Quote:
Originally Posted by riemann42
Suggestion to Publishers: For new hardbacks, grant the right to download an ebook version of the file. Make it so the only way to get an ebook of a new release (in some cases) is to buy the hardback. This solves several problems for you.
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I've never understood why anyone wants an HC/ebook bundle, but hey, go for it. The section I've highlighted above though makes absolutely no sense in this scenario though. All you're doing with that concept is alienating the majority of ebook readers, who want nothing to do with a hardcover book and rarely purchased them prior to shifting to the ebook format.
Personally, if a publisher tries that with a series I'm following, that will be a clear sign to me that I need to spend my money on another author's work, similar to the earlier poster that was discussing trying to get Steven Saylor's latest in MMPB rather than in trade PB form. If it's only going to be released as an exclusive HC/ebook set, I won't be purchasing it. And that's a net loss of one customer for the publisher. If you don't bundle the two, you have two customers: Sell the HC to one buyer and the ebook to another. Bundle them, and at best, you've created ONE customer. Worse yet, the HC can be sold as a used book, which nets the publisher nothing,
and takes a possible new book sale away from them. All around, that's just a bad idea from a business perspective, even if it's appealing to a given set of customers.
As far as the original topic goes, I'm still not certain where I stand on it. I suppose in general I'd consider it ethical if it's done with the author's permission. But though I'd love more free books, I put this in the same category as shifting from cassettes to CDs and from VHS to DVD. No one gave me copies of what I already owned in the new shiny format, and I don't expect them to do so now. Which is why I don't troll the darknet.
J.K. Rowling and her ilk are the flaw in that whole idea though. I've not gone to the darknet for the HP books, but if she continues her attitude on the ebook subject, I'll probably do it eventually. Ethical? Probably not, certainly not by the guideline I just outlined. But if she and her publisher won't take my money to buy the complete set in my new preferred format, then yes, the temptation is there regardless of legalities or ethics.