WHAT IS GOING ON ????

[blueyedirishgrl]

Let me first explain, I've had a Nook since the very first one was released.  I pre-ordered it and received in the very first wave.  I have since bought every single version of the Nook released.  I state this so that everyone understands, I am not new to this & am well versed in the Nook and how it works, etc...  That being said, I've noticed a trend lately with new ebooks being released and no samples being available.  I keep a log of books and their release dates, this log extends way in advance.  My current log is through March 2013.  Each week, on Tuesday, I visit B&N and download samples for those new releases.  This has never been an issue, I get several samples each week on release day.  I spend an exorbitant amount on books & do not purchase ebooks unless I've read the sample to ensure that I like it.  I currently have 695 books in my library. 

Now in the last week, I've had FIVE new release ebooks with no sample available.  I've tried to contact B&N and I get the same answer..."Samples are released at the publishers discretion."  It seems to me that there is a larger issue that no one at B&N seems to grasp.  Since the release of the Nook a few years ago, I have NEVER seen this happen, now all of a sudden, all 5 new releases I've tried to get samples for, not a single one has a sample.  Have all the publishers suddenly decided not to offer samples?  If so, why has B&N not informed us?  Is there a problem with their system that samples aren't being made available?  And most importantly, why is it that no one at B&N is willing to investigate the sudden lack of samples being made available??? 

[blueyedirishgrl]

As a side note, for all 5 of those books, Amazon has samples for the Kindle.  Seems its only B&N that does not have samples.

[Eustace2]

The fact that Amazon and Kindle have samples available would also seem to indictate that the issue is not with the publishers.

[Ya_Ya]

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Eustace2 wrote:

The fact that Amazon and Kindle have samples available would also seem to indictate that the issue is not with the publishers.

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Not exactly.  

What would indicate this is if all fo the other epub vendors (Kobo, Google, Sony, et al) have samples and B&N doesn't.  Do they, by chance?

[blueyedirishgrl]

Honestly don't know.  I only checked Amazon.  Will have to check on the others.

[blueyedirishgrl]

Looks like Google & Kobo have samples.  Sony did not, but couldn't find any samples on Sony.

[Ya_Ya]

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blueyedirishgrl wrote:

Looks like Google & Kobo have samples.  Sony did not, but couldn't find any samples on Sony.

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I would say tha tthis definitely suggests B&N at fault.  I hope they fix it!

(Are the books from the same publisher, by chance?)

[blueyedirishgrl]

No, only two of the five books are the same publisher.  The publishers for these books are listed below.  I have 10 new releases i'm waiting for that release on 4/24...very interested to see out of the 10, how many dont have samples.

Harper Collins (2)

Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC

Egmont USA

Random House

I definitely think something is going on-- either someone is falling down on the job and not adding samples or they aren't going to offer them anymore and don't want to admit it.  All I know is that in the 3 yrs since the Nook has been out, this is the first time I've run into this and now every new released I've looked up in the last week, there has been no sample.

[Ya_Ya]

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blueyedirishgrl wrote:

No, only two of the five books are the same publisher.  

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Ugh.  It was a thought, you know?

[blueyedirishgrl]

Yea, I know.  Would have made more sense if you follow BN & their comment that it's at the publishers discrection whether a sample is offered.  I'm not buying that's what's going on with this situation.  I wish someone from B&N would step up and address this issue.

[flyingtoastr Scribe]

It might help to... you know... post the names of the books in question.

You also spelled "failure" incorrectly.

[Ya_Ya]

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flyingtoastr wrote:

You also spelled "failure" incorrectly.

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That was me.  

[Charles-R]

blueeyedirishgirl, I've noticed the exact same thing.  Several books I've been looking at have no samples.  This seriously messes up the process of selecting books I'd like to buy.

[bubbs]

Time to go kindle!

[KingAl]

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bubbs wrote:
Time to go kindle!

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That's a pretty pathetic reason to switch.

[1katie]

Hmmm.  Just searching some of the publishers mentioned and I found a book by Danielle Steel, Betrayal by Random House (fairly new release) and there is a sample available.  Might just be a B&N thing and not the publisher.

[DeanGibson Distinguished Bibliophile]

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KingAl wrote:

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bubbs wrote:
Time to go kindle!

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That's a pretty pathetic reason to switch.

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He has five posts, and two of them are blank.

[aprilbabyAK]

I have been finding this with synopsis for books. And it is limited to BN. I don't know if they are having server problems, IT problems or just slow on the draw but it does get frustrating.

[Miss_Kilman]

I've definitely noticed the same thing. I'm not quite as organized as you are with regards to new releases, but I do keep a list of some of the ones that interest me the most. And suddenly, no samples.

As a side note, I don't know if it's corollary or not but I have noticed a lot of apps showing up in the market without a description of funtion... and I'm never going to buy something when I can't figure out what it does or whether I like it. So, in conclusion:

What good are books without samples? What good are apps without descriptions? Programming gods, unite! Let there be samples and descriptions!