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Originally Posted by abookreader
Everything about this market is new. Amazon already reports selling more ebooks than paperbooks. Authors are self publishing their old bestsellers that were out of print - for a third of the price of the new bestseller. You think that doesn't matter?
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Why would it? Was there ever a time in our lifetime when there weren't alternatives to buying new release hard backs? I know I had plenty of reading opportunities without needing ebooks when I was a kid -- and too poor to buy hard backs.
Economics isn't new. The people willing to pay the most, set the market, not the folks who say "that's too much". A publisher could set the price at $1000 for an ebook, and all of us would say "phoey on you-ey". But if lots of folks bought it at that price, then THEY would set the price, not us.
The Agency 5 moved their ebook prices to $12.99 and $14.99. And what happened to sales? They have kept going up. The people buying these books have already confirmed that $9.99 was not the top price the market would bear for new popular books.
Quote:
Originally Posted by abookreader
The old model of publishing is on its last legs. Businesses who refuse to change as their market changes die.
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Publishing is for sure changing. So far, though, there is no indication that $12.99 to $14.99 has been an impediment to mass market sales. There are a plethora of free ebooks available -- in addition to all the free and cheap book alternatives we've always had. And STILL, people are paying those higher prices for popular books.
When people STOP paying those prices, the publishers will respond with lower prices. It has nothing to do with the cost of production. It has nothing to do with what the non-hard back book buying public think.
Lee