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Though I bought my new ereader mainly for public domain and library books, I wanted to buy ebooks of a handful of my special favorites--books I already own and treasure in hardcover. Well, so far the ones I've checked--books that are around 50 years old--have had ebook prices of $12 or $13, compared to trade paperback prices of either the same or a dollar less. This is just insane.
So while I would have happily bought these ebooks at, say, $5 apiece, just to have them in another format, there's no way I will buy them at $12. They could have made some money off me with moderate pricing, but now will make nothing off me. Where's the common sense?
I'd like to see some innovative offers--e.g., offering a physical book with a special code to unlock a digital version as well (charging an extra buck or two for the privilege). Or to move backlist books, offering a discount for an ebook if you own a physical copy of the book already (you would have to enter the physical book's SKU to get the discount--Disney has done this to encourage buyers to upgrade to Blu-ray DVDs).
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