03-05-2012, 02:36 AM | #1 |
Basculocolpic
Posts: 4,356
Karma: 20181319
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Sweden
Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1
|
A6 vs Indie
We've lived with the Agency model for a while now, and we have also seen the prolification of self-published independent authors, some of those have been successfull enough to enter the larger domain of general readers. A lot of these authors offer their works at sub $5 pricing.
The question now is; Do we have any reliable statistics of how well this pricing model fares against the traditional publishers $12 - $15 price range? Are we seeing a decline in sales of established authors, or are the independets purchases added on the top of the others? Are we moving away from established authors based on publishers pricing or are we devouring the new authors together with the established? |
03-05-2012, 02:46 AM | #2 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
That seems way too high to me. I buy a LOT of "Agency" books, and I very rarely pay more than £6 ($9) for them. I don't think there are many eBooks that cost $12, let alone $15.
|
Advert | |
|
03-05-2012, 03:20 AM | #3 |
Basculocolpic
Posts: 4,356
Karma: 20181319
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Sweden
Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1
|
Maybe it is the Whispernet surcharge? Amazon doesn't specify.
|
03-05-2012, 03:31 AM | #4 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Could be. We don't have any surcharge in the UK. I believe the surcharge is $2, isn't it?
|
03-05-2012, 05:34 AM | #5 |
Indie Advocate
Posts: 2,863
Karma: 18794463
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Device: Kindle
|
If you're in Australia you quite often get books prices $15 and over for Kindle. It's the latest in the "make them pay" antics of publishers such as Hachette
eg... Omnibus of A Fire upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky costs $32.95 in Australia. Pre-order of Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312 costs $18.95 Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds costs $21.96 (apparently that's a saving) Flashback by Dan Simmons - $14.04 (at a whopping 50% savings on the listed price) The Mechanical Messiah and Other Marvels of the Modern Age by Robert Rankin - $18.67 down from $24.95 And this one from Macmillan: Manhattan in Reverse by Peter Hamilton - $16.46 We're starting to see this more and more in Australia which is why faking a US address is a more and more attractive proposition. You get the books they block from Australia and at a better price. |
Advert | |
|
03-05-2012, 06:17 AM | #6 | |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Quote:
|
|
03-05-2012, 08:10 AM | #7 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,717
Karma: 3790058
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: NYC
Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650
|
Well to get one idea you can take a look here:
Amazon Kindle Bestsellers http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers...d_i=1286228011 vs Amazon Print Bestsellers http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books The New York Times separates out ebooks in their bestseller lists too. Looking at the Kindle list, there are a lot of books around $7.00 or under but I'm not sure how many of those are Agency 6 bargains and how many are indies. (Note that the "Bailey Flanagan" books were just discounted a few days ago, so that is why they are appearing there.) But even if the cheap ones are indies, this doesn't really tell us if the big publishers are actually losing sales to indies, or just continuing to sell print books rather than ebooks. eP |
03-05-2012, 09:04 AM | #8 | |
Indie Advocate
Posts: 2,863
Karma: 18794463
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Device: Kindle
|
Quote:
Stephen King - It - $14.27 Stephen King - The Shinging - $13.17 Stephen King - Full Dark, No Stars - $14.27 Stpehen King - all of the Dark Tower series - $14+ for each volume Stephen King - Salem's Lot - $18.67 Dan Simmons - Hyperion - $14.27 Dan Simmons - Fall of Hyperion - $14.27 Dan Simmons - Rise of Endymion - $18.67 Peter Straub - Koko - $12.08 Peter Straub - A Dark Matter - $14.27 Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana - $12.08 Most of his seem to be at that price point where they're available Joe Abercrombie - The Heroes - $21.96 The rest seem to be at about $14.27 I haven't been looking at whether these prices were supposed discounts - but it's possible. Here's a Hachette bargain: Patrick Rothfuss - The Wise Man's Fear and The Name of the Wind - $13 each at a saving of over 50% from the listed price. Some of these books are newish - some of them are really quite old, but all of them are well and truly past the paperback stage. The thing is - some of these I had purchased previously when they were $9.99. With age the prices went up rather than down. Of course, you could probably not ordinarily buy even these books in paperback in a book store for this little in Australia. It's about the same or even a little bit cheaper than books sold in departments stores (KMart, Target, BigW). But my point was that it's really not hard to find ebooks priced up to $15 at Amazon for an Australian. I really wasn't looking very hard at all for the list above. Last edited by caleb72; 03-05-2012 at 09:12 AM. |
|
03-05-2012, 09:10 AM | #9 | |
PHD in Horribleness
Posts: 2,320
Karma: 23599604
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: In the ironbound section, near avenue L
Device: Just a whole bunch. I guess I am a collector now.
|
Quote:
It isn't a hard sell. |
|
03-05-2012, 09:15 AM | #10 | |
Indie Advocate
Posts: 2,863
Karma: 18794463
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Device: Kindle
|
Quote:
|
|
03-05-2012, 11:05 AM | #11 | |
PHD in Horribleness
Posts: 2,320
Karma: 23599604
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: In the ironbound section, near avenue L
Device: Just a whole bunch. I guess I am a collector now.
|
Quote:
It is the promulgation (to young readers) of the notion that Indy books can be just as good a read and give more of the profits to the author. While paying far less money per book. And, (as with Indie music starting fifteen years ago) this is intentional on my part. Ultimately, to maintain the price structure they once commanded, they should have to acquire the power to stop independant writers from distributing their work by government enforced decree. Which is unlikely. |
|
03-05-2012, 11:17 AM | #12 | |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Quote:
|
|
03-05-2012, 11:22 AM | #13 | |
Chasing Butterflies
Posts: 3,132
Karma: 5074169
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: American Southwest
Device: Uses batteries.
|
Quote:
And then you also have a lot of commercial authors going the indie-only or mixed-indie (some traditional, some indie) route which is so amazing. It's an exciting new world. And -- I'll be frank -- I've found more OCR errors in traditional ebooks than I've found in indie ones. |
|
03-05-2012, 11:38 AM | #14 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Why would an independently published book be OCRd at all? OCR is generally only used by commercial publishers for back-catalogue stuff.
|
03-05-2012, 12:22 PM | #15 | |
Chasing Butterflies
Posts: 3,132
Karma: 5074169
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: American Southwest
Device: Uses batteries.
|
Quote:
There needs a "humor" tag on this forum. It's very very rare for me to get a traditional published ebook that doesn't have OCR errors. Partly because I'm buying my backlist to clear out the shelves at home, but if this is the "quality" that A6 puts out, they can keep it. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Do you you read indie e-books? What will convince you to check out indie books? | Frida Fantastic | General Discussions | 92 | 06-22-2011 03:49 PM |
Indie Author | indie | Introduce Yourself | 10 | 09-10-2010 09:08 PM |
Indie Spotlight | joycedb | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 4 | 05-21-2010 09:44 AM |
Indie Publishers | jaxx6166 | Reading Recommendations | 0 | 01-09-2010 04:57 PM |
Why is indie music so respected compared to indie publishing? | ficbot | News | 32 | 11-02-2009 06:31 PM |