Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
Not so. A counter-example: Baen Books. Even new release hardbacks from them are $6 in ebook form. And if you're willing to buy the four new releases in a month, you can get them for $3.75 each. (And get two or more back-catalogue titles thrown in for free.)
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True about Baen; I should have said most publishers. (And I don't understand *at all* the economics of their e-book scheme. I.e., "Cryoburn" is out in hardback; you can buy it at Baen for $6, or you can legally download it (and all of the other books in its series) for free from here:
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/2...CD/CryoburnCD/ (as has been previously posted on MR).
I mean, I do understand the economics of giving a way the first couple of books in a series through their Free Library, on the idea that you would be hooked and buy the rest. And, consistent with this, you can get the first two volumes of the Honor Harrington series free at the free library, with the rest costing $6 apiece. Or you can, again legally, go to
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/2...sionofHonorCD/ and simply download *all* of the books in the series.
So I really don't understand how their economic system works...and even if it works for them, it's hard to see how it would work for anyone else.