E-Book Price Increase May Stir Readers’ Passions

[JerseyBiker]

Found this Morning on New York Times.

~eddie

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February 11, 2010
E-Book Price Increase May Stir Readers’ Passions
By MOTOKO RICH and BRAD STONE
In the battle over the pricing of electronic books, publishers appear to have won the first round. The price of many new releases and best sellers is about to go up, to as much as $14.99 from $9.99.

But there may be an insurgency waiting to pounce: e-book buyers.

See link>> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/te....html?emc=eta1

[GhostHawk]

Very good read, thanks for posting!

[dsvick]

Very good article. The part that disturbs me the most are all of the negative comments directed at authors. Yes, I'm sure in some cases it may be justified, but I'd bet in most it is completely up to the publishers and the authors have little if anything to do with the decisions that have angered the people making the comment.

On the same hand - I read about people deliberately leaving one star ratings and negative comments and I think that that is grossly unfair, and is certainly the wrong way to go about it. If there were a way to rate the publishers separately from the book then sure, but dont say the book sucks because you're mad at the publisher.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by dsvick

Very good article. The part that disturbs me the most are all of the negative comments directed at authors. Yes, I'm sure in some cases it may be justified, but I'd bet in most it is completely up to the publishers and the authors have little if anything to do with the decisions that have angered the people making the comment.

On the same hand - I read about people deliberately leaving one star ratings and negative comments and I think that that is grossly unfair, and is certainly the wrong way to go about it. If there were a way to rate the publishers separately from the book then sure, but dont say the book sucks because you're mad at the publisher.

But there is no way to rate publishers - or really communicate with them directly - unless their products are attacked - which unfortunately includes the authors as well as the books. One star ratings are unfair - but they are gaining national attention to the reason they are being placed on book listings. Publishers are obviously not listening at all to readers, and seem to have no real idea how to evolve with ebook reading habits. At least, negative coments & low ratings might lessen their sales - something publishers will pay attention to.

[dsvick]

I understand what your saying, I just think that it is unfair to negatively effect the book as a whole (including the author) over something that is more the responsibility of the publishing house. If I'm looking for the top rated books in a category so that I can go borrow one from my library, all of those one star ratings will pull books that, otherwise may have been great reads for me, off of the list. That is especially important when people don't read the reviews but simply discount the book out of hand.

If Amazon is thinking they should institute a publishers rating system and let people make purchasing decisions on that.

[P.X. Fort]

I think the public library is going to have a lagre resurgence.

[HorridRedDog]

Originally Posted by dsvick

....On the same hand - I read about people deliberately leaving one star ratings and negative comments and I think that that is grossly unfair, and is certainly the wrong way to go about it. If there were a way to rate the publishers separately from the book then sure, but dont say the book sucks because you're mad at the publisher.

On the gripping hand - If it bothers the authors they may complain to the publishers. Maybe the publishers, thinking of a future contract, will listen to them.

As far as the single star goes, the few times I look at the reviews I see that the single star complaints are very childish. I only read the positive review to see if I might like it.

Then too, I buy more books based on MY likes than reviews.

Simple solution - don't buy over priced books unless you really want them. The publishers and authors will get the message.

[Mare of Earth]

Good article!

The ultimate solution to this is simple. Set yourself a price ceiling of what you are willing to pay for what variety of ebook, then if it costs more - DON'T BUY IT.

Sales figures will ultimately speak louder than all the irate emails we can send. Until it hits their bottom line, they won't listen.

I have a very large backlist of books to read, not to mention the epublishers with good pricing schemes for new books, so it's not like there aren't more books to read at good prices than anyone could read 24/7 from birth to death.

[surrealmind]

I understand what your saying, I just think that it is unfair to negatively effect the book as a whole (including the author) over something that is more the responsibility of the publishing house. If I'm looking for the top rated books in a category so that I can go borrow one from my library, all of those one star ratings will pull books that, otherwise may have been great reads for me, off of the list. That is especially important when people don't read the reviews but simply discount the book out of hand.

If Amazon is thinking they should institute a publishers rating system and let people make purchasing decisions on that.

It would be nice if there were some independent site where one could rate books based on its content separately from its retail and presentational mechanisms (for example, formatting could be another, even more legitimate, reason for low-rating a good book). In fact, such a site would be really awesome if it contained links with prices listed for all retailers selling pbooks and ebooks for a given title (perhaps with Worldcat library-borrowing information thrown in for good measure). As it is, people do rate Amazon products (more than just books) based on the whole customer experience, for better or for worse. I would worry most about this sinking new authors, and I don't know if this is happening. Established authors at least have a chance of getting read regardless.

[Pardoz]

“The sense of entitlement of the American bestseller author is absolutely astonishing,” readers said of Douglas Preston, whose novel “Impact” reached as high as No. 4 on The New York Times’s hardcover fiction best-seller list earlier this month. “It’s the Rolex mentality, which in our view is very unhealthy for our country. It’s this notion of wanting to set the value of something to its retail price.”

Amazon commenters attacked Mr. Preston after his publisher delayed the e-book version of his novel by four months to protect hardcover sales. Mr. Preston said he was not sure whether the protests were denting his sales, as his publisher, per standard industry practice, makes sure his royalty statements are as misleading and confusing as possible. But, he said, “It gives me pause when I get 50 e-mails saying ‘I’m never buying one of your books ever again. I certainly can't be bothered raising the matter with my publisher, however.”‘

[maggie*]

Great article.

“We may introduce a book at $14.95 for a year and then move the book to $9.99 when we would have put out the trade paperback edition,” said Dominique Raccah, chief executive of Sourcebooks, an independent publisher.

They don't get it... Publishers have lost the monopoly of printed books, now you have alternatives to their paperbacks or hardbacks or whatever! That kind of concepts no longer makes sense...
And I'm not just talking piracy, now there are TONS of good books available legally for free or very cheap! A few years ago you had to pay for your copy of Jane Austen for example, guess what? not anymore!

And then there is the disloyal competitor... No matter personal opinons or moral judgements, piracy is a reality! It's a factor in the ecuation. And the more expensive the ebooks, the more justified people will feel to go to the darknets.

[susan_cassidy]

Originally Posted by HorridRedDog

On the gripping hand - If it bothers the authors they may complain to the publishers. Maybe the publishers, thinking of a future contract, will listen to them.

Kudos on the Motie reference!

[CyGuy]

“The sense of entitlement of the American consumer is absolutely astonishing,” said Douglas Preston, whose novel “Impact” reached as high as No. 4 on The New York Times’s hardcover fiction best-seller list earlier this month. “It’s the Wal-Mart mentality, which in my view is very unhealthy for our country. It’s this notion of not wanting to pay the real price of something.”

Wow, just wow. The American consumer certainly deserves this sense of entitlement, this is our country. Also, his sense of "real price" as he puts it may or may not be accurate. The consumer decides what something is worth, and either makes the purchase or doesn't.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

“The sense of entitlement of the American consumer is absolutely astonishing,” said Douglas Preston, whose novel “Impact” reached as high as No. 4 on The New York Times’s hardcover fiction best-seller list earlier this month. “It’s the Wal-Mart mentality, which in my view is very unhealthy for our country. It’s this notion of not wanting to pay the real price of something.”

Wow, just wow. The American consumer certainly deserves this sense of entitlement, this is our country. Also, his sense of "real price" as he puts it may or may not be accurate. The consumer decides what something is worth, and either makes the purchase or doesn't.

I agree. I was taken aback by his statement.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by maggie*

They don't get it... Publishers have lost the monopoly of printed books, now you have alternatives to their paperbacks or hardbacks or whatever! That kind of concepts no longer makes sense...

I'm afraid I disagree with you. It makes excellent sense to introduce a book at a relatively high price, and then to discount it as time passes. It's what Baen have done very successfully - offering people a chance to buy a book early for $15, and then re-release it for $6 a few months later. I don't see too many people moaning at Baen for this.