Is the new 'agency' system going to change your buying habits?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by cbarnett

My biggest fear is that this is simply a move by the publishers to keep ebook sales down and drive sales of their paper products. It may be cynical, but if it's true then it won't matter whether we purchase books under the new model or not. It won't discourage the publishers at all, or encourage realistic pricing and availability of ebooks.

I hope I'm wrong.

You're not wrong. This is exactly what it is. MacMillan is trying to protect their core business - ink on paper and warehouses of books. They are also trying to control the market - a direct antithesis of what the free market is about.

While some may say it is not price-fixing and is not illegal, but all that is holy it is still wrong. It is their way of getting around, finding a loophole in the law and in effect fixing the price.

[leebase]

Of course McMillan is trying to protect it's business. What business wouldn't? Those of us who like McMillan product aught to ALSO be interested in McMillan having a healthy business.

I disagree that McMillan is trying to protect it's DTB business. They are trying to protect their REVENUE. A book when it comes out is "hot" (if they are lucky), or certainly "as hot as it's going to get". That's the only time they can get the most money for it. That's why they don't publish the paper back and the hard back at the same time.

The hard back may psychologically seem to be "worth more" -- but it's never been all that much more to produce, and certainly not enough to justify the difference in price. It's just a way to charge more for a book when it's at it's peak desirability and less later.

eBooks are going to be even more flexible. There's no need to create different versions and there is instant distribution and pricing. If a book is selling well, they'll keep the price high. If sales start to wane, they'll drop the price.

Amazon was simply setting the price too low for NYT Bestsellers, using them as a loss leader to build the market for kindle's.

Lee

[BearMountainBooks]

I may request more books via interlibrary loan. It's hard to say though because it depends on the paperback prices. I only just started buying ebooks in the last year and have only purchased ebooks when they are priced better than other prices...but if paperback new is 9.99 or trade, I'll just ILL it. With more and more publishers going Trade instead of mass market, I was headed there anyway.

[batgirl]

I boycott buying books from all Macmillan imprints, not because of agency pricing, but because of their refusal to sell ebooks to libraries.

It is strange. Libraries actually pay more for each copy of an ebook than we do for a hard copy. There is no discount. We pay the lowest hard copy price available. If the book is only available in hardcover we pay the hardcover price. If it is available in mass market then we pay that price. For hard copy books we get a deep discount. Plus like hard copies, each "copy" we buy can only circulate to one person at a time. Unless someone breaks the DRM, the book cannot be read after the circulation period.

So in many ways the only difference is that the profit margin is BIGGER from selling ebooks to libraries.

Also got to say I will not feel bad about pirate editions of Macmillan ebooks. They deserve it.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by ficbot

For me, I think it will mean that I will patronize Fictionwise MUCH less frequently.

I will buy more at Fictionwise. I will buy from unknown authors and unknown or small presses and only in multiformat ePub -- OOPS! That's what I do now.

Agency won't affect my buying habits at all. I currently only buy at Fictionwise (multiformat ePub), Baen (ePub), and Smashwords (ePub). I stopped buying elsewhere when pricing for poorly formatted and edited books moved above the $3 mark. I am not unwilling to pay a Macmillan-type price for nonfiction, but I am unwilling to pay it for fiction. Baen's pricing is about the max for fiction for me from known authors. From unknown authors, the price has to be south of Baen's by quite a lot.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

Well, Amazon's stated goal was to establish $10 as the "standard" price point.

Actually, I think Amazon's goal was to be as profitable as it could be by dominating the ebook market. I suspect that Amazon is as happy as can be about the agency model. It relieves it of having to lose money to undercut everyone else. Now it can concentrate on selling more Kindles and tying up customers that way.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by batgirl

I boycott buying books from all Macmillan imprints, not because of agency pricing, but because of their refusal to sell ebooks to libraries.

It is strange. Libraries actually pay more for each copy of an ebook than we do for a hard copy. There is no discount. We pay the lowest hard copy price available. If the book is only available in hardcover we pay the hardcover price. If it is available in mass market then we pay that price. For hard copy books we get a deep discount. Plus like hard copies, each "copy" we buy can only circulate to one person at a time. Unless someone breaks the DRM, the book cannot be read after the circulation period.

So in many ways the only difference is that the profit margin is BIGGER from selling ebooks to libraries.

Also got to say I will not feel bad about pirate editions of Macmillan ebooks. They deserve it.

No one deserves pirating. Do they deserve less sales for not meeting customer expectations? Yes. But piracy is another whole ballgame--it's stealing. Not buying something is one thing, but stealing it is another. (And yes, I know you didn't say you would pirate it, but as a writer, I can't say any author deserves to be pirated. The decision on pricing and when and how to ebook is not theirs. A writer's work deserves to be protected and respected--even if the author is the one who decides ebooking is not a desired form.)

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

The decision on pricing and when and how to ebook is not theirs.

Yes, it is. It is their decision before they sign the contract.
They can hand over the right to make those specific decisions for money, and the opportunity for more money, but that doesn't mean it wasn't their decision.

An author isn't required to go through a mainstream publisher; s/he can self-publish and maintain full control over when & how the books are produced. I'll grant that it's very, very hard to make a living that way. But saying they don't decide pricing & ebook details is like like saying "the decision on whether to work nights isn't up to the delivery driver."

Sure it is. If they don't like the conditions of that job, they can seek a different one. That said, I try not to grumble directly at authors about the details of their publishing contracts; the choice between "job with some aspects that suck" and "no job" is fairly obvious. However, some sympathy toward people stuck in a business contract that has aspects they don't like doesn't mean I believe they're not responsible for having signed the contract in the first place.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

No one deserves pirating. Do they deserve less sales for not meeting customer expectations? Yes. But piracy is another whole ballgame--it's stealing. Not buying something is one thing, but stealing it is another. ......

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[clockworkzombie]

I only have X amount of disposable income higher prices mean I go elsewhere or spend less with any particular vendor.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Yes, it is. It is their decision before they sign the contract.
They can hand over the right to make those specific decisions for money, and the opportunity for more money, but that doesn't mean it wasn't their decision.

An author isn't required to go through a mainstream publisher; s/he can self-publish and maintain full control over when & how the books are produced. I'll grant that it's very, very hard to make a living that way. But saying they don't decide pricing & ebook details is like like saying "the decision on whether to work nights isn't up to the delivery driver."

Sure it is. If they don't like the conditions of that job, they can seek a different one. That said, I try not to grumble directly at authors about the details of their publishing contracts; the choice between "job with some aspects that suck" and "no job" is fairly obvious. However, some sympathy toward people stuck in a business contract that has aspects they don't like doesn't mean I believe they're not responsible for having signed the contract in the first place.

That's a bit of splitting hairs, but yes, it is their decision to sign the contract. Some of what is happening now (when an ebook comes out for example) was not spelled out in the contract and the publisher controls that. But fine, I don't dispute that they could have just walked away from the contract. I think you have the gist of it in, "job with some aspects that suck."

[Xenophon]

To answer the thread's headline question directly: No, it won't cause a change in my buying habits. It may cause an indirect change, perhaps by causing changes in availability or pricing of eBooks. I expect, however, that I'll continue to buy the eBooks that I'm interested in when I think the price is right—remembering (always) that DRM reduces the value of the eBook (because I must spend time and effort removing it), and that I ding publishers who start off by assuming I am dishonest an additional negative for their bozo-like behavior.

Xenophon

[Logseman]

Originally Posted by Seli

I see your point, but I could do the same already in online stores for paper books. And while I do at times decide in the store to buy something usually I have a selection beforehand based on other sources. And books for me can not be randomly interchanged, total ebook access wouldn't increase the amount of books I would love to read that much.
I have preferences, authors I want to read as soon as possible, authors I would like to try, authors I would have to be paid to try... Independent on format. I have bought hardcovers despite the format, not despite the price, because I wanted access to a book.

On a tangent I still have not found an online bookstore (paper or e) that makes is as easy to browse for books as a physical bookstore (new or second hand). The amount of info I can get from a wall of (reasonably organized) books still seems to be superior for me to any webpage.

Indeed, you do that for online pbook stores too (that's one of Amazon's success keys). But unlike pbooks, you have access to your books right on the spot and there almost zero chances that your ebook has trouble in sending. Eventually the only thing which splits you from your book is cash. Unless, of course, you are indifferent to waiting a couple of days for getting your books, with higher (yet still minute) chances of accidents such as the book having sequels from the mistreatment by the mail office and/or the book's former owner (for the case of 2nd hand books).

For your aside note, keep in mind that while you have access to websites only in 2 dimensions and a quite limited range of your sight directed forwards, a brick and mortar library allows you to use your full tridimensional vision angle. Website organisation should improve, but there are limits we cannot surpass (unless we're in virtual reality)

[wayrad]

The new system has changed my buying habits, I think, although perhaps not the criteria on which I base my purchases. I haven't bought nearly as much from Fictionwise (my erstwhile main source of recent content) lately. I have a wishlist full of $11-$20+ books over there that I have no intention of purchasing until they come down. I tried buying some of their recent and more reasonably priced multiformat releases, but found that the writing quality tended toward the abysmal - and then I discovered that with a bit of searching, I could do better at Smashwords. So the new agency model has redirected me away from traditional publishers.

[Laine]

It won't affect my buying. Except for Romance books, which seem to be widely available, most books I am interested in buying are not available here in Australia.
Thank God for Harlequin, Baen and Regency Reads.