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Old 03-13-2010, 01:47 AM   #20
Kali Yuga
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bgalbrecht View Post
....I intend to tag every MacMillan ebook that I look at that is priced above MMPB (when one is available) after the agent model goes into effect. I don't know if I'll give them all 1 star ratings as well, except for Doug Preston (just because I think he's a whiner).
Don't you have better things to do with your time, like... flossing?


Quote:
Originally Posted by bgalbrecht
I believe that MacMillan could have been just as successful with the existing wholesale model if they had been willing to release all ebooks at the same time as the hardcovers, with a price comparable to the hardcover, and lowered the ebook price to match the subsequent lower price paperback editions....
Sure, if "success" means "throwing your profit margins under a bus."

Had they continued with this model, eventually the retailers would have forced the publishers to drop their wholesale prices, eroded the value of their products, and shifted even more power to the retailers.


Quote:
Originally Posted by bgalbrecht
As it stands now, if the ebook isn't released with the hardcover, we don't know if it ever will be, and we don't know if they'll ever drop the price when it's priced like a hardcover.
It seems pretty clear that, at least where Macmillan is concerned, they do plan to release the ebook concurrent with the hardcover, they will alter the price to reflect demand, and expect most books to hit the $10 price point within a year of release. Past (and even present) actions are simply not viable guides to future behavior, as there is about to be a huge industry shift.


Quote:
Originally Posted by bgalbrecht
I've always felt that the publishers don't really get ebooks, and just want them to go away, even though a sizable chuck of their steady readership has switched to ebooks.
Since ebooks constitute less than 5% of sales, I don't see that as a "sizable" portion yet. Even a year ago, the general public barely knew about, let alone cared about, ebooks. There's far more hype than reality at this point.

The fact that most publishers are willingly climbing on board -- and taking advantage of the huge leverage they gained with Apple's deal -- indicates that these folks are a tad more savvy than MR readers presume. They're way ahead of the music industry, relative to the public interest in ebooks. Many posters assume that a multi-billion dollar industry can alter its business models, its contracts with authors, its adherence to international laws, and convert millions of books at zero cost overnight -- and if the business can't do all that, they are "dinosaurs" and "luddites." And, of course, a few people just hate publishers and want them to die immediately, and are happy to slag them with any negative characterization they can think of, as though their eradication will magically make everything right in the literary realm.
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