I talk to Amazon a lot- by email, by live chat, and even by phone. They are always charming and polite and promise to do something. However, getting something changed on the mighty Amazon is like swimming through treacle, or as an acquaintance whose word-hoard I envy, once said, "It's like pinning jelly-fish to clouds."
I have had two problems with them recently. One concerns the fact that they list The Boy with Two Heads as out of stock, when we know that people have ordered it from local bookshops, and we ourselves have a (rapidly diminishing) pile of copies. They also say they don't know who the publisher is. Well, durr- they've been talking to me! Me- the publisher!
Yay!- it's in the top 100 already (or in a top 100) and this is in spite of the fact they say it's "out of stock."
The message is- don't be put off, order it anyway, and we hope and believe you will enjoy this lively and gripping new read.
The other problem is potentially more serious. When you search for Carla Nayland's Paths of Exile on Amazon.co.uk, you will not at first see this striking cover,
but the one that went out of print some time ago. You can still find the Trifolium Books 2011 edition, but t you have to expand the information in the formats box by clicking on the + sign. Obviously, I would prefer that you buy Trifolium Books' edition, but not just because it's got a handsomer cover, and a better layout, but because I will be able to pay royalties to the author. As the publisher of the earlier edition, Quaestor 2000, has ceased to trade, I have no idea who now receives the profits from any sales, but I guess it won't be the publisher, and I know it isn't the author!
So the message here is simple too- if you want a copy of this gritty and gripping book, buy either the edition on the right, or the Kindle version of the same edition.
Amazon I hope will eventually get the message that they should not be selling out of print POD books!
