Before you read the below post, please vote in the following poll. For a brand new book that is also available in hardcover at $25.00, what do you think the e-book should cost? (People who subscribe via e-mail will need to click through to see the poll).
Did you vote? Cool.
(and let me pre-empt my not-interested-in-ebook friends: I know. There’s no option for backlighting grayscale look feel smell DRM you’ll go blind bathtub. Just vote for the option you feel sounds about right)
Now. As I’m writing this post, I have no idea how that poll will go and what consumers think a new e-book should cost, but I can confidently guess it’s less than what publishers think they should cost.
As everyone knows, once the first e-book copy is produced it doesn’t really cost much extra for the next million to be shipped electronically. When they sell e-books, publishers save on printing, binding, warehousing, shipping, returns, etc. etc. etc. Therefore, e-books save publishers money and consumers expect that e-books should be cheaper than paper books (and agents and authors expect that their electronic royalties should be higher than with paper book royalties).
So. How much do publishers save with e-books?
According to HarperStudio publisher Bob Miller, the printing/binding cost of most books is about $2.00. Let’s just say for the purposes of this post that the other incidental costs relating to print books (shipping, warehousing, returns) comes to another couple of dollars, so, let’s say, print costs translate to roughly $4.00 on a $25.00 hardcover. (I’m not a publisher and thus this number should be taken with a grain of salt. Also it varies from book to book).
Thus, assuming the discounts to booksellers and e-booksellers are the same, in order to preserve the same profit margin on an e-book for this $25.00 hardcover, an e-book would need to cost roughly $17.00.
(The math: $25 x 50% discount = $12.50 to publisher, minus $4.00 print costs = $8.50; $17.00 x 50% discount = $8.50. Note that the $8.50 is not profit – that is the chunk out of which they have to cover costs and pay authors. Also see this post and this post for more info on how revenue is broken down between bookseller, publisher, agent and author.)
Where do the other costs of producing an e-book go? Paying the author, marketing and publicity, editorial, sales, production, overhead, accounting, etc. These are fixed costs that exist whether it’s a print book or an e-book.
Now, I understand that lower prices result in more sales, and that publishers might need to recalibrate their pricing model to best utilize electronic sales. Margin per copy isn’t everything if publishers are able to make it up in volume. Also bear in mind that for now, as I explained yesterday, major publishers (with the exception now of Macmillan) are being paid for Kindle e-books on the basis of the hardcover list price, not the price Amazon actually charges.
But what we’re seeing from the Macmillan/Amazon spat is great anxiety on the part of the publishers about a (for now completely theoretical) future in which they receive income based on a $9.99 price point. This was never a business with huge profits. If publishers are ever paid on the basis of a $9.99 price point for their blockbuster books rather than $24.95 the pie will have shrunk by over half. And that is striking fear into the heart of publishers. Publishers want to push up from $9.99 so badly some are willing to accept less money per copy sold just to make that happen.
And yet, underlying all of this nuts and bolts reality for publishers is a cold fact. When it comes to a publishers’ fixed costs and margins and legacy business models: consumers don’t care. They have their own idea about what an e-book “should” cost. An e-book feels like it should cost a lot less than something tangible like a paper book. And in a digital era consumers can ruthlessly enforce the perceived value of a digital product with their dollars and with piracy.
You can plainly see the dilemma the publishers are facing, especially if/when e-books grow to be bigger than print book sales. There’s a gap between their margins and the e-book expectations of consumers. Right now Amazon is filling that gap by taking losses on e-books in order to sell Kindles. But publishers worry that can’t last forever. The pressure is building, and someone is likely going to feel the squeeze, as authors already are.
Anonymous says
Oops, I didn't mean to post my email. Any chance you can delete that last post? Sorry.
Terry Towery says
Nathan wrote: "And yet, underlying all of this nuts and bolts reality for publishers is a cold fact. When it comes to a publishers' fixed costs and margins and legacy business models: consumers don't care. They have their own idea about what an e-book "should" cost. An e-book feels like it should cost a lot less than something tangible like a paper book."
See, this is what has been bothering me lately about this whole e-book thing. I worked in the newspaper business for many years and left because the entire industry was crumbling around me. Newspapers have been trying to move to the online world, and just can't.
Why? Because the Internet has put EVERYTHING at our fingertips for free. Now, no one wants to pay for anything, whether it's information, music or literature.
I honestly don't know how industries such as news organizations, publishing houses or music corporations are going to make it. Someone had better find a way to start charging fairly on the Internet, and soon, or things are going to go bad in a hurry.
Sorry to sound so negative, but I've seen this happen before.
Marilyn Peake says
I didn’t vote because I’m not sure where prices should be set. I do feel, however, that this is potentially a watershed moment for small press publishers. Amazon actually recommended that customers consider buying small press Kindle eBooks, as those have always been priced lower. (My own small press eBooks have been available on Kindle since the first Kindle became available. They’re also available on Nook and many other places.) The reason why many small press books stop selling is because, once small press books begin to make significant sales, traditional companies buy up the distribution channels that were allowing those sales to happen. That’s happened to me several times: my books started selling hundreds of copies, then suddenly the distribution channel was no longer available to small press books. Amazon is reversing that process by suggesting that their distribution model might work better for small press books. Many, probably most, small publishing houses have very little overhead. Most of their publishers work from home or from small, inexpensive offices. They aren’t beholding to stock holders or the huge salaries of people at the top. They often publish non-mainstream books that have a niche market. However, many small presses cannot afford good editors or advertising. My own belief is that, if small press books were posted on the home page of Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble and other such sites where they're already being sold, so that customers could actually discover them, and if they started making enough money for their publishers to afford good editors and advertising, a lot of small publishing houses would suddenly become as popular a source of books as The Huffington Post is for news. I’m wondering if any literary agents have considered representing small press eBook authors during this transition to eBook technology. Many small press authors prefer to work without literary agents, as they like things the way they are; but others would love to have literary agents negotiate for them with small publishing houses, Amazon, and all the other places where eBooks are sold.
Andrew says
Whatever it takes for the author to make the same $ amount after it all shakes down.
The author is paid to put words down in a way to transport the readers to another world. He is not paid to format, design, offer tactile feel, offer e-ink convenience. Just put words down.
Whatever the format, the author puts the same amount of work in. Thus, his $ shakedown should be the same.
Nathan Bransford says
anon@12:49-
Easy to say, not so easy to do.
Also, returns are an easy villain, but they also allow bookstores to take a chance on unproven authors that they might not otherwise if they had to be sure they would sell through. Careful what you wish for.
PatriciaW says
You forgot the costs of warehousing and distributing books, presumedly included in the $25. If the average cost is, let's say, $5, for that as well, then the cost of the ebook is really $12, not $17.
I suspect publishers need to use a finer tooth comb to examine the differences in cost for print vs. ebooks, then set a price that enables them to recoup the shared costs with reasonable profit.
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
No, (real) libraries on the Internet are not like piracy. They buy their books.
Nathan Bransford says
PatriciaW (and others)-
I didn't forget warehousing, shipping and returns. That's all part of the $4.
Nathan Bransford says
Oh, sorry PatriciaW and others!!! I thought I had the shipping/returns mention in there, but that was an earlier draft. I'll put it back in. I was so confused that people were missing it. Well… duh Nathan, it's not in there.
Matilda McCloud says
I think it depends. If the title is new, the publisher should be able to charge more than $10 in order to make a profit. I have a SONY e-reader–I'm not sure if the SONY store works differently than Amazon, but for some new titles, the price is more than $10, which seems fair enough to me. I personally haven't bought an e- book over $10, and not sure I would. I'm still a die-hard fan of printed books and like getting something tangible for my money.
Marilyn Peake says
Ink @ 11:59 AM –
One of the curious things about Amazon is their current low prices and what those suggest about Amazon’s economic plans for the future. Over the Christmas holidays, Amazon turned one of their largest profits. But they were practically giving things away for free: books, movies, lots of other things. They ran a program where prices for individual items, including popular movies recently released on DVD, were sold for a few hours at next to nothing until the items they had set aside for the sale were sold out. Amazon now sells practically everything: food, jewelry, clothing, shoes, books, movies. They’re like a Walmart of the Internet. My guess is they just want to stay viable and competitive until the economy improves, then maybe they’ll raise their prices.
Anonymous says
Print books are different beasts than eBooks. Besides editing and typesetting, I cannot compare the two, so I have a hard time comparing the price of an eBook to the price of a hardcover.
I do think that eBooks with DRM should cost less than paperbacks regardless of when the paperback comes out. So I would price an eBook between $0-5. However, I will pay more for an eBook without DRM.
Liana Brooks says
Not to put the agents or publishers out of business, but if I buy an e-book I'd rather pay the whole amount to the author. I already paid the publisher: I bought the e-reader. Their money comes from the physical reader.
If I'm going to spend $10-$30 on an e-book I'd rather tuck that money straight into the author's pocket. After all, I'm paying just for their work.
Realistically, other people contributed. Agents and editors helped edit. But the writing? That's all the author.
There were no trees murdered, no trucks to hire for shipping, no warehouse used. The publisher didn't do anything that author couldn't have done alone except produce the e-reader.
Paying a publisher for every e-book is as silly as giving Bill Gates a dollar every time I open a word document. I paid Gates once for the program. I paid for the computer I use. The content belongs to someone else and that someone else gets paid. Whether I'm paying to download a yoga class or a PDF e-zine to read, Bill Gates doesn't get a cut even if I do use his software to read it.
The idea of the publishers not getting a cut is unrealistic. Right now, publishers control marketing. But I could see a point where self-published authors take over because they can market and produce their own e-books. At that point, you're going to have trouble convincing younger authors that they need an agent or a publisher.
Amy says
Back when you had that poll about whether we would purchase ebooks or not, I voted something along the lines of "Never – you can pry my book out of my cold, dead hands." Since then, I've begun to covet my friends' ereaders and started researching in earnest, just in case I change my mind. On Jan 27th, I began to look forward to the release of the iPad so that I can try out ereading without committing.
But now, I'm with Moira. Team My Head Hurts. This has all begun to convince me that I was right in the first place. You read over and over "an ebook is nowhere near as valuable as a paper book" and I wonder why people want the damn things in the first place. Just not the right time for me to look at ereaders, I guess – I'll have to wait and see how this plays out.
But one thing's for certain. I won't buy a Kindle. Too risky. Amazon could have milked all sorts of goodwill among consumers out of this simply by informing us what was going on and why they were going to cease doing business with Macmillan. Instead, they chose to slap authors and its own customers across the face. No thanks.
K.L. Brady says
I like the 9.99 and under model. I would not pay more than that.
I think many people would change their minds if they'd actually gone through the process turning a book interior into a Kindle edition. My first thought would be, "$14.99–for THIS???" Nuh uh. Not happenin'.
Even if my own ebook was selling for $14.99 I would not buy it for that amount. No, siree!
And for those who don't think price makes a difference, I sold a Kindle edition for $7.99 and then lowered the price to $5.99 when it was first released and sales were moderate. I ran a January special for 99 cents and sold several hundred more than any other month, sometimes 40 copies per day. And even though the price point was significantly lower, I made a higher royalty than each previous month.
At the end of the day, people love a bargain. To get a 5-star rated book for that price definitely boosts sales and revenue–which is great for the author. People are more price sensitive than you think…they certainly were more price sensitive than I ever thought. It was a lesson for me too.
They are running a thread on Amazon about this issue, and so far reaction seems split about 40/40/20. 40 saying they don't mind the higher price, 40 saying they refuse to pay over 9.99 and abou 20% saying they will boycott MacMillan (rough estimate of course).
Anonymous says
@Liana
I agree, and I also like the low carbon footprint of ebooks (no shipping, no warehousing).
I'll like it even more when Amazon pays me 70% (starting in June), as I also believe the writer (content provider) should take the largest cut under this business model. I don't mind giving Amazon 35% because they maintain the storefront — the distribution channel, and that involves some serious overhead (database experts, programmers, systems analysts).
You are correct — in the future more authors will publish direct to ebooks. They will subcontract editing and graphic art (book covers) services, and perhaps some marketing services, and it will result in lower overhead and larger profits than the present model.
ryan field says
One factor that no one seems to consider is that serious e-book readers tend to buy in bulk when e-books are priced right. I get many letters from people who buy ten or more e-books a week, on sale, and they read a book at a time in one sitting, over the course of that week.
Anonymous says
Terry Towery, I don't think you mean "negative"… I think it's "realistic". It has taken a long time for me, as a consumer, to come to terms with the idea of "paying for content", but it's got to happen. And as we move closer & closer to "everything digital", it's more important than ever.
Anonymous says
I don't buy paperbacks. They're not worth the cost. Why would I pay more than double for some better paper? They take up more room and are harder to handle during a read. Thus, the cost compared to hardback sales is irrelevant. Compare the cost to paperback and you're closer.
$2.99 is the most logical choice based on value and production, and that still isn't a cut in revenue because you'll sell more–something publishers should have realized long before electronic sales were even a question. Book sales could have been up for decades if publishers would have used more reasonable pricing models and put paperbacks out alongside hardbacks–let the consumer choose their format instead of trying to force them into a format that costs more.
Anonymous says
The consumer understands fair. Educating them about the process of publishing and the costs CAN go a long way.
Why are we comparing to Hardbacks vs Softcovers? And why aren't the costs of production distributed over both print and e-books? It seems the complaint about the cost of an e-book is the costs are already covered under the print book.
Marilyn Peake says
Joseph L. Selby @12:09 PM –
I’ve noticed that about recent prices of paperbacks and hardcovers. The prices for those have been astonishingly low: 30% to 50% off brand new hardcover releases by best-selling authors, hardcover versions of some popular books sold for around $10, "buy one/get one free" for paperback versions of classic books, "buy one/get one at significantly reduced prices" for popular books. In addition to all that, a few months after a best-selling book is published, it’s available for a few dollars on a pile of older books in bookstores. It amazes me that books can be sold that low. The same thing is happening with movies on DVD.
Paul Neuhardt says
As an avowed capitalist, I support the publisher's desire (and right) to make as much profit on an e-book as they do on a print copy. As an aspiring author I also support the author's right to make as much money on such sales, and if there is a distributor involved (such as Amazon) I support their profit as well.
But that's the problem, isn't it? The accounting of the costs, and more importantly the public perception of those costs is where the real rub lies.
I voted in your straw poll in the $10-14 range. My gut tells me that the printing, shipping, handling and distribution costs should take more than $4 per volume off a hardback. My gut could, of course, be wrong but it would take some substantive proof for me to believe I should pay $17-19 for a book that is $25 in hardcover. It just "feels" wrong, and as long as it feels wrong, I won't pay that price.
Next point: Does the price of the e-book drop when the print version moves from hardcover to paperback? It would almost have to, wouldn't it? After all, the collective "gut" of readers says ebooks should be cheaper than the print version, and how can you justify continuing to sell the ebook at $17 when the mass-market paperback is $12? But if you do that, who takes the profit hickey? Nobody involved is likely to be happy suddenly taking a smaller profit on every ecopy sold.
I suspect what we will see is an evolution of the way ebooks are priced. Many things will be tried, and what we see in the next 2 years won't be what we see in 10.
Next: How many people over the years have "waited for it to come out in paperback?" Those people did so because of the reduced price point of the book, and that reduced price point was easily accepted. That same mentality is going to apply to ebooks: they are supposed to be cheaper because they have lower costs to produce.
This presents a real problem for the publishers if ebooks really take off (and they will, we all know that). Release the ebook up front, and you kill your hardcover sales. Hold the ebook until later, relegating it to the status of a trade or mass-market paperback, and you piss off the sellers of the ereaders, including one of your largest sales outlets (Amazon).
I suspect ebooks will, in the short term, become that third option, the medium sized soda if you will. Hardcovers come out, and only when sales there start to lag will ebook versions arrive. Once those sales start to lag, out comes mass market paper (or not, based on the same decision process used today).
My "gut" right now says that if publishers want to equate an ebook to a printed copy in the public's mind, the best place to position it in terms of price is with the trade paperback. The "cool" and convenience of using an ereader gives it more perceived value than a mass-market paperback, but less than a hardcover. What does that make it? A trade paperback.
Just my rambling $.02.
Anonymous says
Liana, publishers don't make money from ereaders. Amazon makes money off the Kindle. Barnes & Noble makes money off the nook. Sony makes money off of its ereader (what IS that called, anyway??).
Yes, definitely, self-publishing can be great for the people that make it work, but it's not as easy as it looks. Marketing and promotion is really a full time job. A lot of writers just don't have those skills. They take a bigger cut, as they should if they're doing all the work, but if they are unsuccessful and don't sell anything… even 100% of nothing is still nothing.
irvingprime says
The cost calculations in this post are suspect. They presume the same business models that are clearly failing for paper books apply to ebooks. There are too many middle men in the loop pushing up the prices of paper books far higher than they should be in the first place. This is not an adequate rationale for over pricing ebooks too.
In other words, publishers are going to have to learn to deliver ebooks economically or watch their businesses killed by piracy and their own ineptitude.
Nathan Bransford says
irvingprime-
I'd love to know where all these "middle men" are making all the money. I want to be one of those guys.
DG says
Great post Nathan.
Many thoughts racing around in my head.
First of all, who pays $25. (or full price) for a hardcover? Nobody. The price is artificial.
It's like an orthopedic practice who projects annual revenue based on what they charge for surgery instead of what they get reimbursed for surgery. The surgeon says his procedure is worth $2500, even though his best reimbursement might only be $1800.
Publishers can't expect to make the same profit margins as they once did given the changes in technology that have revolutionized every aspect of content creation, distribution, and user experience. Didn't these people watch what happened to the music industry. For decades, we were forced to buy CD's containing all 11-13 songs when all we typically wanted was 1 or 2 songs. Then Apple changed everything when it allowed us to buy single songs conveniently and inexpensively.
Amazon has a tremendous head start on Apple in the book arena, but one would be foolish to think Apple won't be a key player in ebook distribution very soon.
I voted for $5-$10. Again, why would anyone pay $25 when they know the publishers are willing to give Amazon a 50% discount right off the top?
Kristin Laughtin says
Whew! I've read over all the comments to this post and the economic ramifications still make my head hurt. They're not my strong point, but I have a lot more to think about now. I think it goes without saying that the current model is flawed and needs to be addressed no matter what happens with e-books.
I would be willing to pay more than $9.99 for an e-book. A lot of people *wouldn't* be, but I like books that much. The only thing I'd really want before committing to an e-reader is the ability to lend to friends. If I had that, I'd be willing to pay around the same amount as I would for a trade paperback, or preferably a few bucks less…$10-12 sounds good.
Anonymous says
I think editors and book designers will have a strong future.
And marketing too.
Beyond that, screeners, who can sort the gold.
But I am also concerned about Internet thievery. After fifteen years,two weeks ago, my debit card number was stolen off the internet by a legal piracy scam.(I ordered a sample herb product.) They cleaned out my bank account and cost me several $34. late fees.
I immediately reported it to the bank, filled out reports in person, filed an Internet Fraud report.The company had No signature from me and no authorization and wasn't even the same name. My bank determined nonetheless that my claim should be denied because they had my debit number and my address. No products received either by the way.
I thought using a debit card was more responsible than a credit card.
Now, I see it has NO protection. I had to close it to protect it from further thievery.
I know Amazon is a BIG GUY, but if my debit card can get lifted this easily, I am worried about Internet commerce. Period.
Be advised: only use a safe account with very little money in it!
Kendra says
When I first started ordering books from Amazon, I remember they discounted the mass market paperbacks. I don't remember when it changed, but one day I noticed they weren't doing that anymore. Maybe they'll do the same with the Kindle editions at some point?
I voted $10-15, so $17 isn't too much of stretch for the books I don't want to wait for. Of course, most of the books I want come in mass market paperback on initial release anyway.
Kathleen MacIver says
It seems to me that publishers will eventually have no choice but to totally change how they print books. They're going to have to print in much smaller amounts and recoup ALL of their printing costs through the sale of those print books only. I just don't see how they'll have a choice. The quality and scope of titles that are printed in e-book only is rising. Print publishers are going to find it harder and harder to compete with these unless they can figure out how to lower their costs on ebooks. At least, that's what I think. Who knows if I'm right.
Anonymous says
I can't remember the last time I read a new release. My 'to read' list is far to long for me to even think about it. I do add many new releases to my 'Goodreads', however. Then I delete them if I learn from a trusted friend that it sucks. Life's too short, and there are too many good books to waste time on a bad one.
Maybe books should be inexpensive at first, to get people to read them and start the word-of-mouth — then those established by those readers (and maybe critics) to be excellent could get more expensive until they've covered their costs and generated some profit. Then when it moves into 'the long tail' they could be inexpensive again, because every paid copy downloaded would be almost 100% profit.
cawbaw says
Frankly, as a bookseller in a brick and mortar store, and as a hobbyist scribbler – I think they should be equivalent in price for same day availability.
The Macmillan model (with prices scaling down as paperback comes out etc.) is a fair one.
I know consumers all want the most bang for their buck, but "selling" a book for $0-5 is drastically undercutting the value of the book.
Due to a buying snafu by our head office, we're currently selling some books at 70% off, and people bring them to the till, looking skeptical and asking if they're really bad books. Some of them are, yeah, but many aren't. Deep discounting damages the products worth in prospective customers eyes.
Yes buying a lot of books is expensive, but the same could be said for most anything. I don't see people crying out for baseball players wages to be cut so game tickets would be cheaper – why do so many think books shouldn't cost?
And to whoever said they paid the publisher when they bought their reader – nuh-huh, you paid the company that made the reader, not a publisher. They see no revenue from reader sales. Zip.
Emily Cross says
I'm with Team 'my head hurts too'.
God when did things get so complicated? Buy book, read book, keep/giveaway book.
As a consumer, i'm going to wait and see – even though i'm not that bothered with e-books/readers.
in regards to cost etc. and e-book plans
perhaps publishers should look at the way academic journals work?
Me2 says
Ah Nathan – rule number one of pricing as learned in Business School – the cost of good sold is pretty insignificant in pricing the good. You price based on what the market will bear – ie what people are willing to pay. It's my estimation that eBook consumers readers are both more affluent and rabid fans of reading, and are therefore more willing to pay a higher price.
Josef
Anonymous says
Here's what I don't understand about this whole debate: Nathan, you say "These are fixed costs that exist whether it's a print book or an e-book." And that argument might hold sway if books were being published either/or — either as an e-book OR as a paper-based, bound book. But they're not. They're being published as both. Therefore, it seems as though the desire by some to price e-books almost equal with paper-based books is pretty greedy. The paper-based books assume much of the overhead of getting the book produced, and really, the e-book is mostly profit.
I'm a huge fan of buying books to support authors I like and admire, and I have no qualms with paying full price for a hardcover now and then. And I own a Kindle. I'm more apt to download a book I'm not 100% sure I'll like on that, b/c it's less of a risk. I wouldn't do that, though, with an e-book that's prices at $12-$15. At that price, I'll just go buy a paper copy because, really, you get more value that way.
Jil says
I admit to knowing little about these things but isn't buying an e-book more like renting one? When a Kindle etc. dies, does not your whole library disappear into thin air? Can't a book you bought be recalled and snatched from your device by Amazon, or whoever, as those samples were? When I buy something I want to own it forever, otherwise I will rent it and that should be at a much lower price.
Emily White says
I voted for $10.00-$14.99 and this is why:
1. It seems "obvious" to me as a consumer that the production costs of an ebook are far lower than print books, therefore I would expect the costs to me to be adjusted accordingly.
2. They may not cost as much to produce, but they still cost something and $9.99 and lower for books just doesn't seem sustainable.
3. In my own opinion, the ideal cost for an ebook would be between $10 and $12. This seems like a comfortable price to tempt those of us wasting time perusing the internet to make an impulse buy. $10 doesn't seem like much, but if you make a few of these purchases throughout the week that you wouldn't normally have made because you didn't want to drive to the bookstore or wait a few days for your book to be shipped, the publishing companies stand to make a lot more money. And honestly, $10 tempts me, $20 does not.
Colette says
I want to put a footnote on my vote, that I am assuming the question was asked before discounting (because we rarely pay $25 for a $25 book anymore). That said, here's what bothers me:
This discussion should not just be about what it costs to produce the book. It should be about value to the consumer.
Is there more value in e-books in getting content instantly? Yes.
Is there lesser value in e-books because the data is digital (can't pass on, etc.). I'm not sure.
The basic content (the written word) is the same. What will the market bear for that content?
Amazon's model to take a loss on content to sell Kindle is backwards (in my opinion). They should be giving away Kindles to sell more books.
If the publishing industry has to strap up the technology industry there is something wrong here.
Marilyn Peake says
Anon @1:44 PM said:
"Marketing and promotion is really a full time job. A lot of writers just don't have those skills. They take a bigger cut, as they should if they're doing all the work, but if they are unsuccessful and don't sell anything… even 100% of nothing is still nothing."
I agree with you. Also, most small publishing houses and authors can’t afford anywhere near the same advertising budget that the large publishing houses can afford. If eBookstores begin offering affordable advertising to small press eBooks, that will level the playing field for authors. I don’t know how many people are aware of this, but a number of best-selling authors are currently publishing books with large, small, and eBook publishers – Orson Scott Card and Piers Anthony, to name just two. Piers Anthony is published by the large publishing houses, and by several different eBook and small press publishers. It will be up to the reader to find the good books, though, if the playing field is leveled. At the present time, Amazon offers more than 420,000 eBooks for Kindle – that’s a lot of eBooks! – but none of their eBooks from small publishing houses are advertised on Amazon’s home page. I know from experience with Fictionwise.com that my Fictionwise eBooks always sell much better when they’re first released and posted on their home page than they do later on when they disappear into Fictionwise’s massive inventory of eBooks. On the other hand, my eBooks for the Kindle and Nook immediately disappear into the huge inventory of Amazon’s and Barnes and Noble’s eBooks, as those companies have so far only posted books from the big publishing houses on their home page.
I find this discussion so incredibly interesting. For years, I’ve purchased lots of books from the big publishing houses, small publishing houses, and eBook publishers, and have purchased in every book format. I’ve purchased books by best-selling authors, and have found it fascinating that some of those same authors have for quite a few years now published non-mainstream books through small and eBook publishing houses. And I’ve seen some really good small press and self-published books get picked up by the big publishing houses after their initial publication.
Victoria says
I think there is one element to the voting here that should be considered… we're mostly writers. I clicked the $9.99 to $14.99 button because that is what I would like my ebooks to sell for. Not because that is what I want to pay for them. I think we're probably all biased towards a cost system that benefits us as authors.
Myself, I used to be a 'you can pry paper books out of my cold dead hands' voter, but lately I've realised the benefits of being able to download books from authors unavailable in Australia.
So I purchased an audiobook for my Ipod and I'm guessing an ebook won't be too far down the list once I get my Ipad. (Critics be damned, I LOVE the thing.)
Now I paid $22 for my audiobook, but it was by a horse trainer and it was information I wanted in a hurry.
If I have access to the hardcover/paperback that would be my preference for purchase, but I can see I'd pay what I needed to for specialist subject e-books. I do think the business model will probably end up offering discounted ebooks with hardcovers and vice versa.
What I will say is that I won't buy a Kindle or shop from Amazon. I don't like their big brother bullying tactics or their attitude that they can control what we read by controlling our access to it.
Vic K
Jenny says
This will be an interesting fallout I think. After all, the e-readers are the hardware–they have to be expensive at the outset because people will only buy one of them.
The real money will eventually be made on the 'software'–which, in this case, is the book. After all, the music industry does not make its money off of the iPod or stereo equipment, it makes its money off of the artists and the music they create. Even Amazon will have to adjust eventually.
Anonymous says
If the library can redistribute copies, why aren't the e-books set up that way? We paid for them, BUT we do not own them like a book.
Digital media is more convenient and will be distributed faster, which is bad for seller of books.
Jenny says
Liana-
When you buy an e-reader, the money doesn't go to the publisher. If you buy a nook the money goes to Barnes and Noble, you buy an iPad it goes to Apple, you buy a Kindle it goes to Amazon, etc. The money for the e-reader goes to the group distributing the e-reader.
Jenny says
Anon @ 2:43
Actually, there are a couple e-readers that allow lending of a book. The book goes out to someone else who owns a similar e-reader and the book disappears from your library for that time period. Then, when the time's up, it re-downloads to you. Just like a real book in the library.
In at least one way that's better–you always get your book back! =)
Kait Nolan says
I think you have to take into account whether you're really looking at the same group of consumers. I know that I buy, on average, MAYBE 1 hardback a year. It's a simple budgetary fact that $24.95 is really freaking expensive for a few hours reading. With the exception of a very select few, I'm going to wait for the paperback because it's more affordable. I see ebooks in the same light. If publishers really see them as competing for hard cover sales, then maybe they should hold the ebook release until the paperback comes out in order to give consumers a price point that's more reasonable.
Amy says
I've seen that sort of idea put forth so many times, and I like it more & more each time I see it. Could it fly? Could the ebook just be priced at X amount of dollars when the hardcover comes out, and then the price lowered to Y amount when the paperback is released? Could the "hardcover" ebook simply include some extras (don't ask me what kind; I'm just thinking of a way to somehow provide "more value" to this first edition, other than timing) in it, and the cheaper "paperback" ebook is just the text? Do they just not like this because the whole thing is broken and they're trying to start anew?
My head still hurts.
Christine M. says
I'd say it depends if the $25 book is discounted just about everywhere? If the book is 'worth' $25 but is sold (online and off) at $12-14, then no, the ebook copy is not worth paying $14-15 for. My take would be 50% off the saling price. I know there are costs associated with the production of ebooks, but most of these costs are shared with the making of the paper book.
Anonymous says
Your poll is bogus. A 'depends on the book' option would win over all others.
For prices do indeed depend on the book. Is the latest and greatest Harry Potter or a tell all by Sarah Palin or Michael Jackson (penned from beyond the grave) priced the same as the bulk of what's on store shelves? Yes, initialy they are, but popularity and demand soon move the pricing.
Books come in all genres, formats (hardcover, trade, and paperback), and popularity, including even textbooks. Prices charged are based more on what the market will bear than on the cost of what's delivered.
E-books should be the same. Neither cheaper nor more expensive than what they are worth. Or what they cost the publisher. Which is virtually nothing after the print version.
Right now worth depends more on publishers, Amazon, Apple, and corporate machismo than on right or reason. All are out for the biggest piece of the new pie.
Paula B. says
I voted as a consumer, Nathan, rather than an author, even though I am an author.
It seems to me that an ebook should cost the same as a paperback, so I picked the $5 to $10 range. However, as an author, I know that that's a terrible price…unless publishers increase authors' royalties substantially. So it's quite a conundrum.
Of course if bookstores could be eliminated, that price range would work very nicely. (And I say that as a former bookseller as well.)
Nathan Bransford says
anon@3:24-
YOU'RE bogus Meanie McMeaniepants.
Seriously though, I think we can safely assume that the poll refers to a "$book that is available for $25 that I would actually want to buy right now in e-book form."