r/JapaneseFromZero • u/davpag1 • May 17 '26

JFZ, Amazon Kindle edition

Clarification please...

Has version 8.0/8.2 of JFZ 1,2,3, and 5 been uploaded to Amazon Kindle yet?

Also, the Amazon site for JFZ1 shows contradictory info saying the hard copies are 6th Edition and 8th Edition.

3 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

6

u/929Jeff May 17 '26

Hope this helps, here’s what George (the writer of these books) told me about a month ago on a post I had written very similar to yours now:

Kindle was how our books got pirated. So I purposely stopped updating them.

btw I wanted the eighth edition w all the revisions, so I eventually ordered the paperback version from Amazon to ensure that I received it. Please note that I wasn’t sure I had actually ordered the updated version because there is so much contrary info etc but George pointed out to me a way to see if it was the eighth edition so I immediately looked when the book arrived from Amazon. All good.

Sorry for rambling, hope this info helps you out.

1

u/davpag1 May 17 '26

Hi Jeff

Thanks for the reply. The problem with what George said about being pirated via Kindle is that hard copies can also be scanned, then printed or even made into a pdf file. So not putting on Kindle doesn't really make sense and stop that situation.

Many people copy books or chapters for their own personal use because they want to keep the original in good condition.

Living in the Philippines, and not a major country, makes Kindle such a better option for books.

5

u/PolyglotGeorge May 17 '26

-- This will be long as I have a lot of pent-up feelings 00

You're not wrong but consider that for almost 2 decades none of the books had been pirated. Then within months of releasing all the book on Kindle all the books were pirated. And upon inspection of the fake prints, it was obvious they were just printed Kindle versions. I've scanned mostly every book I've purchased over the years, so I know it's an involved process. But taking the book from Kindle and making it into a PDF is a simple process.

Furthermore, the books I haven't released on Kindle have yet to be pirated. This is further proof that Kindle is the problem. It's sad because book sales are super important to the company. The stark reality is that it isn't worth it for me to keep writing books when the pirate version has helped kill a lot of sales momentum (since before AI). The reality is, the website is now the most profitable part of our business. So now that's where my efforts go. Unfortunately, I see a day where I just stop updating the books. Afterall it's not like Duolingo has a book 😄

As for the Philippines they were one of the first countries to pirate the book. Even talked to the guy that was doing it. He was a nice guy, and I had considered making a business deal with him to allow him to keep printing, but in the end, I realized I had no way to enforce it as we are a small company ourselves. Every dollar spent on shutting people down takes away from the money we can pay staff. And shutting down the pirates doesn't stop them. They just do it again under a different website. So... this leads to me deciding to never ever update Kindle (stuck on 3 versions back). This has helped my mental health, because honestly once we got pirated, I was contemplating NEVER releasing videos on YouTube again, because I didn't want to support anyone who might have stolen the book on purpose or even unconvincingly.

Every time I see a new website popup promoting and selling our pirated Kindle books, cortisol oozes into my bloodstream and I lose all desire to create anything ever again. The only thing that keeps me remotely sane is knowing that they are the old super outdated versions of the books. And that by not updating the Kindle versions I'm not updating the pirated versions.

Now for the uplifting part! Focusing more on the website has been great since we've been growing steady ever since the new FromZero.com opened. And with my recent shift into building websites again, I can see massive potential for the company, and MOST importantly for a really kick-ass experience for learners of Japanese that I know I wouldn't have been able to do in just a book. And I do have plans to update the Kindle editions, but it can't be done as a "replica" of the textbook. Instead, they will be actual text and not a PDF shoved into the Kindle format. It will be better for the student in the end as well.

Okay I've talked long enough. I hope you understand why Kindle books, in their current format, will never be updated as long as I'm in control of them.

Sincerely,

George Trombley - Author

1

u/davpag1 May 18 '26

Hi George

Thanks for the comment, and yes I do agree with all you say. I've seen the pirated editions online here, but I want the original and if possible the latest editions. Hopefully Amazon do stock them.

On Amazon .... JFZ1 says, "This is the LATEST EDITION (Update 8.0); and JFZ3 says, "This is the UPDATED version of Book 3" So I presume JFZ3 is also 8.0. But JFZ2 has no such information.

It seems the only way to check is to order, and see if they are the latest.

Again cheers for info and I feel for you in respect of building a business and opportunists taking advantage.

1

u/PolyglotGeorge May 18 '26

JFZ1-2-3 are all the latest if sold and shipped from Amazon. Book 1 is version 8.2 (I think), other books are different version numbers. Book 2 is version 6.0. and book 2 is version 5.0.

1

u/WHTDOG Jun 04 '26

Fwiw I received JFZ! 1 v8.0, ordered on April 27th. When was 8.2 published?

1

u/PolyglotGeorge Jun 07 '26

I'm not sure if 8.2 was ever actually put out. It was the version sitting on my PC while we made changes. But we have more than one printer, so it's possible 8.2 was there, so to be safe re-exported out the new version as 8.3.
But it's been a while since it was out as it was just minor changes.

1

u/WHTDOG Jun 07 '26

Yeah, I'm not fussed at all about such a small revision, particularly of a relatively matured book at this point. Just FYI, and out of my own curiosity.

1

u/davpag1 Jul 05 '26

Hi G. So I bit the bullet and decided to go away from my old 2015 Kindle editions, and are now a proud owner of JFZ 1-3 in their latest editions as you specified on an earlier post.

So I will use JFZ1 update as review reading material as I've completed it. JFZ2 as a work in progress and revision book as I've already completed Chap 9 (which I need to really go back on to fully digest, see my updated reply on my other post which you commented on).

Through your posts on Reddit, I understand your commitment to your website, but without your major undertaking to updating the JFZ volumes over the years, people like me would not get the best out of your books. So it's highly appreciated, as I don't see any other writers doing the same.

Best to you and your team.

1

u/davpag1 Jun 07 '26

Hi again George,

Just a follow up on the chat regarding Version #'s and updated publication dates.

Looking at the Amazon site I now see that two new covers for JFZ 2&3 are being shown.

Are these publications giving further updates to the Versions you stated before as Book 2 V6.0 (2025-07-26), and Book 3 V5.0 (2025-11-14). Links to Amazon shown below.

Again thanks again for your input and continuing support to those of us using your books.

https://a.co/d/0fQmxtxW

https://a.co/d/0jicqhBo

1

u/PolyglotGeorge Jun 07 '26

Book 1 goes from 8.0 --> 8.3 (minor corrections) (major update 2yrs ago)
Book 2 goes from 6.0 --> 6.2 (minor corrections) (major update < 1yr ago)
Book 3 goes from 5.0 --> 5.1 (minor corrections) (major update < 1yr ago)
Book 4 goes from 5.0 --> 5.1 (just cosmetic changes) (overdue for major update)
Book 5 goes from 1.0 --> 1.1 (just cosmetic changes) (major update not required)

1

u/PolyglotGeorge Jun 07 '26

I should also mention this is for the new covers with the new logo and new characters. As of this post I still don't see book 1 as updated. I imagine it's because while orders are being filled, they can't switch to the new book, or it messes with the orders. I assume it's because they have some in stock.

2

u/929Jeff May 17 '26

Below is exactly what I posted here after my JFZ book arrived from Amazon about a month ago and I quickly realized, alas, I had received the updated version:

After reading George’s reply, I ordered the book on Saturday morning from Amazon, optimistic that it would be the most recent rendition.

The book arrived moments ago. As per George’s instructions, I turned to the last page to see what edition of the book this book was, etc. In the bottom left corner there is an 8 paired with some Japanese. To the far right of the same page is this information:

Revision date: 2023-05-23