$uch Aggravation

Not only did Directv raise their monthly fees, they discontinued the channel, “Cloo” in our package. It began some time ago as “Sleuth.” That means I’ll only be able to watch  “NCIS’ two or three times a day. I am p.o.ed!

When our local county library system began their ebook service, I was so happy. It did save me a lot of money. I didn’t spend as much as I did before, but I set aside a little money to buy books Kindle books. An adjoining county has a reciprocal arrangement with our county allowing non-residents to obtain cards at no cost to non-residents. I obtained a card so that I could use their ebook collection; it is much larger than our county’s. Today when I wanted to browse the neighboring county’s selection. I couldn’t access the service. There was a notice stating that that the reciprocal agreement would not apply to ebooks. I will now have to pay $30.00 (yearly? one time fee? I don’t know.) Another neighboring county only charges $25.00, but their selection is smaller since their population is smaller. I know, it’s still a bargain, but I feel they changed the rules in the middle of the game.

Macmillan Publishing, Simon & Shuster, Penguin Group, Brilliance Audio, and Hachette Book Group have refused to sell or license ebooks to libraries. I think I read in the news that there are still negotiations ongoing. Even if it’s cutting off my nose to spite my face, I think I’ll boycott these publishers if an agreement isn’t reached to allow libraries to offer their books. I’m sure my personal boycott will make someone sit up and take notice.

Has anyone else noticed that the price of ebooks has risen since Christmas? Before Christmas, popular best sellers were $12.99, now they are $14.99. The publishers are getting greedy, and I bet the authors aren’t reaping the benefits of the price hike in proportion to the publishers. Ebooks should have slashed their overhead costs for heavens’ sake. Still I suppose $14.99 is better than $28.00 retail. I just won’t be buying them.