MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - ANOTHER "Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?" ARTICLE

JoeKeppler · 09-21-2010, 11:01 AM

While this may be 'another' thread about the sometimes high price of e-books, and though I might have missed many a discussion on it, I still think this is a great topic.

I'm going to reeeeeally attempt to avoid sounding like I'm shilling here, so please bear with me, but my views on this topic are intertwined with a recent conversation I had about my own book with a "pirate" friend of mine. I'll try and keep it down!

The electronic medium for book reading was as foul and alien to me as possible about two years ago. I detested the idea of not having a physical copy of my favorite author's latest... but then, I was - possibly still am - a blind curmudgeon. I didn't own a reader and I'd never come close to trying.

So I self-published my debut novel first in hardcover and then, about 4-5 months later, paperback. I listed both for $24.99 and $14.99 respectively. As you might imagine, being a new author, I sold maybe 400 out of the 1500 or so I ordered. Most were to friends and family. Needless to say, I didn't recoup all my production costs.

I won't bore you with my e-reader Baptism moment, but I'll say it was decently recent, and completely awesome. I am now a big believer in this medium - possibly more so than it's elitist older brother.

So I had a conversation with a friend of mine that became an e-convert well before me about creating my book for the electronic medium. I told him I was clueless, but excited about going digital. I told him how much I was looking to charge for it. He laughed and shook his head when I said $9.99.

What's so funny, I asked? He told me that whenever he saw a book by an author he didn't know that sounded intriguing in the slightest but was listed at the price I had mentioned, he'd just head over to his favorite "torrent" site and pirate the book for nothing. A Pirate's code, I suppose.

My feathers were significantly ruffled at hearing this, but rather than lecture, I decided to ask instead what he thought an acceptable price would be for an e-book in his eyes? Was there a limit that he would agree to? Or did he just pirate everything?

Turns out my "pirate" buddy did have some morals after all. He thought about it and hypothesized that if he saw a book on the e-marketplace that intrigued him that sat below the 5 dollar mark, he'd probably give it a chance. But that was his cutoff.

Terribly sorry for the long response here, but that was the setup. I'm curious myself now - because his response made sense to me, especially when discussed in length - for those of you arguing that publishers charge too much for e-books; what is your cutoff price? Do you have one?

I'm very much of the "App Store" mind now myself : there's a reason 1-2 dollar time wasters such as "Doodle Jump" or "Angry Birds" have now made their programmers/authors millions in gross... and I personally believe it's because they took a chance on trying to catch the eye of thrifty folks... which, in this economy, seems to be the lot of us!

Thanks for your time, my apologies for taking so much of it!

09-21-2010, 11:01 AM	#82
JoeKeppler New Author Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Spotsylvania, VA Device: Kindle	While this may be 'another' thread about the sometimes high price of e-books, and though I might have missed many a discussion on it, I still think this is a great topic. I'm going to reeeeeally attempt to avoid sounding like I'm shilling here, so please bear with me, but my views on this topic are intertwined with a recent conversation I had about my own book with a "pirate" friend of mine. I'll try and keep it down! The electronic medium for book reading was as foul and alien to me as possible about two years ago. I detested the idea of not having a physical copy of my favorite author's latest... but then, I was - possibly still am - a blind curmudgeon. I didn't own a reader and I'd never come close to trying. So I self-published my debut novel first in hardcover and then, about 4-5 months later, paperback. I listed both for $24.99 and $14.99 respectively. As you might imagine, being a new author, I sold maybe 400 out of the 1500 or so I ordered. Most were to friends and family. Needless to say, I didn't recoup all my production costs. I won't bore you with my e-reader Baptism moment, but I'll say it was decently recent, and completely awesome. I am now a big believer in this medium - possibly more so than it's elitist older brother. So I had a conversation with a friend of mine that became an e-convert well before me about creating my book for the electronic medium. I told him I was clueless, but excited about going digital. I told him how much I was looking to charge for it. He laughed and shook his head when I said $9.99. What's so funny, I asked? He told me that whenever he saw a book by an author he didn't know that sounded intriguing in the slightest but was listed at the price I had mentioned, he'd just head over to his favorite "torrent" site and pirate the book for nothing. A Pirate's code, I suppose. My feathers were significantly ruffled at hearing this, but rather than lecture, I decided to ask instead what he thought an acceptable price would be for an e-book in his eyes? Was there a limit that he would agree to? Or did he just pirate everything? Turns out my "pirate" buddy did have some morals after all. He thought about it and hypothesized that if he saw a book on the e-marketplace that intrigued him that sat below the 5 dollar mark, he'd probably give it a chance. But that was his cutoff. Terribly sorry for the long response here, but that was the setup. I'm curious myself now - because his response made sense to me, especially when discussed in length - for those of you arguing that publishers charge too much for e-books; what is your cutoff price? Do you have one? I'm very much of the "App Store" mind now myself : there's a reason 1-2 dollar time wasters such as "Doodle Jump" or "Angry Birds" have now made their programmers/authors millions in gross... and I personally believe it's because they took a chance on trying to catch the eye of thrifty folks... which, in this economy, seems to be the lot of us! Thanks for your time, my apologies for taking so much of it!