Can you search the kindle store for non-self-published books?

defyalllogic · Feb 7, 2011

First of all, No offence.

Is there a feature or cheat or strategy to look at ebooks and know if you're looking at things you'd find in a bookstore rather than someone's first draft?

Now, I don't mean I only want books that have print editions and have e-versions. I mean books that have editors and probably went though the slush pile.

example: Julia Kinight's "Ilfayne's Bane" or Scarlett Parrish's "Long Time Coming"

Is there a way to search amazon's kindle store for ebooks and not have to wade through Attutr Iam's "Boook bye ME!!!" ?

(I acknowledge there are plenty of well done self-pubed books, I'm just not an early adopter when it comes to books. I like to hear about how good it is before trying it.)

muddy_shoes · Feb 7, 2011

The short answer no, as far as I'm aware.

The long answer is no, but if experience is anything to go by your question will have people putting popcorn in the microwave.

cameron_chapman · Feb 7, 2011

There isn't. I'd say your best bet is to check the bestseller lists, and then view who the publisher is. You can also search and see the star ratings (including how many reviews have been given) before clicking through to the book. While that's not necessarily going to tell you for sure whether something is self-pubbed or traditionally pubbed, it will at least give you an idea of whether something is quality.

Another trick I use is to always check the lowest-rated reviews. That's where you'll hear about things like formatting issues or poor editing.

Steam&Ink · Feb 7, 2011

I just went to the kindle store and had a play, with the bright idea that maybe you could sort by publisher (and therefore ignore the blocks in the list which came from only self-pub publishers). But, no can do.

defyalllogic · Feb 7, 2011

Cameron - great suggestion.

Steam - same here.

cameron_chapman · Feb 7, 2011

defyalllogic said:
Cameron - great suggestion.

Steam - same here.

Ratings are you friend. Plus, with Kindle, at least you can download a sample before you buy. The first 10% should give you a reasonable idea of whether a book is up to your quality standards.

Remember, too, that just because a book is traditionally published does not guarantee it's any good either.

muddy_shoes · Feb 7, 2011

Filtering by just looking at the star ratings and number of good reviews will only get you so far. Some of the top rated self-published works are excellent examples of the sort of thing I'm sure you're trying to avoid. Checking the number of reviews against the sales rank is sometimes revealing. A book with 50+ five star reviews and a sales rank suggesting that it's selling in the single digits per month range is clearly something to be suspicious of.

It still requires looking quite closely at the individual book page, although a little less work than reading the sample.

defyalllogic · Feb 7, 2011

cameron_chapman said:
Ratings are you friend. Plus, with Kindle, at least you can download a sample before you buy. The first 10% should give you a reasonable idea of whether a book is up to your quality standards.

Remember, too, that just because a book is traditionally published does not guarantee it's any good either.

definitely. I've had to put down a book that had a great story because it was so poorly edited. I'm no expert but something are just distracting and really ruin a story. It was a regular book I picked up at a store. come to find in the amazon reviews, I wasn't the only one who had that issue.

rainsmom · Feb 7, 2011

I haven't looked in the Kindle store specifically, but on Amazon, I always check the publisher name. If I don't recognize it, I google it. If it comes up as either a self-pubber or it's linked only to that authors book(s), I skip that book (except for some niche non-fiction).

I check out reviews and check out first few pages too. Agree with the tips listed above.

gothicangel · Feb 8, 2011

If you're specifically looking for a certain title, search for the print edition. Then the book's page will say 'this title is also available as a e-book.'

Jamesaritchie · Feb 8, 2011

Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to do so, which means I search outside the Kindle store first. It's easy on Amazon.

Jamesaritchie · Feb 8, 2011

cameron_chapman said:
Remember, too, that just because a book is traditionally published does not guarantee it's any good either.

It means it's better than any self-published book you're likely to find and waste good money on.

cameron_chapman · Feb 8, 2011

Jamesaritchie said:
It means it's better than any self-published book you're likely to find and waste good money on.

That's just ignorant.

charmingbillie · Feb 8, 2011

I have also started to do my looking outside Amazon (though I still buy the books from Amazon so they will back them up for me) and through the print side. As a reader, I am not willing to pay money to be a slush-pile reader. Some of those books might be good but since I can find more books than I can possibly read without searching through stack after stack of not-good stuff I don't have much incentive to do it.

And I've found the ratings to be not at all helpful.

The search engine ereaderiq.com lets you exclude public domain works (though it's not perfect). There might be a way to tweak the search criteria there, though I haven't spent much time on it.

Sheryl Nantus · Feb 8, 2011

charmingbillie said:
And I've found the ratings to be not at all helpful.

This.

I've given up on getting any honest reviews from Amazon for many books because when I see 342 Five-Star reviews.... er, I know the deck is stacked. No matter how much you love a book there's got to be at least ONE person who gives it only four stars.

I've also read about self-pub authors chasing down and erasing anything less than a five-star review because they feel "slighted"... so I generally don't trust any book reviews on Amazon that all say the same thing.

I'd rather see a three or four star review detailing what they liked and what they didn't like instead of "OMG! THis is the BEest book ever!"

Phaeal · Feb 8, 2011

I run the same check on any book, print, e-, or self-pubbed:

I read a few pages. Works every time.

Kate Thornton · Feb 8, 2011

Phaeal said:
I run the same check on any book, print, e-, or self-pubbed:

I read a few pages. Works every time.

This.

But also, I pretty much know a lot of authors - both established and emerging - whose works I want to read. And I get lots of good recommendations here and through the lists I subscribe to. I have specialized tastes, too - I love good genre works. I've bought from lots of folks here on this board.

And review sites make it easier, too.

And I don't cheap out on price. I know I'll be paying top dollar for the new Lee Child. But I also know the new Leighton Gage is a bargain.

I love my Kindle - I don't have a problem shopping for well-written books for it. I've always got something good to read.

As to self-published works - one of the best field guides to architecture in a specialized location I ever bought was a self-pubbed book. I think I have an excellent self-pubbed cookbook or two around, too.

For fiction, though, there is a lot out there - if you are willing to do a little homework, you will get an excellent book at a reasonable price.

And of course, I recommend my own - at only $5, it includes compelling stories that have been through the editorial process twice!

..

ccbridges · Feb 8, 2011

For such a large service, Amazon's advanced search function is really pretty poor. Like everyone else, I check the publisher info and stay away from most things listed Createspace etc.

Although I've bought at least one set of self-published short stories put out by an author with novels commercially published.

defyalllogic · Feb 8, 2011

Kate Thornton said:
For fiction, though, there is a lot out there - if you are willing to do a little homework, you will get an excellent book at a reasonable price.

..

yeah, that's the thing though. I don't want to do homework and guess work and advanced stats to find a book. I want it to be as easy as it is IRL.

I could go to individual publisher's sites, but that's completely inorganic to me.

I like the recommendations on amazon. and kind of following leads. OH! do self-pubbed books come up in the recommendations and stuff?

s.m.s · Feb 8, 2011

I have this same problem at B&N with my nook. So many self published books to slog through. I try to start my browsing at a price somewhere around $3.99, but sometimes I worry about missing non-self published books that are offered at a super low price. Thankfully B&N highlights discounted books in a separate section but I don't think they feature every available super cheap traditionally published book.

Libbie · Feb 8, 2011

defyalllogic said:
(I acknowledge there are plenty of well done self-pubed books, I'm just not an early adopter when it comes to books. I like to hear about how good it is before trying it.)

I have nothing cogent or mature to add to this thread. I just wanted to giggle at this awesome typo.

heeheehee. Self-pubed.

You may now resume serious discussion.

Steam&Ink · Feb 8, 2011

defyalllogic said:
yeah, that's the thing though. I don't want to do homework and guess work and advanced stats to find a book. I want it to be as easy as it is IRL.

Yeah, I agree with this. I hope that one day soon the online bookstores will catch up to what readers want - ease of use.

Sheryl Nantus · Feb 8, 2011

ccbridges said:
For such a large service, Amazon's advanced search function is really pretty poor.

It helps to remember that books are *not* Amazon's only source of income. You can buy almost anything and everything you can there, so it stands to reason that they're going to use a search function that'll encompass the wide variety of products. From soup to nuts, it's up there on Amazon.

Which is why I sort of avoid them for books. They're not really a bookstore, they're a sort of online Walmart with everything and anything that'll make cash. I'd much rather give my money to a dedicated online bookstore that doesn't feel the need to advertise fitness equipment alongside the newest releases. But that's just me.

I read somewhere that Amazon was intentionally taking a loss on ebooks in order to corner the market. Which sounds good for the self-pub crowd until you realize that at some point Amazon's going to want to MAKE money.

hmm.

*wanders off, muttering to herself*

Ineti · Feb 8, 2011

defyalllogic said:
do self-pubbed books come up in the recommendations and stuff?

Sometimes, yes. I was checking out John Sandford's books on Amazon and noticed some JA Konrath books in the recommendation list. Fortunately Amazon doesn't seem to discriminate between indies and traditional pubbed books, at least as far as recommendations go.

muddy_shoes · Feb 8, 2011

defyalllogic said:
yeah, that's the thing though. I don't want to do homework and guess work and advanced stats to find a book. I want it to be as easy as it is IRL.

It's this part that I worry about when thinking of how Joe and Jane Average will start to recognise self-published fiction in the new world of Kindles and Nooks. Their experience so far has been that they look for books in a relatively "tame" shopping environment. There are books that they like and those they don't, but a load of filtering has already been done and there are all sorts of cues available to improve the odds that the book they pick off the shelf is at least in the ballpark of what they might like to read.

Reading samples takes time and energy and if the fishing is bad then people will start to look for ways to put the filters back on, even if they are as crude as "Remove all self-published books" or "Don't show me anything for less than $4".

This whole subject has been on my mind recently and, if you'll forgive the plug, I've started a blog about it from a reader's perspective. The first content post digs into a specific example of what a customer can end up seeing in the reviews and the intro post outlines my thoughts on the indie marketing problem.

Can you search the kindle store for non-self-published books?

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