Kindle versions of BFS journal and other publications

[CarolineC]

Now, is there any chance I can get the recent back issues in electronic format too?

I'm not sure but I think Cav might be the person you need to ask about that, Dave.

[Stephen Theaker]

It depends on the kind of Kindle you have. I still get charged at least 20p a time for each document emailed to my 3G Kindle - some huge pdfs that Netgalley.com emailed to my Kindle cost me £2 each. I've seen 20MB+ Prism files - imagine how much that would cost if it was sent to my Kindle! So the BFS encouraged people to provide their free addresses so that, whatever version they have, they wouldn't accidentally incur huge Amazon charges. For people who have wi-fi Kindles it wouldn't make any difference anyway - the @free.kindle.com address usually just comes straight through to your Kindle. For people with 3G Kindles you get an email saying the file is waiting for download on Amazon.

Having said all that, the reason the BFS was asking for Kindle addresses at all was that David used to provide the Kindle versions by emailing a Word file to our Kindle addresses for conversion. I think David also mentioned on the forum that he wanted to email the journal straight to our Kindles for security reasons.

But now the BFS is producing actual ebooks of the BFS Journal and emailing those out (rather than relying on Amazon's conversion service as it did at first), there's no reason they couldn't just be emailed to our ordinary email addresses. We could forward the books to our Kindles and iPads ourselves. That would also let members who don't have Kindles receive and store ebook versions of the journal (and read them using other apps), and let people who have things like Sony Readers convert them to epub for their own use.

[cavscott]

I can send you the last one as a Kindle file David, but before that I'm afraid I don't have access to the files.

[cavscott]

That's the idea Stephen. I'm wanting to provide a mobi version, an epub and a pdf version for tablets. Just looking into the best way to distribute them.

Cheers,

Cav

[Stephen Theaker]

Sounds ace.

[Selina]

Be lovely to have an epub version 

[cavscott]

Then your wish is my command - from this issue the Journal will be available as an epub, PDF or mobi file to every member of the BFS.

This does mean that delivery method will change however. We will no longer be emailing the mobi files direct to your kindles. What will happen is that you will receive an email with links that will allow you to download the format you require.

The emails should be sent out in the next week or so.

If anyone has any questions just shout!

C

[Stephen Theaker]

Brilliant!

[Jen]

Ooh, nifty! Good one! 

[Debbie]

Nice! But what's to stop Joe Bloggs from forwarding the email to all his mates so they can download a free copy without being a member? Or is it all going to link into the new online membership thingy that Del was working on? That would be really clever.

[cavscott]

At the moment, unfortunately there's nothing to stop that.

This is a stop-gap solution while we wait for a replacement for Del. Ultimately, the idea is to have the ebook versions safely behind a members-only area although that won't be ready in time for this.

Until then this is the best way of distributing the content.

Of course, there's nothing to stop Joe Bloggs currently passing on his digital edition or indeed just leading his mates his physical copy of the journal.

C

[jared]

Nice! But what's to stop Joe Bloggs from forwarding the email to all his mates so they can download a free copy without being a member?

I think that's the risk that all DRM-free ebooks run. But the authors don't get royalties and there are no sales of the journal to lose, so this is pretty much the optimum situation to digitise something.

The only risk run is that there may be people that would join the BFS solely for access to our publications, and now they won't because they can steal them instead. And I'm guessing that's not a huge number. So all things considered, I'd go for it!

(But then, I'm an iconoclast in favor of axing the printed publication entirely. I'm still shocked by the budgetary revelation at the Xmas meeting. We spend, what, 75% of our dues on printing and postage? That's a lot of events / grants / beers / etc. In fact, would membership rather be paid for contributions to an electronic journal or write for free for a print one?)

(And... that's my unsolicited soapbox rant of the day.)

[David A. Riley]

Nice! But what's to stop Joe Bloggs from forwarding the email to all his mates so they can download a free copy without being a member?

I think that's the risk that all DRM-free ebooks run. But the authors don't get royalties and there are no sales of the journal to lose, so this is pretty much the optimum situation to digitise something.

The only risk run is that there may be people that would join the BFS solely for access to our publications, and now they won't because they can steal them instead. And I'm guessing that's not a huge number. So all things considered, I'd go for it!

(But then, I'm an iconoclast in favor of axing the printed publication entirely. I'm still shocked by the budgetary revelation at the Xmas meeting. We spend, what, 75% of our dues on printing and postage? That's a lot of events / grants / beers / etc. In fact, would membership rather be paid for contributions to an electronic journal or write for free for a print one?)

(And... that's my unsolicited soapbox rant of the day.)

I think it's rather good that the bulk of the membership fees get spent on publications. For most members that's all they really get back from the society. I don't know how many make regular use of the website and/or forum, but looking at the forum that's definitely a tiny minority. I doubt if more than a minority would want their publications digitally either and, if they do, how many would expect a reduction in membership fees in return?

[Stephen Theaker]

Yeah, paying for printing and postage of the publications is exactly what the subs have always been for, with a bit going towards the awards, short story competition etc. The irony is that there is rarely any sign that anyone actually reads those publications!

At some point the BFS will introduce ebook-only memberships at a much reduced rate. The membership/value for money ratio is out of whack at the moment - I paid £40 for joint membership for Ranjna and me, and for that we'll get something like four or five paperback zines? It compares really badly with, say, a joint sub to Black Static/Interzone.

If the BFS would let me be a member without making me pay for the print & postage I don't even want, it would be much better value...

[David A. Riley]

Yeah, paying for printing and postage of the publications is exactly what the subs have always been for, with a bit going towards the awards, short story competition etc. The irony is that there is rarely any sign that anyone actually reads those publications!

At some point the BFS will introduce ebook-only memberships at a much reduced rate. The membership/value for money ratio is out of whack at the moment - I paid £40 for joint membership for Ranjna and me, and for that we'll get something like four or five paperback zines? It compares really badly with, say, a joint sub to Black Static/Interzone.

If the BFS would let me be a member without making me pay for the print & postage I don't even want, it would be much better value...

I must admit I rarely if ever read any of the fiction in the Journal. The articles, interviews, Ramsey's Rant, etc, etc are all I normally look at. For me, we could either publish a much shorter version of the Journal without any fiction or, now being the proud possessor of a kindle, an ebook version would be fine - at a reduced membership fee. When Dark Horizons was first published it was an excellent vehicle for members to get their stories published, but nowadays, with so many small presses, perhaps there's no longer so much of a need. Would members miss the fiction? Could we get away with a slimmed down Journal and a much smaller membership fee? Would this not, in fact, make membership of the BFS more attractive?