Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

It is with regret that I have been asked by amazon.com and KDP (kindle direct publishing) to remove one of the editions of The Ecstasy. The amazon.com-KDP license agreement states that if there are more than one listing of a book they must be significantly different. In that the main difference between the Standard Edition and the Valentine's Day 2013 is the cover, they have determined this is not enough difference and can cause a less than desirable experience for their customers or confusion.

It is my opinion that The Valentine's Day Edition is a historical work of literature. It was the very first version and publication of The Ecstasy. Along with its sentimental value, I have used it as a means to offer the novel at a lower price point for people on a tighter budget, in a sense offering a sliding scale pricing of the novel, through The Valentine's Day Edition.

I will instead publish it (in ebook form) through a different channel such as Barnes & Noble or iBook. As of this date you can still purchase the 8"x5" paperback version of The Valentine's Day Edition.

The author is in a peculiar situation now, granted it's nothing life threatening or financially devastating, in that under his current contract with KDP The Valentine's Day Edition must be considered to be in their 90 day KDP Select program, even though I've unpublished it. At least that is the message the website gave me when I unpublished The Valentine's Day Edition.

The legal twist I'm faced with now is that that edition can not be available anywhere else to be eligible for the KDP Select program. So even though I've unpublished it at their request, their rules are keeping it in the KDP Select program for 90 day and I'm hesitant to make it available anywhere else until that 90 days has expired. It's one of those catch 22 situations and I don't feel like haggling with the KDP customer support. They'll just refer me to the licensing agreement rather than use their own free will, responsibility, authority and common sense to totally release the edition from KDP Select so I can publish it through another channel and the public can still purchase it.

As Sheryl the clonebot would say, "Cowards! All of them!"

Happy Holidays!
Norman John – Author of The Ecstasy