Today Panzer was just finishing his afternoon nap when his kitty bed was shaken violently by noises coming from the Catosphere. Hopping in the Panzermobile, our brave kitty boy headed into the maelstrom of crying and shouting. Following the chaos took him to the Publishers Weekly site. There he discovered the cause of the problems was a post about Audible.
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You know, sneaky always gets caught.
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According to the post by Jim Milliot, Audible and Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) now have as part of the company's Audible Premium Plus membership benefits, members can purchase an audiobook, listen to it, return it within 365 days, and then exchange it for another audiobook. When the audiobook is returned for the exchange, the royalties for the sale are removed from the author's royalties account. Audible began doing this without notifying the authors what the company was doing or why. When writers discovered what Audible was doing, they contacted the Authors Guild. The Authors Guild and other writers groups are in the process of collecting signatures on a letter protesting what Audible is doing. The letter likens the new process to Audible having a rental or subscription service. Audible has now backtracked a little and says the company won't deduct royalties for books returned after 7 days. This, however, won't become effective until January 1, 2021.
Panzer says, "Hmm ... Seems like Audible has stepped in a big pile of you know what."
Note: This is a l-o-n-g post. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.
