I have a question about buying a #book on #amazon that I'm hoping people on Fedi can clarify: I believe I saw an author complaining that if Amazon ran low on the stock of their (new) book they would instead produce a poor-quality print-on-demand version and send that to the customer. Can anyone confirm whether this is the case and under what circumstances it happens?
I don't buy books (or anything else, if I can help it) on Amazon, so I have no personal experience. If I can get accurate information on this, though, I'd like to share it with people who do, since I think this is a deceptive practice.
@funguy2playwith Thanks! Hopefully someone else can suggest something written, which would be easier to refer people to (or quote), but I'll take a look at the video.
"KDP prints your book on demand and subtracts your printing costs from your royalties. That means you don't have to pay any costs upfront or carry any inventory."
Here is the pricing guide for hardcover (soft is there as well).
@internic I think that'll be up to the deal they have with the publisher.
With some publishers you get a high quality print-on-demand from the publisher's usual manufacturer, indistinguishable from what you'd get if you ordered direct from the publisher.
The bug that Amazon's web site would always show print on demand books as "out of print" - apparently because Amazon themselves held zero stock - was fixed some time ago.
@internic
Not sure of the circumstances but 100% yes, they do sell you crappy print-on-demand books sometimes.
I think it is more for the self-published authors and less for the NYT bestsellers but they are not immune either.
#AngelaCollier has a good rant on this:
https://youtu.be/aNTf-nxM2jw?si=zs9sUUq3rqfezRBI