Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
They do. Reserve against returns is a standard element in the book budget.
But don't assume ebooks come along for the ride free, with other costs borne by and allocated to print editions. There won't be "returns" on an ebook, but the ebook will still be expected to make a contribution to revenue and profit. A share of the overall cost will be allocated to the ebook version.
It may seem possible to price an ebook lower because returns aren't a factor, but "possible" and "desirable" are different things.
Pricing in a competitive economy is always "What the market will bear", and it's in the producer's interest to charge a higher price if they can get it. The usual argument is "Yeah, but they could sell a lot more if it were cheaper!"
Well, maybe not.
In the case of ebooks, you might legitimately claim that ebooks overall might sell more if they were cheaper. But the buyer isn't looking at all ebooks. They are looking at specific titles they are interested in buying.
When a publisher buys a manuscript, they will make a guess as to how many copies the book will sell, and the advance they give the author will be based on that guess. Sometimes they guess wrong on the high end, and the book doesn't sell enough copies to "earn out" (sell enough to recover their costs and cover what they paid the author.) Most books fall into this category, and the advance is all the author sees. They don't see additional royalties. Far less often, they guess low, have an unexpected hit on their hands, go back for additional printings, and see an unexpected entry on the best seller lists. Champagne is poured and there is joy all around.
______
Dennis
|
Yeah, I'm aware of that, so let me put a better focus on my poition.
what puzzles me is that publishers
don't say:
"
- Hey an ebooks server-space comsumption is not worth mentioning in comparison to the shelf space competition, thus every reseller can offer the whole actual +backshelf stuff of our authors simultaneously.
- No is-a-reprint-worth-it-risk-calculation so later coming/new fans will always be able to get the whole stuff / complete series (even if there will be only 18 new fans per year for a series it'still bigger than none and the series may be damn long.)
- Now we don't need to fear about paybacks for truckloads of books if book foobar misses absolutely bottomless bad - its just 1 file on the resellers server.
- Much more people may order the authors genuine language edition, who haven't bought it before, due to the shipping costs... etc.
ergo:embrace and promote the ebook"
what I meant ebooks are offering chances which were often too much a risk with paper.
Instead of trying to make the most of the new posibilities they seem trying to fight it.