New Stephen King Ebook more than HC

[jhempel24]

Yeah, I put it at the top of my reading list, I've enjoyed it so far. I seem to like his Novellas alot more than his recent books (except Under the Dome, and Cell I really liked those)

[TenaciousBadger]

i've noticed for a long time that the ebook version of novels that get released in hardbacks when it comes to the dead tree version are outrageously expensive!!!!!!!!
these publishers really must think we're idiots!

ebook version of paperbacks are more expensive anyway and the almighty publishers cite all sorts of "reasons" why this is so (out of which "storage space" i love the most). now wouldn't it stand to reason that an ebook is an ebook is an ebook no matter what its dead tree version is...

its blinkered thinking to believe that just because an novel gets released in hardback, the electronic version has to be more expensive. its plain greed!
why should the dead tree version matter when it comes to the ebook? when i pay more i expect more. what does the ebook of a hardback have that the ebook of a paperback doesn't?

i hope this makes sense

[EowynCarter]

its blinkered thinking to believe that just because an novel gets released in hardback, the electronic version has to be more expensive. its plain greed!

That makes sences..
If there is an e-book version at 9$ and hardback at 17$, peaple will get the 9$ e-book, less money to publisher.

Then, once the paperback is out, it makes sence for the e-book to be prices against the paper. (But in france, hardback and paperback editors are not the same, that makes a serious mess for that)

what does the ebook of a hardback have that the ebook of a paperback doesn't?

You don't have to wait.

[TenaciousBadger]

@EowynCarter: i wasn't comparing ebooks to dead tree versions. evidently an ebooks reaches you in under 10 seconds as opposed to any dead tree version, be it hardback or paperback.

i was pointing out the fact that an ebook stays the same format-wise whether it's accompanied by a hardback or a paperback. ergo, these huge prices for ebooks that accompany hardbacks rather than paperbacks are a rip-off. actually the whole system of pricing ebooks in accordance with the price of the paperback or the hardback is anything but forward thinking.

i understand why hardbacks would be more expensive (less wear over time, better formatting maybe, for collectors) over the paperbacks. but it makes less sense to apply the same rule to ebooks (unless they add something mesmerising to it to justify the ridiculous price).

If there is an e-book version at 9$ and hardback at 17$, peaple will get the 9$ e-book, less money to publisher.

like i was saying: greed! they still treat ebooks like a side-product rather than a branch all on itself.
and it's even more laughable when the same book has geo-restrictions to go with the high price. talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

anyway, the subject;s been hashed and rehashed. just adding my voice and hoping some more open-minded publisher realizes the mistake they're making. ebooks shouldn't be treated tentatively as something that might now take off. it already has!

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by TenaciousBadger

i was pointing out the fact that an ebook stays the same format-wise whether it's accompanied by a hardback or a paperback. ergo, these huge prices for ebooks that accompany hardbacks rather than paperbacks are a rip-off.

No, it isn't.

Let's say a trade paperback has a list price of $12.50, and the hardcover has a list price of $25. (The publisher and the author get the same wholesale price regardless of how big a discount the retailer offers.)

It is patently absurd to imagine that it costs twice as much to print the paperback as the hardcover. When you buy a hardcover, you are paying more because there is a higher demand.

There are countless products whose pricing shifts based on demand rather than cost. That TV you bought on January 5th at a 25% discount cost the exact same amount to produce as when you saw it at a 10% discount on December 5th. The only difference is that demand is significantly lower in January than December.

The hardback/paperback division is just an accepted mechanism to hide the fact that you're paying more because of demand. Ebook pricing just makes this pricing dynamic more apparent.

Originally Posted by TenaciousBadger

like i was saying: greed! they still treat ebooks like a side-product rather than a branch all on itself.

It's not "greed," it's "business." A company does not have any sort of obligation to base its pricing exclusively off of costs.

And by now, it's pretty clear most of the publishers realize that digital is gradually occupying more and more of the book market.

Eventually they are likely to add extras at a higher price, like video interviews with the author. The technology doesn't quite support that yet, and I expect there will be some resistance to it as well. But for the most part, they get it.

Perhaps it's the public that hasn't quite acclimated to the oncoming era, as indicated by, oh, I dunno... indexing "fair" ebook prices relative to paper prices?

[BexBits]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

The hardback/paperback division is just an accepted mechanism to hide the fact that you're paying more because of demand.

Exactly. The proper parallel for ebook pricing of new releases is movies. We all know that first-run tickets are going to cost more than second run, or DVD, or waiting until it hits the $ movie theaters. The producers, of whatever the product, is set the initial price as high as the market will bear and still produce sales, then reduce it over time to pull in more customers that won't pay top price. What you get for buying early isn't a different movie, it is earlier access to the movie.

[TenaciousBadger]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

It's not "greed," it's "business."

po-tah-toes, po-tay-toes

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

The hardback/paperback division is just an accepted mechanism to hide the fact that you're paying more because of demand. Ebook pricing just makes this pricing dynamic more apparent.

It's not "greed," it's "business." A company does not have any sort of obligation to base its pricing exclusively off of costs.

I agree with the principle of these points, but I still don't agree with what the publishers are doing. Because they aren't saying that the prices come from demand, they are saying that they are barely making a living with these prices. There was this article that was posted on the forums before that states just that:

In fact, the industry is based on the understanding that as much as 70 percent of the books published will make little or no money at all for the publisher once costs are paid.

But before that wonderful statement the article mentions this:

Moreover, in the current print model, publishers can recoup many of their costs, and start to make higher profits, on paperback editions.

So the bottom line is that the publishers are either lying through their teeth about the incurring costs, or are incompetent businessmen. My guess is that it is a little of both, but take your pick.



I was looking around the net for the history of paperbacks and I found this.

That same year, Carey's Library of Choice Literature offered the public reprints of English novels one chapter per week. The chapters were distributed to subscribers by mail, bound in paper, sold for ten cents each, were about the size of modern paperbacks, but consisting of only one chapter, they can hardly be considered "books". Nonetheless, the United States Post Office ruled they were books, charged a higher rate, and killed the Library in its tracks.

My point is that higher prices aren't doing anybody any good. This didn't work when most people didn't know how to read and didn't have today's entertainment possibilities, so it's not going to work when we have access to this many public domain books and the darknet.

Plus all the advantages of ebooks come from the device used to view them, so taking credit for that just doesn't sit right with me.

[jhempel24]

Just took a look back at Amazon with this book, and the ration of 5 to 1 star reviews are just about equal.

One review gave it One Star....because he thought it was going to be bad, and just looked at the rating list.

I wish people were not that stupid, in all actuality, this is King at his best (at least what I read, I've read 2 of the 4 stories), seems when he constrains himself to 150 pages or less everything just comes alive

[naivejenni]

Get your hands on it ASAP!!

Full dark, no stars

There is a story in there called Big Driver...OMG..what a plot!!!

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[laughingdragons]

Originally Posted by naivejenni

Get your hands on it ASAP!!

Full dark, no stars

There is a story in there called Big Driver...OMG..what a plot!!!

I'll wait till it gets under $10. I haven't spent more than $9.99 on on ebook and won't.

There are so many cheaper books to read why pay the price.

[jhempel24]

Big Driver was awesome!!!! My favorite of the collection....although I think they are all King at his best.

And yes there are many other books to read, but this is a really great collection of novellas.

[Avarwen]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

Unfortunately, the publishers are used to the DTB world, where people like me, who are unwilling to pay hardcover or trade paperback prices, are willing to wait for the paperback, get it used, or get it from the library. In the new digital world, you can't get it used, in the case of MacMillan and Simon & Schuster, can't get it from the library (in ebook form), and it's usually trivial to find a copy of their ebook with the DRM stripped on the darknet. The genie's not going back into the bottle, so I really don't know what the publishers will be doing in the long run. I don't think the Agency 5 are doing themselves any favors by setting the prices to what they want them to be, and forbidding discounting.

Publishers will have to give in at some point and lower prices. As soon as ebooks start selling on par with regular books and most people own an ereader they will be forced to give in. Right now they only have avid readers and technophiles as their base. As soon as the everyday Joe catches on and ebooks can truly move beyond being a fad device more people will bitch about the pricing. Not to mention as more people move to ebooks and see the price of books and the DRM crap they will pirate more and publishers will be forced to change the way they play the game.

[J. Strnad]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

People are going to pirate it regardless of the price... even free.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/16/rad...radiohead.html

Sorry to be pulling quotes from so far back in the thread!

One crucial aspect of the Radiohead experiment is buried in the final paragraphs of the article:

Fans may also have been turned off by the band's requirement that users register by providing their name and e-mail and postal addresses.

The ultimate lesson may simply be that it's hard to compete with free, Lichtman says. "Registration is a small barrier," he says. "Sadly, even that little bit of cost might be too much."

I, for one, am very reluctant to register my name, email and mailing address and end up on a lot of spam lists just to buy a damn record. (Yeah, I know my terminology is anachronistic.) I can see that, if I wanted this record and it's being offered for free, and I can go elsewhere and get it free without providing my personal information, I might go elsewhere.

Registration is not a "small barrier," it's a potentially huge one for people like me who are sick and tired of having to register to do any little thing. I even quit buying batteries at Radio Shack because they always wanted me to give them my personal info and I'd have to get snotty with them and say "I'd rather not."

[jhempel24]

[QUOTE=J. Strnad;1222500
Registration is not a "small barrier," it's a potentially huge one for people like me who are sick and tired of having to register to do any little thing. I even quit buying batteries at Radio Shack because they always wanted me to give them my personal info and I'd have to get snotty with them and say "I'd rather not."[/QUOTE]

A quick frustrating story regarding this:

I was at MicroCenter Mall using a Pre-Paid Visa (stupid rebate cards), to buy a Wireless Router, and several other things. The total came up to be about $10 lower than the amount on the card, they swiped the card, then asked for my information. I told them I didn't want to do that...they said ok, and said to go ahead and swipe again....the card declined because the money was already put on hold.

But because of this, I became agitated and wanted to speak to a manager, I was then told by a MANAGER that it was my fault because I didn't want to give my information, so I had to wait another 15 days for the money to be released back on the card since they wouldn't even fax in a letter saying it was there mistake.

Still infuriates me, and I will never buy from them again.