Another DIRTY Kindle trick...a new low?

12 years ago

I predict that Kindle will become the new dumpster for trash now that EZA and most article directories are full of the trash of those that can't write or think for themselves. Why think or actually do any work when you can just steal some content, publish it on Kindle and become RICH!

Sad that there are people out there that are going to ruin it for legit writers in the IM niche... once again.

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Joseph Robinson

Banned 12 years ago

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Adam Roy

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe128139

The scammers have no morals and will do whatever it takes to make a quick buck. It must have been a nasty shock to see them selling your articles. Is there nothing Amazon can do about it?

I'm sure Mike sent (or will be sending) a DMCA notice to Amazon, which is basically a statement claiming he's the owner of the content, Amazon nor the kindle product creator have rights to use it, and therefore requesting that it be removed from the marketplace.

Chances are once they get that notice, they will take it out of the kindle marketplace.

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tpw

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe128139

The scammers have no morals and will do whatever it takes to make a quick buck. It must have been a nasty shock to see them selling your articles. Is there nothing Amazon can do about it?

And the people who teach them to do that kind of **** have no morals either. I salute those scumbags equally.

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Michael Oksa

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe128139

The scammers have no morals and will do whatever it takes to make a quick buck. It must have been a nasty shock to see them selling your articles. Is there nothing Amazon can do about it?

I will be sending them the required documentation, and will see what happens from there.

All the best,
Michael

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Joseph Robinson Banned 12 years ago

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- Michael Oksa 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Joe128139
  
  Hope they get whats coming to them man, nobody deserves their work stolen and their reputation wrongfully tainted.
  
  It's my reputation that's my biggest concern. People click the author link on the legitimate title, but then see things that were never meant for Kindle.
  
  Like I said, good information for what it was originally intended for, but not how it is now.
  
  I feel so besmirched!
  
  All the best,
  Michael
  
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Scott Ames

12 years ago

I wonder which WSO they learned that trick from...

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hotlinkz

12 years ago

Michael,

I totally agree with you about reporting this to Amazon. There is at
least one WSO that promotes this type "spam crap".

I predict that Amazon will soon be clamping down on the useless
content that's flooding in. There's a lot of bad PR being generated
with regards to Amazon Kindle Spam. If Amazon makes the right
changes, it will only make it better for authors who post value-added,
original content.

At $9.99, I doubt if this joker will ever get a sale. In the event that he/she
does, I'm more than sure it will be quickly followed by a refund request.

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Michael Oksa

12 years ago

Originally Posted by hotlinkz

Michael,

I totally agree with you about reporting this to Amazon. There is at
least one WSO that promotes this type "spam crap".

I predict that Amazon will soon be clamping down on the useless
content that's flooding in. There's a lot of bad PR being generated
with regards to Amazon Kindle Spam. If Amazon makes the right
changes, it will only make it better for authors who post value-added,
original content.

At $9.99, I doubt if this joker will ever get a sale. In the event that he/she
does, I'm more than sure it will be quickly followed by a refund request.

I agree, but the problem is that my name is attached, and the casual Kindle reader won't have a clue that this could be a stolen article.

Thank you for the support, I really appreiate it.

I also hope that enough people read this and check for their name on Kindle...

EVEN IF they have NEVER personally published to Kindle.

All the best,
Michael

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AmandaT

12 years ago

I actually noticed this too... I wrote an article on EZA about the pros and cons of being a work at home mom. I later turned this 1000 word article into a 10000 word report and was selling it for $3.99. I checked yesterday and noticed someone was selling the article it was based on for the same price under my name!

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christopher jon

12 years ago

Upon further investigation, it turns out that someone has taken one of my EZA articles and made it into a Kindle title (can't call it a book).

Sorry to say this, but just I totally LOL'd

Not that I condone or would suggest doing such a thing but just the fact that somebody had the balls to try it and that it worked.

Most of us are already aware of the many flaws with the Amazon Kindle marketplace but what's next... uploading a Lorum Ipsum masterpiece? Running Moby Dick through a spinner? Copy n' past Warrior Forum posts? <-- I bet somebody has already beat me to this one.

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LB

12 years ago

I suspect Amazon is going to go "scorched earth" very soon with Kindle as it is getting filled with trash.

I would expect stricter rules and mass bannings. Honestly, seeing what's occurring there, I can't blame them.

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Dwight Anthony

12 years ago

I bet it's the same guy with the sales page claiming you'll be carrying your wheelbarrow of cash this time tomorrow by clicking the easy button.

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HigherPrThanGod

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

Howdy Warriors,

Well, here's the deal...

I was recently checking out Kindle, and clicked on my author name.

The funny thing is that it listed several titles, but I only have one legitimate listed there.

Upon further investigation, it turns out that someone has taken one of my EZA articles and made it into a Kindle title (can't call it a book).

Okay...ANYBODY can get it for free at EZA...but this useless piece of refuse is charging $9.99 AND listing my name as the author. So, when people go to my "real" book and click the author name, they will see a few pieces of GARBAGE too.

That's not to say that the content is bad, but it can be had for free at EZA.

No wonder Amazon is looking to crack down.

I WILL be getting the proof I need and sending a copyright notice to Amazon for all of the questionable titles.

Oh...and before I forget...

A special "salute" to all of the scamming scum out there.

All the best,
Michael

If Kindle really wants to clean things up they should have all authors call in and send in a copy of their drivers license and social. The thieves won't mess with it, I bet. I uploaded two screenplays I wrote and have made an entire $11. But during the process I found it remarkably easy... Too easy?

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GarrieWilson

12 years ago

Doesn't the EZA TOS grant permission for people to republish?

-g

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Dennis Gaskill

12 years ago

Originally Posted by GarrieWilson

Doesn't the EZA TOS grant permission for people to republish?

-g

On websites and in newsletters, sure, but in book form? I don't think so, but I haven't looked. I don't think Amazon allows it anyway.

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CDarklock

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

On websites and in newsletters, sure, but in book form?

But is a Kindle publication a book?

Either way, I don't think you can sell an EZA article, or publish it without proper attribution and linkback.

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Michael Oksa

12 years ago

Originally Posted by CDarklock

But is a Kindle publication a book?

Either way, I don't think you can sell an EZA article, or publish it without proper attribution and linkback.

You can't sell it under any circumstances; proper attribution or otherwise.

All the best,
Michael

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CDarklock

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

You can't sell it under any circumstances; proper attribution or otherwise.

Exactly. "I don't think you can [sell an EZA article], or [publish it without proper attribution and linkback]."

Notice the comma, which makes this a very different sentence than "I don't think you can [sell an EZA article or publish it] without proper attribution and linkback."

My point was, even if you could sell an EZA article, the Kindle book would need to include a link to EZA, wouldn't it?

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Kevin AKA Hubcap

12 years ago

Methinks its time for Kindle to become more restrictive. I know ibooks (the Apple e-book store) requires an isbn as well as a tax id/social security number.

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celente

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Kevin AKA Hubcap

Methinks its time for Kindle to become more restrictive. I know ibooks (the Apple e-book store) requires an isbn as well as a tax id/social security number.

Yes i am from australia and had troubles setting this up.

I do not have those items, and was rejected from kindle a while back, but have since joined with partner in the US.

Not many sales yet, but I am learning so much.

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Dennis Gaskill 12 years ago

Originally Posted by CDarklock

But is a Kindle publication a book?

Either way, I don't think you can sell an EZA article, or publish it without proper attribution and linkback.

Amazon calls them books in some places, ebooks in others. Either way they are digital books. As others have pointed out, it's against both sites terms of service.
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Michael Oksa 12 years ago

Originally Posted by GarrieWilson

Doesn't the EZA TOS grant permission for people to republish?

-g

Read the TOS. It's easy to find. Here's the quote from EZA's TOS, regarding publishers:

Agree to never sell any article from the EzineArticles.com directory.

Agree to never charge others to view any article you reprint from our directory.

But I have a hunch you knew better.

All the best,
Michael
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- chumpschimps 12 years ago
  
  Would you not be entitled to claim some type of royalty commission?
  
  I really have no idea about the ins and outs, or legalities of this, but just wondered if it would stop people doing this sort of thing in future.
  
  I can understand your frustration at having your name linked to selling this stuff, especially, when you have your own legitimate book for sale on there.
  
  This is just wrong on so many levels. It's a shame when some people stoop so low to make a quick buck.
  
  Good luck in getting it sorted ASAP but I, for one, would be interested to know how you get on and how it's resolved.
  
  Thanks
  
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- GarrieWilson 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Michael Oksa
  
  But I have a hunch you knew better.
  
  All the best,
  Michael
  
  Actually, I didn't. Never read it. I just knew it allowed some republishing.
  
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  Michael Oksa 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by GarrieWilson
  
  Actually, I didn't. Never read it. I just knew it allowed some republishing.
  
  Ah, I see. No problem. As you can see, this whole incident has me a bit miffed.
  
  And, because you asked, maybe more people will see what EZA allows and doesn't allow. It's all good.
  
  All the best,
  Michael
  
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MikeE516

12 years ago

If someone can find a way to make a buck, they will.

It's amazing the lengths people go to that conjure up scams like this.

How pathetic.

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markowe

12 years ago

Disappointing. I am about to publish a short, quality "how-to" to Kindle and am concerned it might get ripped off and duplicated and resold on there under another name or something. I mean do they do NO checks on this stuff? It's going to be a heck of a job for Amazon to clean up all this junk, but I hope they start soon... In the meantime Kindle doesn't get my meatiest content, I'm keeping that for my back end. Too many people seeing Kindle as a repository of crap or stolen goods.

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Mike Ogbin

12 years ago

I totally agree with you "Michael Oksa" and all of the talkers that this kind of work stealing that are publishing in kindle is like a nightmares.

I totally notice that, and also these scammers stolen some books of mine. All they do is deleting my name change the titles and upload on kindle and claims that he created the book.

I talked to the amazon kindle support and they deleted these scammers craps and allow me to upload my books.

I am sure that amazon will optimize their amazon content and will stop these scammers that really low the quality of IM in general.

Thank you, I hope this will help you.

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Kraft 12 years ago

I'm sorry for your troubles, Michael.

I do have to ask how long this Kindle "bubble" can last, when complete works of classic authors are sold for 99 cents? Where's the catch? It can't all be about the lack of needing to produce a physical product.

Do enlighten me.
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markowe

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Chris Kent

What I wanna know is how they are making so much easy money out of repasted EZA articles.

Is this really possible?

Because I have 1,600 articles there and many of them have dropped out of the rankings and earn nothing. If I can simply copy and paste them to Amazon and make a ton of cash then I'm very interested!

Ha, I dunno about a ton of cash but there's nothing wrong with repurposing your content for another format. Though I feel there has to be some added value provided there - at the very least the material should be adapted so that it forms a whole, rather than seeming like a bunch of slapped-together, unrelated articles, which I have seen in ebooks before (though the Kindle spam gurus will no doubt tell you otherwise). But if I had that much material kicking around I would probably do the same.

However, if I buy any Kindle books I will be Googling phrases from the preview text before buying, to make sure the same material isn't already out there on the web somewhere

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BIG Mike

Banned 12 years ago

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kindsvater 12 years ago

Mike,

I went to the Kindle store at Amazon and clicked the Click to Look Inside "preview" option on "your" $9.99 title "Niche: 5 Reasons Why Niche Research Is Important".

What popped up was your license which said anyone can sell it for any price they want.

Is this your license or something someone else fraudulently added?

There was a 2nd title at $9.99 with the same license. I didn't see an EZA article.

---

Those free reports marketers tend to give out to get someone on a list, that include "throw away" rights to give or sell the report, not believing that anyone would actually sell it - well someone is.

A few weeks ago someone else had a similar complaint. Turned out they just never believed anyone would sell their report - and were stunned and upset to see it on the Kindle store.

Lesson: If you don't want someone to sell your report using your name, don't given them the license to do so.

Other lesson: to think about offering free reports with selling rights, and making sure your backend is properly described so you get some benefit when others sell them.

.
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cashcow

12 years ago

An EZA Article? What will they think of next? I hope they at least left your resource box in.

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Fernando Veloso

12 years ago

Sorry to hear this Michael, hope you get it solved fast.

But I do have one question: IF people KNEW there is a WSO promoting this **** WHY wasn't member reported, the wso deleted and seller banned from the forum?

Why? Probably cause no one reported him?

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Robert Boduch 12 years ago

Hi Michael...

It's unfortunate that stuff like this happens - particularly on Amazon. It's also rather sad that some are making money teaching people how to rip off the creative work of others. The masses are looking for the "easy button" as described here: Publishing Junk eBooks Is Not A Business Plan and some will take this to the extreme, which is outright theft.

You've done the right thing by reporting it to Amazon. You might have to follow-up with them to get action as they're seemingly swamped with requests from legitimate authors like you. But they will remove the offending listing - you can count on it.

My guess is that Amazon will make significant changes to the Kindle publishing platform to try and minimize the scumbag factor. Unfortunately there will always be those who prefer to steal from others instead of using their own creativity to create something original.

Robert
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CDarklock 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso

IF people KNEW there is a WSO promoting this **** WHY wasn't member reported, the wso deleted and seller banned from the forum?

There's a very broad definition people have of a WSO promoting this sh!t.

There are many WSOs pointing out that you can get all kinds of stuff free on the internet that gives you republication rights which include putting the content in a Kindle book.

It should pretty much go without saying that the overwhelming majority of content on the internet doesn't give you those rights, but some people are retarded and don't pay attention.

When I put out Zombie Blogging, I gave all kinds of information about exactly what to do and exactly why to do it.

A lot of people didn't pay any f!#king attention, and I got support requests ranging from "I only made two blogs and they don't make any money" (you're supposed to make several dozen) to "I had all my AdSense accounts deleted" (you're not supposed to have more than one) - with most of them orbiting "Google wants me to phone verify but I don't want to," which is sort of not up to us.

Similarly, when I put out Instant Product Copycat, I told people exactly what made this different from ripping people off or rehashing the same old crap. A lot of people didn't listen, and then blamed me for their own stupidity when they just copied and pasted someone else's product and got caught.

"I bought PLR to a WSO, stuck my own name on it, and started my own WSO but it got deleted." WTF, did you not even read the WSO rules? And since I bought that PLR myself, did you not see where the licence says "[NO] Can sell on the Warrior Forum or as a WSO" in plain English?

The PayPal issues around WSOs and WSO Pro are only part of my decision to close all my WSOs. There is a shocking amount of untargeted traffic being directed to the WSO forum. People are building single lists with adswaps, giveaways, and safelists across several niches... then sending those people to cheap WSOs without any indication that they are even qualified to run an online business.

What we have here is an interaction of perfectly sensible forces to create an undesirable effect. The WSO vendors are building good products to offer Warriors. The list-builders are looking for good products to send their lists, and being Warriors, see the value of those WSOs. And the list members trust the list-builder to send them good products.

But these are the wrong products for those list members. They assume a level of training, diligence, and support that these list members don't have, because they are not Warriors. So where another Warrior could come to the forum and say "hey, what do you think of this?" or PM the vendor to ask "hey, I'm not clear on this, what does it mean?" - these random, non-Warrior customers just scratch their head and make sh!t up.

I've been waving a hand about this for well over a year, but nobody gives a crap. We have good people selling good products in here, but the buyers aren't really Warriors. And that's not their fault. If I had to lay the blame somewhere, I'd say it belongs on the list owners who aren't sending properly targeted traffic... but we can't do anything about that. The list owners have to do something about it, and as long as they can make money NOT doing anything, they're not going to do anything.

Yeah, the WSO Pro affiliate program is a game changer, all right.
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Jack Duncan

12 years ago

Michael,
Sorry to hear about your problems with this scammer.

I also noticed this in the EZA Terms of Service as you mentioned earlier:

Agree to never sell any article from the EzineArticles.com directory.

One thought I did have though...is there any chance that you submitted the same article to more than one article directory that had a different TOS?

I'm not at all implying that it would make the offense valid...just had a that thought since it may be a factor?

Anyway...hope you can get everything straitened out with Amazon shortly!

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lastreporter

12 years ago

I have had some success on Kindle selling my own authored books since 2008. I do pretty well, but I have to say now that more and more scumbags are inundating Kindle with their crap and their dirty tactics, it could seriously affect my income.

If I may elaborate:

I have one very successful e-book that has been rated 5 for months because two customers rated it that way -- not me or anyone I know.

It has been in the top 5 in its niche for months, but last night someone using five different first names gave it 5 1 star reviews.

This has already affected the sales since it happened.

Now, of course, I contacted Amazon, but it could take weeks or months for them to get around to checking into it. Meanwhile, I suspect another competing publisher has gravely hurt my sales.

I have noticed this specific tactic being used a lot on Kindle lately, because other small publishers are complaining about it.

Some blame the spammers; some say it is larger publishers trying to eliminate lower-priced books.

I do not know. All I know is I work 7 days a week like many of you; I am honest and I provide good content.

It is frustrating.

This is one reason I have been publishing more on Barnes and Noble lately. Amazon is the wild West.

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Lyanna

12 years ago

Originally Posted by lastreporter

I have had some success on Kindle selling my own authored books since 2008. I do pretty well, but I have to say now that more and more scumbags are inundating Kindle with their crap and their dirty tactics, it could seriously affect my income.

If I may elaborate:

I have one very successful e-book that has been rated 5 for months because two customers rated it that way -- not me or anyone I know.

It has been in the top 5 in its niche for months, but last night someone using five different first names gave it 5 1 star reviews.

This has already affected the sales since it happened.

Now, of course, I contacted Amazon, but it could take weeks or months for them to get around to checking into it. Meanwhile, I suspect another competing publisher has gravely hurt my sales.

I have noticed this specific tactic being used a lot on Kindle lately, because other small publishers are complaining about it.

Some blame the spammers; some say it is larger publishers trying to eliminate lower-priced books.

I do not know. All I know is I work 7 days a week like many of you; I am honest and I provide good content.

It is frustrating.

This is one reason I have been publishing more on Barnes and Noble lately. Amazon is the wild West.

I have heard about this particular trick, many writers have complained about it. It's a dirty trick but it's hard to stop, people can just make new accounts...

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lastreporter

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Lyanna

I have heard about this particular trick, many writers have complained about it. It's a dirty trick but it's hard to stop, people can just make new accounts...

Yup, it is impossible to stop, unless Amazon really wanted to. But dealing with Amazon is sort of like this: you often are better living with your problems then contacting them.

What concerns me about this trend is that I can envision some sweat shop in a third-world country churning out these bad reviews on the behalf of a huge publisher intent on eliminating independent publishers.

But, to your point: It is a tactic being seen more and more on Amazon.com

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Lyanna

12 years ago

Originally Posted by lastreporter

Yup, it is impossible to stop, unless Amazon really wanted to. But dealing with Amazon is sort of like this: you often are better living with your problems then contacting them.

What concerns me about this trend is that I can envision some sweat shop in a third-world country churning out these bad reviews on the behalf of a huge publisher intent on eliminating independent publishers.

But, to your point: It is a tactic being seen more and more on Amazon.com

Yeah, I read Amazon reviews a lot and with certain books that have a weird pattern, for example like 5 star reviews then a whole bunch of new 1 star reviews all on the same day it clearly does show that someone is manipulating results for their own gain.

The opposite also happens.

This guy Stanek (just one example, probably not even the worst out there) is pretty famous for writing hundreds of anonymous 5-star reviews for his books on Amazon:

A Guide to Ethical Self-Promotion (David Louis Edelman)

That's not my website, just something Amazon reviewers are familiar with.

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Kecia

12 years ago

It's a bit sad that Amazon didn't foresee problems like these and put stricter requirements in to place before opening the Kindle publishing system. All of this is making them look bad by "allowing" stolen/PLR/duplicate content to be sold on their site.

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sbucciarel

Banned 12 years ago

Amazing. Seems like if someone actually DID buy an ebook that was just an eza article for $9.99, surely they would ask for a refund?

Sucks someone would do this using someone else's name.

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Michael Oksa

12 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Amazing. Seems like if someone actually DID buy an ebook that was just an eza article for $9.99, surely they would ask for a refund?

Sucks someone would do this using someone else's name.

I'm not 100% sure, but I was under the impression that Kindle titles are non-refundable; making it even worse.

All the best,
Michael

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sbucciarel Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

I'm not 100% sure, but I was under the impression that Kindle titles are non-refundable; making it even worse.

All the best,
Michael

I've got one Kindle ebook out and it has had 1 refund according to the reports in the dashboard.
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JohnMcCabe

12 years ago

Michael, is there any way you can add a disclaimer to the description of the "real" ebook? Something like 'beware of pirated imitations being sold under my name" or the like?

lastreporter, the same might apply to you, and even give you another point of promotion. Speak to the 'tinfoil hat' crowd, and claim that 'they' may be trying to suppress you by using phony negative reviews.

Originally Posted by Chris Kent

Because I have 1,600 articles there and many of them have dropped out of the rankings and earn nothing. If I can simply copy and paste them to Amazon and make a ton of cash then I'm very interested!

Chris, you own that content. When you posted it to EZA, you gave them a rather broad license, but you still own it.

If they have enough substance, you might try selling individual articles for $0.99 and collections of related articles for a higher price. I can't speak for the Kindle, but I have purchased collections of previously published articles and columns in 'dead tree' form...

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rockyonfire

12 years ago

It is only a matter before they will start taking serious action.

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Joe Mobley 12 years ago

Mike,

You may already do this but I have a few Google alerts with variations of my name and some e-books I have created. I usually know what's going on within a few hours or so.

Why do you think I sign my name to posts?

I just thinking.

Joe Mobley
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- gfMedia 12 years ago
  
  With all the buzz going on related to the loads of crap being uploaded to Kindle, I took it upon myself to do some research on the costs involved to get a "professional" manuscript produced.
  
  What I found is a little surprising. There are many services that offer professional formatting and cover art as well as editing and sometimes marketing for $100's to $1,000's of dollars. One premium service cost $1,999.
  
  I'm sure these services produce excellent results. I'd think that any legitimate author who really wants to do well on Kindle would be willing to pay even a small fee to be "qualified" to upload their work to Kindle.
  
  I predict that a fee will be charged for each title in the very near future.
  
  Edit: Michael, I almost forgot to say I'm truly sorry you have to deal with this mess.
  
  Thanks
  
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pcpupil

12 years ago

Mike,
You did not answer Kindsvaters statement.
Post 27.

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