Paper books to come with free e-copies?

[mores]

uhm, I can see how the ebook copy being given away with a pbook would be a neat bonus offering where everybody profits and no extra costs are involved.

But the audiobook really takes a larger advance-investment for the costs of the recording studio, the speaker and the post production/mastering/etc.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by mores

uhm, I can see how the ebook copy being given away with a pbook would be a neat bonus offering where everybody profits and no extra costs are involved.

But the audiobook really takes a larger advance-investment for the costs of the recording studio, the speaker and the post production/mastering/etc.

yes of course, that would not really be a viable system. however the article was talking only about the ebook, not the audio books, and then we began to talk about the idea of separating the content from the container, so you would buy the content for a fixed priced (delivered as an ebook, the cheapest container to make) and then add a supplement if you wanted a more cost-intensive container such as paper book or audio book, and even possibly choose between audio files downloaded to your hard drive or (for another small supplement) presented as an audio cd. the idea is to find a way to charge a faire price for everyone, depending on the form the content is sold in. (ie hardcover more expensive than paperback which is more expensive than digital).

[Demented]

I talked with a guy a few months ago who had 10k copies of his first book printed himself. They cost $2 each. Paperbacks are even cheaper ~$1. The publishing companies make their money off the hardbacks and then print the low cost paperbacks to increase the authors popularity so that the next book has a larger hardback audience. Barnes and Noble for instance receives paperbacks at a wholesale cost of ~$5 dollars. That's a 4 dollar profit margin vs a ~13 dollar margin or so for hardbacks. For new authors most publishing companies aim to sell 10k hardbacks to recoup the advance and meager advertising dollars.

[TheLongshot]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i don't even try to sell my books anymore ; i find that no-one will pay very much for them, and the time it takes me to cart the heavy bag all the way to the shop is worth more to me than the few euros i might get. instead i just give them away, either to the library (for their collection, or to add to the free "book exchange" they hold every few months), or to a café which has an informal lending library. or to friends, obviously, if they want them. this is another reason why i am hoping to buy mainly ebooks from now on.

While it isn't a huge amount, usually they are worth more if you take a credit at a used book store. That's where the value of any "used" store comes in, since a lot of the times the savings aren't that great, but if you can get a discount over that price by trading in a bunch of books you aren't going to read again anyways, it starts to be more worth it.

i did not know that used bookstores don't like to buy hardcovers. i would have thought they would be *more* interested in them, on the contrary.

I suspect that they don't move for some of the reasons mentioned in this thread: they tend to be bulky and not as portable as a paperback. There are only a few places around my area that will even think about taking fiction hardbacks, and one of those wouldn't accept any that had damaged cover sleaves. That is also the reason why you see a lot of discount book sellers with a lot of overstock hardbacks for cheap, because there isn't much of a secondary market. The main reason why I'd want a book in hardback is if I'm planning on keeping it a long time, since they hold up better than paperbacks, or if I'm getting the author to sign it.

Jason

[edembowski]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

Why convert the Skaith books... just buy them from Baen's Webscriptions service here, already converted and formatted for you. Twenty bucks for the entire package.

Xenophon

Absolutely. I've been buying quite a few ebooks from Baen, they're one of my favorite publishers. When I started, they weren't available yet, and this is more to see what's involved & what the challenges are.

The biggest issue that I see doing a manual conversion is paragraph flow. OCR has gotten pretty good, and I'm not seeing anywhere near the number of errors that I thought I would.

@Halk, I do recommend these books. Leigh Brackett wrote the script for the first Star Wars movie before she died, it was her last work. I first read these books as a child, but have never been able to find coppies again. A couple of years ago, I stumbled on in at Powell's Books & I couldn't resist.

- Ed

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

...and then we began to talk about the idea of separating the content from the container, so you would buy the content for a fixed priced (delivered as an ebook, the cheapest container to make) and then add a supplement if you wanted a more cost-intensive container such as paper book or audio book...

I do like this "concept" but don't agree that an audio book is a different "container". The text in an eBook, Paperback, Hardback is all the same delivered slightly differently. The "content" can be shifted from one to the other with basic technology.

However, an audi book is different content. It is a recording of a performance (Granted of someone reading the text content). Now, I could see them offering a free eBook with a Audiobook purchase... but the other way around I can't see it.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I do like this "concept" but don't agree that an audio book is a different "container". The text in an eBook, Paperback, Hardback is all the same delivered slightly differently. The "content" can be shifted from one to the other with basic technology.

However, an audi book is different content. It is a recording of a performance (Granted of someone reading the text content). Now, I could see them offering a free eBook with a Audiobook purchase... but the other way around I can't see it.

BOb

ok that's a valid point, but nobody is actually talking about offering a free audio book with *anything*... i don't know where this idea came from.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

ok that's a valid point, but nobody is actually talking about offering a free audio book with *anything*... i don't know where this idea came from.

It came from the quote in the first post.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by nekokami

It came from the quote in the first post.

oh, sorry i got so caught up in the new publishing model we were happily creating amongst ourselves i forgot there was originally an *article*.... (i even read this article, at the beginning. how embarrassing.)

but in that case, yes, i completely agree with everyone who thinks free audio books with hardcover purchase might be a little ambitious.

[mocelet]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

but in that case, yes, i completely agree with everyone who thinks free audio books with hardcover purchase might be a little ambitious.

Unless of course the audio was computer generated direct from the text. Sure it isn't nearly as good as a performance by a human reader, but if it were free or nearly free, it might just be tolerable in a car.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by mocelet

Unless of course the audio was computer generated direct from the text. Sure it isn't nearly as good as a performance by a human reader, but if it were free or nearly free, it might just be tolerable in a car.

hmm... honestly i doubt that i would want a computer-read audio book if you paid me to take it. i have a friend who is blind ; he has voice synthesizing software on his computer to help him use it, which will read any text on the screen to him. it lets him get work done that he otherwise could not do, but it's certainly not anything i would want to listen to for any kind of pleasure or entertainment (except sometimes we make fun of it when it pronounces a word in an odd way, does that count ?), and i can't think of *anything* less capable of conveying emotion or ambiance.

unless they have made some really big advances in computer reading programs that i don't know about, which of course is completely possible.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

unless they have made some really big advances in computer reading programs that i don't know about, which of course is completely possible.

There have been some advances. Check TTS in the wiki for some details.

Dale

[Halk]

Originally Posted by nekokami

It came from the quote in the first post.

There is a price for the audio book container.

While a paperback is paper and setting up a printing press, an audio book is hiring a voice actor, and paying them to read the book out. It's just a cost of the container.

It is, of course, different for audio books because there's almost no marginal costs, and significant setup costs, as opposed to paper.

And free with a hardback was just a suggestion on how to charge a relatively large price when the book is released. I don't think it's reasonable to expect free audio books.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Halk

There is a price for the audio book container.

While a paperback is paper and setting up a printing press, an audio book is hiring a voice actor, and paying them to read the book out. It's just a cost of the container.

It is, of course, different for audio books because there's almost no marginal costs, and significant setup costs, as opposed to paper.

And free with a hardback was just a suggestion on how to charge a relatively large price when the book is released. I don't think it's reasonable to expect free audio books.

Audio books are a production. There is an editor merging sessions and handling redos and production people putting together the audio. In some cases there is even music added. The book has to be split between media objects since it seldom fits on one. A package has to be designed. How can you say there is no production costs for audio.

Dale

[LeighleyUK47]

This whole notion of offering the ebook (& poss audio book, though as I have invested in an ereader its not so important to me ) at the sametime as the paper version is an interesting angle which to adds value to what we as consumers get and more importantly for us (ebook readers) get publicity/exposure for the format helping to increase the availability of ebooks. Additionally it could increase the market and get people into the shops/stores rather than online! Win Win situation to me!

Apologisies if state the obvious or what others have said, come into the thread late! Thought i'd add my five penith!