Would you pay extra for a an error-free ebook?

[Yamada]

Sure, why not? They could put out a tiered systems for quality by level:

$$$$ - edited like a proper physical book, by qualified editors.

$$$ - The guy scanning knows how operate word and basic OCR functions.

$$ - Hey, do you read 2000AD? Familiar with a Judge Dredd character called "PJ Maybe"?

$ - It's the Wild West out there! You never know what you encounter. From fan fiction written in IRC chat rooms to text that's radioactive to your eyes. Good luck.


Heck no I wouldn't pay for "better" formatting and spell check in ebooks.

[tylercook4]

I would probably pay more to have a book with less error.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

If you have Acrobat Pro (and most publishers should have it) you can save a pdf as an RTF document, and then do your editing in that rather than going directly from PDF to EPub.

I'd save as HTML and do my editing in Sigil. Then I'd have an ePub to read/convert. It's a lot easier then getting Word involved.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tylercook4

I would probably pay more to have a book with less error.

And I have a bridge in NYC for sale.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And I have a bridge in NYC for sale.

You meant "for sail" didn't you?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

You meant "for sail" didn't you?

Nope, for sale. If someone's willing to pay even more for eBooks, then he/she is probably be willing to buy this bridge.

[Mortuum]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I'm not sure. I don't know about errors in a book until I read it. If I get a book from Project Gutenberg, I don't know how many errors it contains. Assuming there was a guaranteed error-free book available, it is hard to know in advance just how many errors there will be in the free version, and without knowing that, it is hard to calculate.

Agree.
And even, I still think that it is a non sens to pay more for error free ebooks. As ebooks or book supposed to be free of errors.

Or it would mean some publisher don't pay a corrector to check error and correct them versus publisher who do it. So there are able to reduce the price of the book. And would clearly mean cheaper error version are done by non professional publisher (as last correction supposed to be done by publisher).

Well, in France it would be not possible as there is a fixed price. Who ever is selling it, the price is the same.

----
Sorry for my English.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I swear I must read the wrong (or the right) books. Or I'm just ridiculously lucky. People keep talking about all these errors in ebooks from big publishing houses and I just don't see them. No more so than I always would have in the physical book, anyway.

If they're there and I'm just not noticing ... well there's your answer as to whether or not I would pay more for an error-free version.


I'd say they're losing right around $0. Otherwise, you wouldn't be seeing the errors.

Ahh, the benefits of dyslexia.

Sorry, couldn't stop myself.

[Geralt]

Nope. We are not gods, so we don't need perfect things.
Even if we needed them, the nature of things is such that they are all not perfect

[grumbles]

Would you pay more for a new set of china that wasn't broken? Would you pay more for a new set of glasses that wasn't broken? Would you pay more for a new CD that you could listen to? Would you pay more for a new DVD that you could watch? Why?

[afv011]

Sure, like I choose to pay extra to have my food delivered on a plate rather than thrown at the table...

[speakingtohe]

Perhaps if the question was worded differently.

Would you buy a crappy ebook because it was cheaper?

I have bought paper books because they were nicer, maybe had illustrations, maybe better bound, maybe large print.

The concept about paying more for a better item is not solely related to ebooks although the question in this case is.

I have actually paid more for the same item (ie a glass of the same wine) to enjoy it in nicer surroundings. And I often pay more for an item that I can buy across the street rather than walk 6 blocks to get it.

So while typesetting and OCR other errors do not bother me unduly, if a book was 9.99 for example and a far inferior copy was 1/2 price I would pay the 9.99

I do not look at that as paying more for a better book, but refusing to buy an inferior product based solely on price alone.

Catfood is often as nutritional as salmon, but I pay the extra for the salmon.

Helen

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Catfood is often as nutritional as salmon, but I pay the extra for the salmon.

Helen

Lucky cat

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Catfood is often as nutritional as salmon, but I pay the extra for the salmon.

I'm pretty sure I'd notice the difference between cat food and salmon, especially if I'm doing the cooking. Likewise for a good ebook vs. a sloppy one. On the other hand, I'd notice that the salmon tastes better while eating it. I'm not sure that I could say the same for a poor ebook (formatting I'd almost ignore, although I may find my reading disrupted by poor OCR).

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I'm pretty sure I'd notice the difference between cat food and salmon, especially if I'm doing the cooking. Likewise for a good ebook vs. a sloppy one. On the other hand, I'd notice that the salmon tastes better while eating it. I'm not sure that I could say the same for a poor ebook (formatting I'd almost ignore, although I may find my reading disrupted by poor OCR).

So while typesetting and OCR other errors do not bother me unduly, if a book was 9.99 for example and a far inferior copy was 1/2 price I would pay the 9.99

I should have said I would probably or possibly pay more, because even I do not know what I would do in any one case.

It is all in presentation, and if I was presented with two books and I was pretty sure both were okay within my less than exacting standards, I would probably buy the cheaper one.

If I knew for sure the cheaper one was crappy, well I would not buy it, hopefully although it would not be the first time I let thrift overcome good judgement.

Luckily for me, the books I have bought or borrowed from the library have all been acceptable, but my standards are not as exacting as some. I have actually read and enjoyed paper books with typesetting errors, and felt no need to complain One paper book I read actually had the last few pages missing at printing. That upset me. I actually went to the store and checked the other copies, which were the same, and demanded a refund. Oh well.

Helen