swan480 wrote:
I think it's fine. Doug himself frequently posted when books were no longer free. It's helpful and polite and I'm sure there are people who appreciate it.
I didn't read each and every post of that thread, yet I don't recall a single syllable of protest when Doug made note of books' freebie status.
In fact, he occasionally made time and expended effort to post a detailed update of all recent freebies.
I did find it helpful to know the approximate length of freebie status and found it interesting to note the differences between publishers in that regard. As with much of the knowledge shared by DP, it was a plus.
Considering recent dire and dour declarations of death assigned to Doug's thread, I - for one - am so pleased to see that participation continues that I am not put off by the 'no longer free' notices. If that's as Off Topic as it gets, it's all good.
JMO, of course.
@ beeyebickiebuy:
Congrats!
At the risk at jinxing your efforts, I note it appears that you ( & others) may have defeated the Angel of Death and prolonged the life of Doug's thread. Thanks.
Sardonicus wrote:...Considering recent dire and dour declarations of death assigned to Doug's thread, I - for one - am so pleased to see that participation continues that I am not put off by the 'no longer free' notices. If that's as Off Topic as it gets, it's all good.
JMO, of course.
...
Nor am I, as that is a small price to pay for the thread to survive. I just brought it up for discussion to determine if I was the only one out here who did not see value in the "no longer free" notices.
Also, thanks for the kudos Sardonicus. I hope that we all continue to work to keep Doug's valuable thread going.
Sardonicus wrote:I didn't read each and every post of that thread, yet I don't recall a single syllable of protest when Doug made note of books' freebie status.
So you're saying someone can't possibly hold an opinion if they haven't expressed it? I don't really think you mean that.
Most just probably figured [well, I maybe I can't say that. I'll just say "I figured"] that since he devised the concept of the thread, created the thread, maintained the thread he had the right to do as he pleased in that thread. If he thought it was in the spirit of the thread, it was - even if I didn't agree. Much like Smashwords books. 
Colleen_Rose wrote:I guess this a good way to keep the OT thread bumped, but the topic seems a little silly, IMO.
I love how I often feel like I am reading religous or legal debates. Doug's words have come down from on high and we debate the meaning, intention, etc
From Doug 3:16 "Thou shalt not post free Smashwords nook books, unless you want to"
swan480 wrote:Everyone's been screaming about wanting it back the way he had it, and then you jump my @$$ for pointing out that the newest complaint is about something he did, too? He clearly thought those posts were worthwhile, and yes, I agree with him.
I didn't "jump your ___." I was merely pointing out that you've had no use for "the way Doug did it" up to this point, even to the point of calling those who'd like things that way "rude." All of a sudden something that someone else doesn't get is something you find valuable and your defense is "Doug did it???
You can't claim that "Doug did it" doesn't mean anything now and then cling to "Doug did it" as a justification.
For the record, I didn't find any value when Doug did it - although I didn't complain about it - and I still don't. I also don't see anyone here demanding that it stop, just two posters questioning its usefulness.
beeyebickiebuy wrote:
Colleen_Rose wrote:I guess this a good way to keep the OT thread bumped, but the topic seems a little silly, IMO.
I love how I often feel like I am reading religous or legal debates. Doug's words have come down from on high and we debate the meaning, intention, etc
From Doug 3:16 "Thou shalt not post free Smashwords nook books, unless you want to"
All humor aside, I was responding to what I thought was what people cared about. Like I said, everyone keeps wishing the thread would go back to the way it was when Doug was doing it. But even if everyone decided tomorrow that Doug was a false prophet and struck his Word from the record... I'd still feel that posting "no longer free" posts were fine. It goes along with my general philosophy of "live and let live." Or we could hold hands and sing. Takers?
Ya_Ya wrote:swan480 wrote:Everyone's been screaming about wanting it back the way he had it, and then you jump my @$$ for pointing out that the newest complaint is about something he did, too? He clearly thought those posts were worthwhile, and yes, I agree with him.I didn't "jump your ___." I was merely pointing out that you've had no use for "the way Doug did it" up to this point, even to the point of calling those who'd like things that way "rude." All of a sudden something that someone else doesn't get is something you find valuable and your defense is "Doug did it???
You can't claim that "Doug did it" doesn't mean anything now and then cling to "Doug did it" as a justification.
For the record, I didn't find any value when Doug did it - although I didn't complain about it - and I still don't. I also don't see anyone here demanding that it stop, just two posters questioning its usefulness.
The only thing this proves is that you haven't paid much attention to what I've been saying. My point all along has been that Doug did say Smashwords posts were okay, just that he wasn't going to bother because of the sheer quantity of them.
swan480 wrote:The only thing this proves is that you haven't paid much attention to what I've been saying. My point all along has been that Doug did say Smashwords posts were okay, just that he wasn't going to bother because of the sheer quantity of them.
And I think you are misrepresenting what he intended, said and later clarified.
Ya_Ya wrote:
swan480 wrote:The only thing this proves is that you haven't paid much attention to what I've been saying. My point all along has been that Doug did say Smashwords posts were okay, just that he wasn't going to bother because of the sheer quantity of them.
And I think you are misrepresenting what he intended, said and later clarified.
Clearly our interpretations of what he meant when he said
"Personally, I'm not going to be including routine Smashwords freebies in my postings on this list... If you want to post Smashwords freebies, go right ahead"
is different. To me, "go right ahead" means... "go right ahead."
swan480 wrote:To me, "go right ahead" means... "go right ahead."
That "go ahead" was more than a little sarcastic - akin to saying "it's a free country."
Clearly when he created an entire thread specifically for Smashwords, he intended them to be there.
And clearly this post: (explaining exactly why he thought they were inappropriate) including this:
The bottom line, for me, was that if you've read a Smashwords freebie and thought it was a good one, posting it would be worthwhile for the readers — especially if you provided a bit of a review. Or if there was other reason to believe it's a goodie. I've done so myself: [1] [2] Or if you know of a coupon code for a limited-time freebie (eReader News Today often posts these).
If all you're doing is putting "0.00" and a genre into the B&N search engine, well, anyone can do that. A bit of filtering is called for, in my opinion. Why is this Smashwords freebie worthy of mention? Did you read it and like it? Does it sound interesting and have really good (and credible) reviews? Is it only free for a short time?
implies that his original intention for the thread was (mostly) Smashwords-less.
Post all the OT, Smashwords freebies and useless notifications you'd like. It is, afterall, a free country. As has been pointed out, what Doug thought doesn't matter , but it's more than a bit hypocritical to use his intention as a justification in some instances and not all and ignore it in others.
