Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
There's a one year lag between the release of the hardcover and the mass market paperback edition to give the hardcover time to sell the people who want the book now before the cheaper edition arrives. "Agency pricing" has the same purpose - if the retailer wants to offer an ebook edition at the same time as the hardcover edition, they have to charge a higher price so the publisher doesn't lose the difference on the sale. If they want to charge the lower price, they have to wait for a while after the hardcover is released to do it.
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That's true in theory, but some publishers (Macmillan for example) are keeping the prices on some of their ebooks at the higher rate even months after the paperback comes out ($12.99 ebook vs $7.99 paperback).
Also was the publisher not making more on those books ("hardcover" ebooks) the old way? 50% of a $25-$28 list price (regardless of retail price) vs 70% of the Agency retail price? So it's not all about 'losing the difference' on a sale.