Vengeance Of Rome proof on ebay

[Marca]

A proof copy of Vengeance Of Rome is currently up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Michael-Moorco...QQcmdZViewItem

I put some bids in to test the water and the price is currently آ£13.99 with nine days to go. I think I'll wait for the official publication...

[GuyLawley]

Well spotted, AV.

Tempting, tempting... !

[Michael Moorcock]

Well, not to sound too toffee-nosed, they are not supposed to be sold and I only got mine this past week!

[Anonymous]

The trouble is, they do get sold. Publishers don't really like it, but short of stopping issuing proofs, they can't really do much about it. Some people (if I'm honest, especially lowly-paid booksellers) are always going to decide they need the extra cash more than they need the goodwill of an author they're probably never going to meet.

Not that I'm trying to defend it, mind you - but having been there, I can sort of understand it.

My proof of Vengeance, on the other hand, is sitting waiting for me to finish book 3, which I only started today, so it'll gather dust for a week or two. Apologies to all those who are now cursing me for letting it go to waste!

Marcus

PS Mike, I met your (Cape) editor briefly last week - he seemed very excited about the book (I know that is his job, but still...) and gave me some hints about what was going to happen to Pyat. It sounds like fun, I must say!

[Marca]

The Vengeance Of Rome ebay auction got cancelled a couple of days ago. Mysterious... :D

[Mikey_C]

I thought an auction couldn't be cancelled if there were bids on it.

[David Mosley]

Obviously not. :)

We do not monitor our site for particular items, but we often receive reports from eBay users and third parties, as well as individuals and companies who are members of our Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Programme.

eBay will end a listing if:

it offers an item prohibited by law or eBay's policies
it offers an item that can be considered an "apparent" or "blatant" infringement of someone's copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights
it has been reported by a rights owner participating in our VeRO Programme. We will review the item and, unless there is an obvious error, end the listing

In all cases where we end a listing early, we automatically credit the fees for that listing.

What is the VeRO Programme?

eBay established the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Programme to enable rights owners to report and request removal of listings offering items or containing materials that infringe their rights.

[Mikey_C]

Ah - "the exception that proves the rule"! (I always wondered what the hell that was supposed to mean...) :)

[Michael Moorcock]

Well, it does say 'Not for Resale' all over the bugger! Someone no doubt blew a whistle.

[johneffay]

Well, it does say 'Not for Resale' all over the bugger! Someone no doubt blew a whistle.

And so they should! It's one thing making money out of books which have gone out of print, but profiteering on advance copies is taking the piss.

[johneffay]

Here's another one.

[Michael Moorcock]

You didn't include the address. I think ebay should be alerted, though.
Maybe that's what happened to the last one. They're usually pretty responsibile about such things. I know a couple of cases where proofs haven't arrived at the person to whom they were addressed. Could these be being stolen within the postal system, I wonder ? Has happened before. Though it hardly seems worth it! Maybe reps leaving the proofs with booksellers and assistants snaffling them ?

[Pietro_Mercurios]

After all the legal kerfuffle, with prosecutions, over pre-publication copies of the last Harry Potter book, perhaps companies like E-Bay are beginning to get more sensitive to the appearance of what could very well be stolen, or at the very least improperly acquired for sale, property, on their sites?

[johneffay]

You didn't include the address.

I embedded it in the text. Here it is in the raw:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/The-Vengeance-...QQcmdZViewItem

[Pietro_Mercurios]

If it's still up there, perhaps the publishers could twist a little publicity out of this one, by going to the media, threatening prosecution and heaping all sorts of horrors on the heads of E-Bay and the seller?

It worked for JK Rowling and Bob Geldof.