Space Opera Fans discussion

Many of us read series, and often when a new installment comes out, we need to reread at least part of the series to refresh our memories about the story arc.

Amazon has just announced a new feature for Kindle readers: Recaps. When a new installment comes out, you can get a short recap of the earlier installments.

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/book...

I have mixed feelings about this. Sometimes I welcome the opportunity to reread earlier installments, especially if I particularly like the series. Other times, especially for very long series, I think I would welcome the availability of recaps.

Of course, it's only Kindle right now, but other platforms often follow Amazon's lead.

And I’m sure those recaps are generated using AI, without any permission from the authors. Sharon Lee was upset when she found out that Amazon had fed all the Liaden U books to an AI.

Teresa wrote: "And I’m sure those recaps are generated using AI, without any permission from the authors. Sharon Lee was upset when she found out that Amazon had fed all the Liaden U books to an AI."

Probably true.

I’m all for recaps, but AI-generated garbage? Ugh, no.

Back in the ‘70s Anne McCaffrey included recaps at the beginning of her Dragonriders books, which I appreciated, and when TV shows in the 90s started doing “Previously on…” recaps it was necessary with the long-form storytelling. Same deal when comics started doing it in the 2000s.

So I like them. I just want the authors to do it.

I’m reading #8 in the Family Law series right now. The way the author provides backstory in small chunks with a character talking to a new to the series character or one who stayed on Fargone instead of going with the Little Fleet was painless. It made sense and wasn’t an info dump.

If all that info was in a recap it would be the kind of info dump I’d just give up on reading the book, and then if I did continue I’d resent getting the backstory parts all over again in the real chapters.

Amazon's recap feature is only available in the US at the moment - maybe they think everybody has the same retention span as he-who-shall-be-nameless?

More seriously, I agree with Teresa that the author best understands how to "seed" recap info into the appropriate places in the new work. Apart from that, I hate the idea of AI-generated recaps and would never read them.

Is it available already? I’m in the US and haven’t noticed, but then I didn’t even read the blurb for the book I bought today. That author is an instabuy for me.

Okay the Recaps feature might only be for books published using KDP, or possibly just with newer Kindles. This is the info I found:

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/top...

this article says it require a software update on your Kindle and it’s for selected series. AI generated yes but it’s not in the book, so you have to go looking for it if you want it.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/amazon-kin...

I've just read the info on that link, Teresa - and it's a bit arrogant even for Amazon....Recaps are always on - authors can't opt in or out, recaps are created by Amazon and can't be modified by the author!

Yet another reason to boycott Amazon. I’m not boycotting completely because there are series that I follow that are Amazon exclusive, but I’ve cut waaaaay down on the amount I spend there.

Teresa wrote: "Yet another reason to boycott Amazon. I’m not boycotting completely because there are series that I follow that are Amazon exclusive, but I’ve cut waaaaay down on the amount I spend there."

I'm similar to you Teresa - its three weeks since I last bought anything from Amazon - and its very many years since that last happened. Its a great pity - I suspect a number of us in this group have been Amazon customers since they were predominantly just an online bookstore, and its not too much of an exaggeration to say that the alienation from them now hurts to some degree.

Never mind.... I remember some years ago going to a second-hand bookstore when visiting a friend in North Carolina. When the owner thanked us for our purchases, my friend pointed out - "we have the better of the deal; you've just got the money - we've got the books".

Teresa wrote: "Yet another reason to boycott Amazon. I’m not boycotting completely because there are series that I follow that are Amazon exclusive, but I’ve cut waaaaay down on the amount I spend there."

The "exclusive" thing is kind of annoying. I remember Thomas DePrima would make his new releases available on all the other platforms first for a while as a way of protesting the requirement. Sadly I think he is no longer with us, so it falls to someone else now to carry the banner.

As far as the recaps go, I have zero faith in AI's ability to get this right, but I guess we'll find out. And to all the AI companies scanning authors' books without permission........insert appropriate Bart Simpson meme here.

Several authors I follow have started making preorders of there books available directly, and direct sales, for a few days or weeks before publishing on Amazon. Some of them have made omnibus editions of their finished series, put the omnibus editions in KU, and taken the individual books out of KU, freeing them to be sold wide.

Mackey Chandler still has all his ebooks in KU because he says 2/3 of his income is from KU. I am sure publishing the books wide or even just the direct sales part takes a lot of work which most authors don’t find fun. It’s a tough call.

I am remembering Cliff Notes and Spark Notes. I bet a lot of students will just read the recaps for their book reports. Possibly even just copy the recaps.

I remember those too Teresa. I think a big problem now is students using AI to write their essay answers. The universities now automatically pass submissions through software that checks for both plagiarism and AI use.

We'll no doubt soon have AI-written critiques of AI-written books/recaps!

Teresa wrote: "Mackey Chandler still has all his ebooks in KU because he says 2/3 of his income is from KU. I am sure publishing the books wide or even just the direct sales part takes a lot of work which most authors don’t find fun. It’s a tough call."

It is a tough decision. I used to get some benefit from the marketing options available in KU, and that alone made it worth staying in the program. But I recently ran an unannounced free day for all of my ebooks, and I'm convinced that the vast majority of downloads from that promo went to bot accounts rather than human readers. That makes KU far less attractive to me. In fact, I'm considering just publishing in print going forward, and abandoning the ebook format entirely.

I’ve been publishing wide pretty much since I started as an indie author. It is definitely more work and upkeep, but on the other hand I am not dependent on Amazon for all my author income. That KU requires you to be Amazon-exclusive is a hostile move, imo. Kobo Plus is a similar subscription service that doesn’t require exclusivity, for example.