Books/Preorders missing from Amazon
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@Zehd That might require a contract with Amazon where we're not allowed to sell on other platforms or they take a bigger cut from each sale.
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@Zehd said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
@Terrence said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
JNC can't pick the "light novel" category sadly under KDP publishing.
And THIS is what I think they need to address. I'm pretty sure that there are other ways of publishing ebooks through Amazon--I have bought books before (Baen Books) where it said "at request of the publisher, this book is sold without DRM". If they can publishing without DRM on Kindle's platform, then SURELY it's possible for JNC to publish under the Light Novel category instead of having to choose between "Young Adult" or "Manga".
Baen is a "real" publisher using the publisher tools for Kindle, not a "self-publisher" using KDP.
Amazon themselves can add the LN category to KDP but until then JNC is at their mercy.
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@myskaros said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
@Zehd That might require a contract with Amazon where we're not allowed to sell on other platforms or they take a bigger cut from each sale.
Contract matters I have no knowledge of, but I know that Baen, at least, sells on other platforms (including their own site), but then again, iirc, Baen was selling ebooks before there was a Kindle.
@HarmlessDave said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
Baen is a "real" publisher using the publisher tools for Kindle, not a "self-publisher" using KDP.
So the question is, what does it take for JNC to be a "real" publisher and be able to use the real publisher tools? It seems to me that the (potentially automated) efforts to police the self-publishers, who from what I can see ANYONE can sign up to be and publish any drivel they can think of (up to and including outright rips from other sources, at least until they get caught) is the cause of half or more of the issues here.
So on the one hand, they want to police the self-publishers, and yet you can find... "anime themed pillow covers" that are FAR worse than anything JNC puts out easily found by accident in Amazon. Often on the same page as the anime when searching for that anime. (shiver)
[should this be moved to another thread?] -
@Zehd The fact of the matter is that through KDP, J-Novel gets a 70% royalty from sales. If they were to become a "real" publisher, that royalty rate would significantly drop to levels that they would be making way less money, possibly even not even profitable. For a digital-focused company where 50% of their sales happen on Amazon, that high royalty rate is crucial.
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I have no inside knowledge on "graduating" from KDP to being a "real" Kindle publisher, but I suspect that annual sales is a part of it, at least for getting a decent revenue split as @myskaros mentioned.
Baen is small-ish for a traditional publisher, but it's a 37 year old company that has been a top publisher in the science fiction and fantasy genres for decades now.
JNC is doing a great job cranking out LN translations but that's a smaller niche and it's still a tiny company by comparison.
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I can notice that Magicmaster's JNC Premium Ebooks (Volumes 2, 4 and 5, at least) are now including the color illustrations at the back. Latest Der Werwolf didn't though.
Should I expect this to be the norm for Amazon-disapproved series?
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@Kalessin
As far as I know, Yen On/Press and even Seven Seas Entertainment do the same thing. Oves messeed up and bought a few LNs inlew of manga. But then again that first accident is what got me into LNs so I really can't complain. Everywhere you go it's always buyer beware so I don't get the big deal hear. -
@Terrence
JNC releases things so fast one or two oversights are a given. Given JNCs upstanding reputation it was most probably an honest mistake. -
@Crimson-Wise Till now not for Lazy Dungeon Master. But Volume 2 and 8 are still missing.
And to add to the list in the beginning. The first Volume of LDM is also missing from Amazon.
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@lighthawk96 What, you mean like having pretty much the same description for Average Abilities manga and novels, so you buy the wrong ones?
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@saskir said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
And to add to the list in the beginning. The first Volume of LDM is also missing from Amazon.
I can still see it and buy it fine.
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@myskaros said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
Before anyone jumps to conclusions, we received notification that these volumes "provided a misleading customer experience" i.e. some people were trying to find the manga and reported them.
That's some big brain logic for every Amazon listing I've come across searching for LNs that's just another manga entry.
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@Crimson-Wise moving forward, are color illustrations going to be put in the back of all volumes now, or are they only for the Kindle versions?
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I've had a few times when I meant to buy the next volume of a light novel and got the manga instead. At least one of those times it was from the "get the next volume" link at the end of a volume because Amazon linked it wrong.
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@SomeOldGuy What's even better is that sometimes when I click a link for a LN in the search results, it takes me to the Kindle page (cuz upsell or whatever); so I click the physical copy button and it takes me to physical copy of the same numbered volume of the manga. Ever since, I've started triple checking that I'm looking at what I'm expecting to look at.
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With Amazon I always have to be careful with a new title they've recommended to see whether it's LN or manga, since the title alone isn't enough. They mix in manga even if I put light novel in my search string.
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@SomeOldGuy
Nope. I always research the covers to the manga and LNs respectfully in their unedited Japanese format to make sure I'm buying the right one. -
For anyone trying to figure out what the light novel and manga volumes look like, Right Stuf makes it quite easy, because you can filter your search there or manga or light novels. So, even if you want to buy on Amazon, it can be a good way to make sure that you're getting the right version - though honestly, I'd just recommend buying from Right Stuf anyway, since their prices are better (at least during their sales), and their packaging is light years better than Amazon's. Of course, they don't work for Kindle books, but if you really want the Kindle version of something, Amazon is obviously your only choice.
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@Kalessin Only Kindle versions are being targeted, and many of J-Novel’s titles being hit are ebook only, like Magicmaster, Lazy Dungeon Master, Fake Fake Princess, etc, so Rightstuf won’t help you there (Also RS is only useful in the US since shipping fees are way too high everywhere else). Also kindle allows sending ebooks to their readers as long as the Drm is stripped. Buying JNC premium versions or Kobo (which can be stripped on Calibre) make it easy to convert to Mobi and send to Kindle.
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@myskaros said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
@saskir said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
And to add to the list in the beginning. The first Volume of LDM is also missing from Amazon.
I can still see it and buy it fine.
Nope not for me. It is missing in the german amazon. I don't find it on the website nor on the kindle webshop itself. Just checked my kindle and 1, 2 and 8 are missing. I only find 9 LDM Volumes including volume 12.
US, UK and FR Amazon has the first Volume. But not Germany.