Amazon to pay authors in its library program by pages read

[dixiegrrrrl]

This news bit raises one very burning question, and I am curious to see how many identify it.

SAN FRANCISCO — In a move that places a new priority on 'page-turner,' Amazon on July 1 will begin paying authors in its Kindle library program by the number of pages read, and not the number of times a book is checked out.
The change appears to affect only ebooks self-published on Amazon that authors made available through the company's Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners' Lending Library programs.
some authors will be paid by only the number of pages the borrower has actually read. (No cheating, Amazon's got an algorithm to check for that.)

Authors also can't pad books by choosing a larger font size. Amazon's created the "Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count," which measures pages by a standard font, line height and line spacing system.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/06/22/amazon-pages-read-kindle-owners-lending-library-payment/29110803/

[HassleCat]

1. I guess they had to

I suppose some authors were sitting at their computers, checking out books to fake persons, just to pad their paychecks.

[herding cats]

2. How close an eye are they keeping on me if they even know how many pages of a book I read?

That's probably not what you're thinking of, but it was my takeaway as a reader.

Are they only keeping track of what my page counts on the books which meet this limited criteria, or is this more information they've been gathering about me in regards to everything I read?

[Logical]

3. They do it so if i switch devices they can take me to where i was! nt

[herding cats]

4. So if my WiFi is disabled then the author doesn't get paid?

I keep it off most of the time on my e-reader to save my battery. Actually, I only enable it when I'm downloading an item.

[Logical]

7. Maybe, but at some point you will have it back on. Nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. That is EXACTLY the burning question.

I keep thinking about the woman who had a dispute with Amazon, with the result that Amazon removed all her Kindle books from her Kindle, much to her shock.

The Kindle and the Nook ( I have the Nook) store copies of your purchased e-books in "the cloud".
They tout this as a boon to you.
Whenever you access wi-fi on your e-reader, they can "see" it, and I assume grab any info they want while you are online.
As I posted some time ago, Amazon claims you do not really own the e-book, you are paying the purchase price as a "fee" to access the copyright holder's material in the book.

[herding cats]

6. Well, this sucks.

It's just one more area of my life where I'm being mined for information that someone else is making a profit off. I'm sure there's some sort of market out there for the info of when you start a book and can't seem to wade your way past the first few chapters.

I still buy hard copies of the authors I collect. I do read all my "fluff" authors through digital media, though. I admit I would still be highly ticked off if Amazon decided to delete my books. I paid a full print copy price for many of them after all. If it's a limited license to access the material then I should be getting a substantial discount.

[Johonny]

8. So I'll go from getting paid ~0$ for my downloads to ~0$ for the pages read.

It makes you not want to enroll in the programs...

[Cal Carpenter]

9. This is for self-published authors only

who self-published through Amazon's services. (eg createspace).

Just want to point that out, because that is a vastly different scenario than if it were for all the ebooks from actual publishers.

Not saying that makes it okay by any means. I am a firm believer that art work IS work and deserves to be compensated. Amazon's self-publishing service (along with most self-publishing companies) is basically a scam for anyone who isn't doing a vanity project.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Right.

And Amazon would never put pressure on publishers to make a buck...

Well, except for that thing with Hatchett Publishing House, which I am sure was just a....anomaly.

[Cal Carpenter]

11. I think you mean Hachette?

And no, it wasn't an anomaly. In fact, I don't think their recent negotiations with Penguin Random House would have finished so quickly if Amazon hadn't played so tough with Hachette last year.

I think you may have misunderstood something in my post, I'm really not sure what you are getting at.

I was just pointing out that, according to the excerpt you posted, "The change appears to affect only ebooks self-published on Amazon"

Issues with contracts between Amazon and the traditional publishers is a different issue.