Since I've been suffering eye strain lately, I've been investigating e-readers. Only the el cheapo Chinese variety are readily available in SA, the one I want (Nook) is not available in SA& downloads from B&N are impossible, and the Sony has got quite a bit of bad press. So I sort of settled on a Kindle. I never really gave much thought to how I was going to pay for it, I just knew I wanted one.
Then this week I checked my royalty statement from TWRP and did a double take. I emailed them a query on why my Kindle royalties are calculated on $3, when the book is listed on Amazon as $5. I got a very nice reply from them yesterday explaining that they regularly get this complaint from Non-US authors. Apparently Amazon loads a surcharge for buyers outside the US. Neither the publisher nor author sees a cent of this!
Grrr to the Amazon monopoly and the fact that they restrict you to buying from them (though I gather there are ways around this).
So I fired back an email saying "thanks, but that just put the nail in the coffin. I won't buy a Kindle and support Amazon if they're going to charge me extra for every purchase".
Last night at dinner with my writing group, and again at work this morning, I spouted off about the evils of Amazon and how I plan to boycott them.
Then at lunch time, as I headed out to fetch the kids from school, I bumped into my director in the car park. He has just arrived back from a holiday in New York. I said "thanks for the gift" - meaning the miniature statue of the Empire State Building I found on my desk this morning - and he says "no, that's not your real gift" and hands me a Kindle.
I'm in love! Not with my director, of course, but with my shiny new e-reader. (Though Dean is definitely a super special person for being so generous).
And this is how The Secret works. You put out the intention, you don't think too much about it ... and voila.
One e-reader and one ecstatically happy Romy.
I'm a big fan of The Secret - recently I've started reflexology treatments and my reflexologist recommended it! So glad she did, j
ReplyDeleteThat is exciting. I'm believe in positive thinking too (Love The Secret). Congrats on the Kindle. A friend of mine loves her.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Amazon. They're so big, they're scary and can do almost anything they want. Can't say much, who wants to get banned from their site? :-)