EBook survey on Tor.com

[susan_cassidy]

On the right-hand side of the Tor.com main page is a link to a survey titled "Like Books? Have Opinions?" They ask a lot of questions about ebooks, physical books, and pricing.

Someone posted about this on the Amazon Kindle forum, so I thought I'd mention it here, for Mobileread readers.

[elsussman]

note... you have to be logged in to the site in order to see the survey

[Worldwalker]

I didn't have to log in; I don't have an account there.

I was rather disappointed that they didn't have any questions about DRM. Yes, I'll buy a whole lot more ebooks if they're cheaper ... but not from anyone who only sells DRM-restricted books.

[DJHARKAVY]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

I didn't have to log in; I don't have an account there.

I was rather disappointed that they didn't have any questions about DRM. Yes, I'll buy a whole lot more ebooks if they're cheaper ... but not from anyone who only sells DRM-restricted books.

They also asked about dedicated eBook readers, but then listed Kindle, Nook, Sony and iPad, ignoring all the other readers (such as my Jetbook Lite.)

[starrigger]

I tried to raise all of the above issues in a post to the tor.com community forum, but the system kept eating my post and not putting it up. I emailed the administrators, but never heard back. (As a Tor author, I found this rather disappointing.)

Maybe someone else will have better luck. Try responding to my blank entry at:
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=...d=2689&catid=2

[bgalbrecht]

I tried responding and it said "An invalid post id was requested."

Too bad. If they had offered us a chance to add comments to the end of the survey, I would have said:

There are a number of Tor authors I never read because one or more of the following are true:
1) Their Tor books are never released in ebook format.
2) Their Tor books only get released in Amazon Kindle/Topaz format, which I never buy because I can only read them on Kindle for PC.
3) Their Tor books are released as ebooks but priced the same as the hardcover, even when Tor has released a mass-market paperback.

I never buy hardcover books. Since I can usually sell mass-market paperbacks to a used bookseller for 10-25% of cover price, I figure that the ebook price, when a MMPB edition is available, ought to be 10-25% less than the equivalent MMPB. Before switching to ebooks, over 50% of my paper book purchases were used books, and most of the rest were discounted by the retailer, I will be buying fewer books from publishers who embraced Agency Model pricing if they price their books at or above MMPB pricing when MMPB editions exist. Most of my ebooks purchases in the last 3 years were at least 15% less than MMPB pricing thanks to sales and loyalty programs, so even pricing ebooks at an even parity with MMPB is at least a 15% price increase to me.

[Blue Tyson]

That pretty much sums it up nicely.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I took the poll. The only issue I had with it was that it singled out the iPhone, Blackberry and Trea, but ignored all other smartphones… the closest analogue was PDA, which I chose.

Obviously, the poll is concerned only with e-book cost… no mention of DRM, formats, availability or back-catalogs.

[TallMomof2]

I was looking for the question "Do you buy Tor books?" I would answer no since Tor ebooks are not available in public libraries.

[Lemurion]

I took the survey - but it really didn't give the option to describe my ebook buying patterns.

My normal order of preference is something like this:

1) ebook priced at or below MMPB prices.
2) remaindered hardcover at or below MMPB prices.
3) ebook priced between $10-15 biased toward the low end of the scale.
4) new release hardcover.
5) MMPB. (If at all possible I won't buy this format at all any more.)

I'll pay $6-8 for the ebook of a MMPB
I'll pay roughly $10 for the ebook of a new release TPB
I'll pay $12-15 for the ebook of a new release HC

I would prefer DRM-free but will accept Adept/ePub if I have to. The other big point, and this is particularly huge with Tor/Macmillan, is that you have to sell it where I am willing to buy - and that means not just Amazon.

[starrigger]

In fairness to Tor, I should point out that they are getting their catalog into ebook format, though gradually (the ebook of Sunborn came a year later than I'd expected), the ebooks are starting to show up in a wider range of stores (Sony, B&N, Kobo, etc.), and the prices so far as I've seen lately do reflect drops in price for paperback, etc.

They're not getting everything right, but they're getting a lot right.

As for DRM, I've yet to receive a satisfactory answer as to why they didn't follow through on their expressed (to me) intention to offer DRM-free books. But I suspect it was either a Macmillan uber-decision, or it was just too hard to do, given that most of the distribution system is already geared to require DRM.

As for price, I'm happy that they're dropping to equal mmpb prices. I have sympathy for the viewpoint that they should be lower, but only up to a point. Ebooks are still something of a specialty market.

Anyway, I agree that the survey missed the mark on many of these questions, and I wish they'd provided a space for comments. (I'm still not sure if it was a Tor survey or a Macmillan survey.)

[DuncanWatson]

I am happy they have a survey that asks questions regarding ebooks. Getting survey questions right is hard and there is a fine line between too many options and not enough. This survey did fail to have some catch-all answers to denote readers not in their list or to add "other" to the list of ebook readers, etc.

But on the other hand, asking questions trying to get stuff right about ebooks and readers buying habits is a good thing. I am a late adopter, having only bought my nook last week. I see that a good selection of books are available now and most of the authors I follow are in that list. I don't plan on buying paper books ever again unless the attraction is too high and there is no availability for an ebook. For instance, the 4 volume set of the Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny is only available in hardcover today and if I can't get an ebook version before the summer I will buy the set.

I find it gratifying that some SF publishers seem to be more aware of how ebooks will affect them and are trying to get it right. I guess working with books about the future has helped break down their resistance. So though this survey isn't perfect, I do count it as a positive sign.
-Duncan

[Elfwreck]

2. Do you own a dedicated eReader? Select all that apply.

• Yes, I own an Amazon Kindle
• Yes, I own a Barnes & Noble Nook
• Yes, I own a Sony eReader
• Yes, I own an Apple iPad
• I don’t own a dedicated eReader, but am planning to buy one
• I don’t own a dedicated eReader, and have no plans to buy one

So, where's "Yes, I own a different dedicated eReader?" Astak, Onyx, iLiad, eBookwise...

And since when is the iPad a "dedicated eReader?" By that logic, a netbook is a dedicated eReader.

[dmaul1114]

They're clearly just interested in those 4 devices that have larger install bases, are things casual readers have heard of etc.

[davidhburton]

I took the poll. Interesting. Certainly more comprehensive than the couple of polls I ran at my site. My results were interesting. I hope Tor releases their findings.