it directly, even if it cost a bit more than Amazon's price, I'd buy it directly from them, not Amazon. Wouldn't you?
I wasn't implying that NS and CMP are competing, only that Suzanne's position on Amazon and your sharing it on Substack as part of announcing and promoting your new book does seem to me to undermine NS. None of my books published by New Sarum are available only on Amazon. B&N online carries most if not all of them, and bookstores can order them. Again, yes, I'm very familiar with all the many criticisms of Amazon, and as I said, I boycotted them for quite a while when they were first around. I guess I've become less of a purist. And if I were buying your new book, I'd buy from Amazon. Easier, less expensive, and I'd get it sooner. Anyway, we can disagree, and that's okay. 🙏
Well, you won't have to choose. A copy is on the way to you. My gift. Sure. I respect your point of view. I tried it on in good faith, but could not make it fit.
I look forward to reading your book, which you'd told me you were going to send to me. And I can easily believe that you did not intend to do anything that might hurt Julian and Catherine, and I can totally believe that you still can't see how this might. I get that you were simply encouraging people to buy directly from CMP so that Suzanne would get a better share of the profits than she would if people ordered through Amazon. And that's a perfectly legitimate and even admirable thing to suggest to folks, but in the context of your long, both past and recent, history with NS and Amazon publishing, it has (to my ear anyway) a possibly different implicit meaning, albeit apparently completely unintended on your part. We see this differently, as we've sometimes seen a number of other things differently, and that's okay. We're still good friends. 🙏
I imagine this is a complex topic, but I also have no idea how the behind-the-scenes of online publishing works, so I appreciate hearing directly from a publisher about their take. I ended up buying the 21st Century Self in the epub edition to read with a free web app-based reader.
Great ideas but everytime i clicked through to the publisher's website from the announcement emails I was met with a blank page. So after several days of this I went to Amazon, and presto, ordered the book. So at least in my case, trying to buy from the publisher was a frustrating failure. Alas...
hi Scott - i had the same problem with the publisher’s website. it was much better when i viewed it on my computer. (i suspect it may not be setup for mobile viewing.) i ordered from the publisher and received an email saying the book would be printed in the next 5 days and sent to me 🤔. okay. when i saw your post here, i went to Amazon out of curiosity. it says the book is “out of stock”. so i wonder if you’ll actually get the book or if you will be waiting for it to be back in stock (printed?).
this has been frustrating for me too. i’m highly motivated to read Robert’s work, so i persevered. i do wonder about the publisher’s decision to announce that the book is available (not distinguishing between ebook and print) before there’s a supply on hand to ship.
mine will be delivered by Amazon July 21. Weird hassle, but I certainly am excited to read Robert's new book!
me too!