[neilmarr]

Thanks, Paul. Good points.

Let me pick up on this: ***how would you be hurt by an agreement that gave you fixed royalties of 30% of $5.95, and let the retailers set the prices? Like any other product, you sell at a wholesale price, and let others worry about the retail side.***

That would be fine if it were the case, Paul. Sadly, it ain't. Unlike with treebooks, where publishers still do receive return on Recommended Retail Price when a store discounts (unless by mutual agreement), publishers' returns on ebooks are on 'sold at' price and not RRP at the stores we deal with.

A promotional loss-leader on an ebook benefits only the retailer.

And, as I say, if one store discounts an ebook, we are contractually obliged to immediately reduce cover price everywhere else. It's administratively difficult to keep track and can easily lead to actually losing money on each sale of a discounted title.

Again, though, such a loss on ebooks would hurt bigger publishers using mass print run for treebooks more than it would smaller houses using more expensive PoD production for paperback because we have a slightly greater margin for loss than the main players in digital.

Even where a publisher does receive commission on full RRP of digital versions, price slashing of the ebook would seriously damage treebook sales and upset the balance of carefully apportioned publishing costs. Hence the imposition of their Agency 5 model.

Very best. Neil