ANOTHER "Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?" ARTICLE

[SameOldStory]

Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?

“People would have heart attacks if they knew all the costs associated with digital publishing,” says Maja Thomas, senior vice president of the Hachette Book Group’s digital division. Tacking an e onto a book requires antipiracy software, digital warehousing, extra legal support, and programmers to adapt each title for Android, iPhone, Kindle, and all the other formats. That’s on top of the regular costs of turning a manuscript into a finished product.



OK. Lets reduce the cost of ebooks by removing the antipiracy software, digital warehousing, extra legal support, and programmers to adapt each title for Android, iPhone, Kindle, and all the other formats.

Why the expense of storing 1,000,000 ebook copies of "THE LOST SYMBOL" must be staggering.

And just imagine, they need a lot of programmers to adapt each title of each ebook to each format for each ereader device.

So lets see. 1,000,000 times how many books? Times how many formats? Times how many ereaders? It just boggles my mind!

Now that I know the true facts I want to pay more than $14.99 for each ebook.

And don't forget - after they publish a paper book they have to retype it into each format to produce an ebook.

[SneakySnake]

Now I feel bad for complaining about the high prices (that they can still stick up their arse!)

I had no idea that ebooks cost more to produce than pbooks.

That's it! I am smashing my reader and going back to the cheaper, more eco-friendly paper books!

[SneakySnake]

OMG those poor Smashwords Indie authors. We only pay a couple of bucks for the books, and it costs them thousands. No wonder they have to sell their houses to pay to publish their ebooks!

[jhempel24]

Originally Posted by SneakySnake

OMG those poor Smashwords Indie authors. We only pay a couple of bucks for the books, and it costs them thousands. No wonder they have to sell their houses to pay to publish their ebooks!

Yeah, the high cost of creating ebooks is all based on choice of what they "think" they have to do....whatever, darknet here I come.

[bear4hunter]

In the german forum, someone was frustrated, that audiobook versions are available before the ebook versions. Here's what k-thom replied, I thought it worth translating for this thread

There are many sound reasons (why audiobooks are available much earlier than the ebooks), just consider:

1) Lectors (proof readers) read the manuscripts out loud doing their proof reading. A dictaphone runs along, the recording than is sold a audiobook. Seen this way, audiobooks are even ready before the book going into print.

2) It's proven that audio-cds and MP3 are not illegaly copied up till now. For publishers, it's just more secure, to put their first efforts into those media.

3) Publishers do have a reading disability (weakness). To save all participating people from embarassing situations, they publish audiobooks very fast, for the publisher to know at least what he or she is publishing.

It's very hard to break these habits. But not impossible, as there are probate cures against them:

a) Threaten the publishers, to buy the audiobook only after the ebook was published. This way, the ebook will be published sooner, the audiobook later, or most likely not at all, while you 're blacklisted by the publisher.

b) Use speak recognising software, to let the audiobook show as text on your PC (and device). This is were Calibre lacks urgently needed basic features.

c) Scratch the manuscript with a thin needle from the CD, that way you get a progressive Hybrid Medium, you now only need a dedicated eReader-and-eHearer device.

>> As you see, these might just be the most useable tips. To advice you to wait until publishers get the point, seems rather pointless and not real.

Not as hillarious, but still very funny (and more "to the thread title topic) is Josh99's reply:

Wo knows how well the eBook programmers have learned their job and who know how well they're experienced in this totally new segment of publsishing. I think they just don't know about the usefulness of Copy & Paste. eBooks are typed down completely from the Hardcover Edition. That at least would explain the very high number of typos and formatting issues.

It would just be too expensive to get it proof-read once again. Especially since the future of ePublishing is still written in the stars, and many publishers share the legitimate opinion, even in 50 years from now, people only will consume fiction and nonfiction from heavyweighted harcover books.

Publishers will keep on saying, ebooks can be illegally copied and so on, and hesitate to publish eBooks. And because they're hesitating, this will actually come true: download records for scanned, illegal copies that are way better formatted as the poor experiments the publishers put in the eStores.

And than we are told, see, we were right from start, one can't trust this medium, and only this counts for the big losses of the publising companies....

IMHO - to finish this sidetour and going back to the topic - I think the one complaining about audiobooks being available almost at the same time as the printed book, long before the ebooks become available, is getting the point:

Shouldn't the eBook be the first edition in the market, since print copies are made from a digital master?

[GreenMonkey]

Digital Warehousing? Seriously? Of ~1mb files or less files? Seriously? I could have bought this argument in 1990.

Anti-piracy? How about - don't bother, because it will be cracked anyway.

Extra programmers for each app for each device? Seriously? I can see having some beta testing being needed for each format, and to test on a few popular devices...but that's why there are STANDARDS.

[dcptcons4evr]

I find the prices reasonable compared to real books

[jhempel24]

Not me, I find that paying over the price of a paperback book is a RIPOFF.

[Jellby]

"Antipiracy software" is not working, so it can be eliminated and costs saved.

"Programmers" are doing a very poor job adapting books to anything, and they're mainly using free software, so these costs can be saved too.

"Digital warehousing" and "extra legal support"... well, if they mean they have to pay for server space and bandwidth, and secure the rights for electronic publishing, that's OK, but this is not "on top of regular costs", not, at least, unless they intend ebook sales to pay for paper books

[eric11210]

Well the real reason was buried in a single line. They don't want people to get used to the idea that books shouldn't cost so much because otherwise people will stop buying their print books. Bottom line: they're still hoping ebooks are a passing fad, just the like the music industry hoped MP3 downloads were a passing fad and just like the movie industry hoped that movie downloads were a passing fad and just like the cable companies all hope places like Hulu and Boxee are a passing fad. . .all the rest of what they said is bluster to make idiots think they actually have a real reason for keeping artificially high prices. Which, unfortunately, there are far too many such types out there who just read this, shrug and say, "oh I had no idea. Of course, it should be expensive."

“They’re worried that if they sell the digital editions for too little, they’ll have to lower prices for the paper editions as well, which would undercut their main source of revenue.”

[simonroyle]

[QUOTE=SameOldStory;1084861]Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?

“People would have heart attacks if they knew all the costs associated with digital publishing,” says Maja Thomas, senior vice president of the Hachette Book Group’s digital division. Tacking an e onto a book requires antipiracy software, digital warehousing, extra legal support, and programmers to adapt each title for Android, iPhone, Kindle, and all the other formats. That’s on top of the regular costs of turning a manuscript into a finished product.

I can't believe he said digital warehousing - but as for having a programmer typing in each book - since they know so little about technology it's possible that his IT department has seen an opportunity .... ROTFLMAO

[CyGuy]

[QUOTE=SameOldStory;1084861]Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?

“People would have heart attacks if they knew all the costs associated with digital publishing,” says Maja Thomas, senior vice president of the Hachette Book Group’s digital division. Tacking an e onto a book requires antipiracy software, digital warehousing, extra legal support, and programmers to adapt each title for Android, iPhone, Kindle, and all the other formats. That’s on top of the regular costs of turning a manuscript into a finished product.

Antipiracy software should be illegal, remove that one. Digital warehousing is super-cheap, 8TB redundant drive arrays are a couple thousand at the most. Remove that one. Extra legal support, maybe. Programmers to adapt each title is very misleading, hire a high school student to format shift for you, minimum wage plus free books will snag a million applicants. "...turning a manuscript into a finished product." is misleading as well, the manuscript is already in digital format.
The complaints overall are just false. The price of an eBook should be half the cost of the cheapest paperback copy of the book.

[SameOldStory]

"Extra legal support, maybe. "

I could be wrong, but I think that the publishers need 2 sets of lawyers. One set with expertise in printed books, and another with expertise in ebooks.

It's all VERY complicated and much more expensive than you think.

[Pookeysgirl]

[QUOTE=CyGuy;1085552][QUOTE=SameOldStory;1084861]Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?



It just took me 5 minutes to read your post because your avatar is so mesmerizing I'm still seeing spots in front of my eyes.

[CyGuy]

[QUOTE=Pookeysgirl;1085927][QUOTE=CyGuy;1085552]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?



It just took me 5 minutes to read your post because your avatar is so mesmerizing I'm still seeing spots in front of my eyes.

I see the affect it had on your avatar, poor kitty