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When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

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Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#41

Post by GJim »

watwut wrote: post #33
aleph_minus_one wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Children a quite capable of understanding something was written at a different time. Even if some person is certain that this is not the case, the child's parents hopefully are capable of explaining this to their children. :-)

Even if it was the case, but it is kind of massively easier to pick a book where you do not have to explain that. Sometimes you just want to read a book and children books are not all that much fun for adults anyway. You might not want to then have to go into explaining that racism was normal for the author, but we think differently jadda jadda ... it is additional completely pointless complication for what was suppo…

I could not disagree with you more.

It is something you will need to explain to children at some point, and doing so over a light hearted story is an ideal approach. Shying away from the difficulties of bringing up a child isn't something you should be doing.

Besides, the best children's books are also fun for adults! (I raise you Roald Dahl's 'Boy' and Judith Kerr's 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea')

Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#42

Post by dsr_ »

drakonka wrote: post #11
carlosjobim wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Likewise, covers and blurbs go out of date and need to be refreshed once in a while. Why? The reader understand that they are from another time.

Genre fiction readers usually do not want something that obviously comes from another time. They want something that is just unique enough to catch the eye, but largely similar to whatever cover trends are currently popular.

I think you completely misunderstand.

The people who want to read the complete Travis McGee series don't want updated covers. They want complete metadata and good search tools, so they can figure out that The Long Lavender Look comes before A Tan and Sandy Silence. The folks who are trying to hunt down ebooks of all the non-Fleming James Bond novels don't care much about the covers.

And if your epub reader software doesn't allow you to change the CSS to your own preferences, it's badly under-featured.

"Obviously comes from another time" is either a non-issue or a feature, not a bug.

Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#43

Post by djoldman »

shagie wrote: post #35
djoldman wrote: post #29

> And sometimes we’re not sure if what we’re seeing even is an error. The following passage, from Philip K. Dick, displays a lot of creative use of language, but the “zommed” in the third line — while matching the print book — seems a bit suspect. Should it be “zoomed”? How can we know? Strictly for possible typos: if the author is alive, ask them, otherwise leave it. > Sometimes a book is completely accurate at the…

Back in college, I recall a professor saying that German students of philosophy would learn English to be able to read Nietzsche in translation rather than as it was written. (Upon reflection, it might have been Kant - https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/a/28743 ) My latin was too rusty to be able to read Meditations on First Philosophy as it was written. ( https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23306 ). A translation fro…

This isn't a problem.

The translation is a new work.

The original work in the original language stays frozen.

Incidentally, the translation is treated the same and is frozen in the same manner.

Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#44

Post by hoten »

dacryn wrote: post #31
alpinisme wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s never really resonated with me either. But I think this thread has a good example in it: a patent not wanting their child to read a book in which people consider “you” to be an acceptable costume (making you feel strange or uncomfortable, since kids often don’t like being singled out or noted as different — especially not in a way meant to exaggerate and lean in to stereotypes). This is doubly true when the kids…

ah come on. It's halloween. Brothers dress up as their sisters, sisters dress up as their brothers, kids dress up as their neighbours. You are an acceptable costume. Face it. But context matters. The reading kid is not singled out, nobody is making this negative. It could also be perceived as a celebration 'hey I want to be like my adopted asian sister, she is cool'. Live and let live, and give context if the kid is…

Kids dress up as their siblings?

Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#45

Post by drakonka »

dsr_ wrote: post #42
drakonka wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genre fiction readers usually do not want something that obviously comes from another time. They want something that is just unique enough to catch the eye, but largely similar to whatever cover trends are currently popular.

I think you completely misunderstand. The people who want to read the complete Travis McGee series don't want updated covers. They want complete metadata and good search tools, so they can figure out that The Long Lavender Look comes before A Tan and Sandy Silence. The folks who are trying to hunt down ebooks of all the non-Fleming James Bond novels don't care much about the covers. And if your epub reader software d…

I'm sure this is true for some (maybe even many) readers, but this simply is not reflective of the larger genre fiction market today.

Most genre fiction authors, even those making a great living, are not writing the next Travis McGee - they're writing thrillers, mysteries, or romance series that will not get Wikipedia pages or be turned into TV adaptations. Readers will not discover their books thinking "Oh yeah, Series X by that Obscure Author Y, I want to read that specifically."

Instead, they will stumble across a book in their chosen genre on their Amazon search (or top 100 list) or a BookBub promo. At best, they'll see a recommendation on TikTok or a readers facebook group. Hopefully that book will catch their interest with a solid on-market cover and blurb. They will read it, and then (hopefully) check out the rest of the author's backlist from there - judging those books' blurbs and covers as well. If the author is lucky and skilled, the reader will turn into a superfan and sign up for their newsletter, making it easier to sell them new books in the future.

Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#46

Post by NeoTar »

allturtles wrote: post #40
djoldman wrote: post #29

> And sometimes we’re not sure if what we’re seeing even is an error. The following passage, from Philip K. Dick, displays a lot of creative use of language, but the “zommed” in the third line — while matching the print book — seems a bit suspect. Should it be “zoomed”? How can we know? Strictly for possible typos: if the author is alive, ask them, otherwise leave it. > Sometimes a book is completely accurate at the…

> Sometimes a book is completely accurate at the time of publication, but becomes factually inaccurate over time, giving the wrong dates for the beginning of daylight saving time or an incorrect planetary status for Pluto. > Should we fix these factual errors? Do we need the author’s input? What if the author is dead, the agent is retired, and the editor has left the company? Should we fix them silently or with some…

It depends on the book.

If it is a novel, then clearly not. A fact-book, that lists the current heads-of-state of all world nations, then possibly yes.

It's ultimately a decision for the author/publisher for each book. Is this a living text that should be kept up-to-date, or a historical record - after all, a book which lists all of the heads-of-state in 1958 is also valuable for different contexts.

Perhaps more importantly - if a book says something dangerous - like a cook-book saying "add a few flakes of cyanide for flavour" is that grounds for an update, or editors note in an otherwise historical record text?

Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#48

Post by GJim »

dml2135 wrote: post #28
aleph_minus_one wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My daughters are Asian I wouldn't buy them a children's book where "be Chinese" is considered an acceptable Halloween costume. There also exist people who would rather avoid buying books where the publisher changed the content in 1984 style to appease the woke moaners.

Also consider that maybe the parent comment would not have bought the book in 1984 either, for the same reason.

> would not have bought the book in 1984 either

In a conversation about censorship being used to alter past events, I'm somewhat surprised you didn't understand the reference. Can I suggest this is a book you read as a matter of some importance:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#49

Post by bombcar »

djoldman wrote: post #43
shagie wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in college, I recall a professor saying that German students of philosophy would learn English to be able to read Nietzsche in translation rather than as it was written. (Upon reflection, it might have been Kant - https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/a/28743 ) My latin was too rusty to be able to read Meditations on First Philosophy as it was written. ( https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23306 ). A translation fro…

This isn't a problem. The translation is a new work. The original work in the original language stays frozen. Incidentally, the translation is treated the same and is frozen in the same manner.

Exactly. And each offers its own perspective and has its own value.

Sure, if you could only have one you'd want the original work in the original language, but that isn't as accessible as translations and other enhancements/improvements.

For example, Euclid's Elements in the original language has no diagrams; almost every translation and even reprints with the original have diagrams added. And those diagrams haven't been without controversy, either.

Re: When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)

#50

Post by GJim »

NeoTar wrote: post #46
allturtles wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sometimes a book is completely accurate at the time of publication, but becomes factually inaccurate over time, giving the wrong dates for the beginning of daylight saving time or an incorrect planetary status for Pluto. > Should we fix these factual errors? Do we need the author’s input? What if the author is dead, the agent is retired, and the editor has left the company? Should we fix them silently or with some…

It depends on the book. If it is a novel, then clearly not. A fact-book, that lists the current heads-of-state of all world nations, then possibly yes. It's ultimately a decision for the author/publisher for each book. Is this a living text that should be kept up-to-date, or a historical record - after all, a book which lists all of the heads-of-state in 1958 is also valuable for different contexts. Perhaps more impo…

> A fact-book, that lists the current heads-of-state of all world nations, then possibly yes.

It's a book, not a web page!

I have old astronomy books that indicate the visual appearance of Mars changes due to seasonal vegetation! This was obviously updated in later editions; the old edition remains as an important historical record of what we once thought.

> if a book says something dangerous

Old editions of the 'Home Doctor' recommended using petrol to treat headlice. Granted this is probably more dangerous than the advice given by some modern heath guru's diet books.

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