MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - New electronic edition of my novel ALLIANCES

Beth Q. Barnard · 08-05-2010, 03:10 PM

I'm well aware that DRM is not popular with many readers who read ebooks, but I don't think publishers are going to change their minds any time soon. I'd like to have a firm finding -- way beyond anecdotal evidence -- on the top reasons people dislike DRM. Is it because it can screw up and make an ebook difficult to read? Is it because legacy publishers insist on making ebook prices equivalent to the price of manufactured books? What other reasons are there for disliking DRM? Because I don't yet have an ereading device, I'm totally ignorant about the capacity for DRM to screw up. As far as pricing of ebooks, I think the pricing arguments of legacy publishers are fatuous. There is simply no excuse to include the cost of manufacturing a paperback or hardcover book in the price of an ebook. In addition, owners of manufactured books end up with a tangible object with continuing resale value while ebook readers do not -- so a FURTHER discount is in order. (Legacy publishers hate used books but, really, should I have to pay Toyota a share when I sell my used Camry? Why should publishers/authors get paid for used book sales?) At Straight Up Press, for a manufactured book priced at $12.95, the maximum ebook price for that title is $5.95, a discount that reflects both the fact that there is no cost of manufacturing and that currently ebooks have no resale value.

08-05-2010, 03:10 PM	#7
Beth Q. Barnard Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Grants Pass, Oregon Device: none	Publishers standing firm on DRM I'm well aware that DRM is not popular with many readers who read ebooks, but I don't think publishers are going to change their minds any time soon. I'd like to have a firm finding -- way beyond anecdotal evidence -- on the top reasons people dislike DRM. Is it because it can screw up and make an ebook difficult to read? Is it because legacy publishers insist on making ebook prices equivalent to the price of manufactured books? What other reasons are there for disliking DRM? Because I don't yet have an ereading device, I'm totally ignorant about the capacity for DRM to screw up. As far as pricing of ebooks, I think the pricing arguments of legacy publishers are fatuous. There is simply no excuse to include the cost of manufacturing a paperback or hardcover book in the price of an ebook. In addition, owners of manufactured books end up with a tangible object with continuing resale value while ebook readers do not -- so a FURTHER discount is in order. (Legacy publishers hate used books but, really, should I have to pay Toyota a share when I sell my used Camry? Why should publishers/authors get paid for used book sales?) At Straight Up Press, for a manufactured book priced at $12.95, the maximum ebook price for that title is $5.95, a discount that reflects both the fact that there is no cost of manufacturing and that currently ebooks have no resale value.