05-15-2011, 05:14 PM | #16 |
Curmudgeon
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I prefer to keep my books. I'm one of those weirdos who reads favorite books over and over again. Paying to rent them just doesn't do it for me.
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05-15-2011, 05:14 PM | #17 | |
Interested Bystander
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05-15-2011, 05:31 PM | #18 |
Zealot
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Nah...I'll stick with the library for the big names, and continue to buy( and own) reasonably priced e-books.
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05-15-2011, 06:11 PM | #19 | ||
intelligent posterior
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What happens psychologically when these subscription offers are on the market is that people who spend any money whatsoever on your medium know they could be spending less per item with your service, even if they wouldn't normally purchase that many items in the same time frame, and at the same time those who are skirting your profit model entirely see a reasonable option for obtaining the work legitimately. Find that sweet spot and, even if Ken Follet and Stephen King don't sign up, you're guaranteed a sizable niche that will become more attractive to content providers over time. |
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05-15-2011, 06:31 PM | #20 |
Star Gawker
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I too, read books over and over again, so I would need a subscription where I could do that.
I do use Netflix and it is great. Something like this for ebooks would be useful if the catalog was large enough of my favorite genres (science fiction and fantasy) and if the price was reasonable - $8 to $30 per month. |
05-15-2011, 07:43 PM | #21 | |
Wizard
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05-16-2011, 05:28 AM | #22 | |
Feral Underclass
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I can't really see an all you can read subscription working. It would need to be priced at a level that would put off casual readers, and with reading being such a minority interest it wouldn't have enough hardcore readers to sustain it. Book clubs, they only really worked because of the introductory offer of free (or as near as matters) books. Most people would have cancelled them as soon as the minimum term was over and then signed up for a new deal. With ebooks, there's no shortage of free ones (both legal and otherwise) to choose from so that incentive has gone. |
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05-16-2011, 05:49 AM | #23 |
Literacy = Understanding
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A little more than a year ago, I proposed a subscription system for university presses in Can eBooks Save University Presses? I think university presses would be an ideal place to experiment with a subscription model. Readers who buy UP titles are generally willing to pay more for a book because of its specialty interest. If a subscription model works with these buyers, then it might work with the general fiction reader; however, if it doesn't work with UP readers, I would think it unlikely to work with general fiction readers who are more price sensistive.
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05-16-2011, 08:24 AM | #24 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Why wouldn't they want casual readers?
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05-16-2011, 08:58 AM | #25 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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05-16-2011, 08:58 AM | #26 |
Wizard
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Heavy reader here I'll buy the plan but not at anything over $50 a month.
Perfer an electronic version of the book of the month clubs, same price, same books, same everything - shipping. Last edited by jbcohen; 05-16-2011 at 09:00 AM. |
05-16-2011, 09:14 AM | #27 |
Geographically Restricted
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I personally like Baen's webscription model. This has been running for a number of years now. At U$18 per month for 6 ebooks, it is doubtful you would get better value for money, providing you are into SF of course.
I re-read books as well and the argument of buying a paperback bloody well defeats buying ebooks in the first place. I would never consider $100 per month for a subscription service period. So close, but so far.... |
05-16-2011, 10:24 AM | #28 | |
(he/him/his)
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I also would willing pay a (slightly reduced) price for automatic enrollment and purchase for the monthly WebScription. We should really push Toni for something like that. |
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05-16-2011, 10:32 AM | #29 |
Guru
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I also like the webscription model, except that I am not thrilled about the serialization format. Just let me have 6 ebooks for $18 a month and I'll be completely happy.
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05-16-2011, 10:53 AM | #30 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
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I can think of two movies, off the top of my head, that I have on VCR but don't exist digitally, and three more that I want but have never been released on tape; I can list hundreds of books that don't have digital formats. And a lot of publishers don't want to license books to be loaned out; they tolerate physical libraries because they can't stop them, but they refuse to accept any distribution system that isn't "one user, one payment." The majority of the Agency 6 ebooks can't be loaned one time, to one person, for two weeks; what makes you think they'd be willing to accept a few pennies per reader on a subscription plan? (Any cost more than "a few cents per book--maybe a dollar per book" is going to fall flat. I don't pay an average of a dollar per book now, and I already have more to read than I can keep up with.) I like Shatzkin's article, but I think he's got the pricing wrong; I think more than $20/month is a recipe for failure. Or maybe success for a tiny book club, but it won't sweep the internet as the new economic model. If we can pay less $10/month for all the movies we can watch, why would we pay five times that much for a much more limited range of content? And badly-formatted content as well? |
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