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neilmarr · 07-13-2010, 02:09 PM

***If it is possible for your company, why not for Amazon or others?***

I guess the simple answer, Miki, is that it is possible.

Right now, with treebook sales paying the bulk of fixed publishing overheads, the ebook versions are largely a byproduct, involving careful and skilled technical time, some admin, promo and specialised retail effort, but not the huge editorial, design and admin input that goes into paper and that would (I hope) be involved in serious and selective ebook-only publishing.

Until ebook sales dangerously eat into treebook sales, these lower publication costs and the almost zero cost of storage and distribution should be reflected in the cover price. But perhaps some publishers are running scared already and trying to establish a high cover price principle that will hold when the ebook becomes really mainstream.

Things will change, I think, Miki. First the major houses will discover that a fair deal to ebook readers isn't a concession but an inducement. Ereading types are savvi folks and won't be taken for fools. As things turn, as they will, to a customer base that's largely dominated by ebook reading, there will be an understanding on both sides that value is based on content plus costs.

The price of digital presentation will then become so competitive that we may even see the end of the treebook apart from as a beautiful curiosity and highly priced special ornamental birthday gift for a friend to decorate the house with. Let's face it; when it comes to reading, most of us here know the treebook isn't any more practical than the lovely brass and copper bed-warmers they hang on pub walls in England.

But ... I've never been accused of not being a dreamer. So let's just say that, so far, my own wee house can afford good prices and that we can also -- even though we're a traiditonal, all-service publisher -- pay authors a 40% royalty on their ebooks. So far, everyone seems pretty happy.

Cheers. Neil

PS: And Harry's dead right about the 'Book Downloads' section here at MR. Expertly and painstakingly compared public domain words, free and in several formats. N

07-13-2010, 02:09 PM	#13
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	*If it is possible for your company, why not for Amazon or others?* I guess the simple answer, Miki, is that it is possible. Right now, with treebook sales paying the bulk of fixed publishing overheads, the ebook versions are largely a byproduct, involving careful and skilled technical time, some admin, promo and specialised retail effort, but not the huge editorial, design and admin input that goes into paper and that would (I hope) be involved in serious and selective ebook-only publishing. Until ebook sales dangerously eat into treebook sales, these lower publication costs and the almost zero cost of storage and distribution should be reflected in the cover price. But perhaps some publishers are running scared already and trying to establish a high cover price principle that will hold when the ebook becomes really mainstream. Things will change, I think, Miki. First the major houses will discover that a fair deal to ebook readers isn't a concession but an inducement. Ereading types are savvi folks and won't be taken for fools. As things turn, as they will, to a customer base that's largely dominated by ebook reading, there will be an understanding on both sides that value is based on content plus costs. The price of digital presentation will then become so competitive that we may even see the end of the treebook apart from as a beautiful curiosity and highly priced special ornamental birthday gift for a friend to decorate the house with. Let's face it; when it comes to reading, most of us here know the treebook isn't any more practical than the lovely brass and copper bed-warmers they hang on pub walls in England. But ... I've never been accused of not being a dreamer. So let's just say that, so far, my own wee house can afford good prices and that we can also -- even though we're a traiditonal, all-service publisher -- pay authors a 40% royalty on their ebooks. So far, everyone seems pretty happy. Cheers. Neil PS: And Harry's dead right about the 'Book Downloads' section here at MR. Expertly and painstakingly compared public domain words, free and in several formats. N Last edited by neilmarr; 07-13-2010 at 02:11 PM.