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Originally Posted by leebase
The people who pay are the only ones who ever matter. Just like as a photographer it doesn't matter to me if someone thinks $50 is too much for a professional print as such people simply don't value my art enough to pay for it. I spend my time caring about the folks who do care for and are willing to pay for art.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ardeegee
Otherwise known as "suckers."
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ardeegee, you beat me to it.
One given in life is that those who know are usually at the mercy of those who don't. Another given is that the non-pretentious are the victims of the pretentious.
The American publishing industry is horribly managed, similar to the American auto industry. They don't know what people want, so they produce almost anything, hoping that the one or two hits will offset the multitude of misses. It's very costly and inefficient. We know this, yet we are at the mercy of those who think it actually costs that much to produce a given book. We know that a hardcover doesn't cost much more than a paperback, yet we are at the mercy of those who think they really are that much more expensive. Pay the author and bookstore a fair price: no one is going to challenge that, but it's up to the publisher to manage its own finances in a responsible manner. Don't make the readers pay for the publisher's incompetence and inefficiencies. If a publisher can't do this, perhaps it's time for a change of management.
Most individuals like to be viewed as intelligent, cultured, and sophisticated. And what better way to show you appreciate something than to throw a lot of money at it, right? Right? Money exists to pay the bills, not as a measure of your sophistication. This is the benchmark to determine pretentiousness and gullibility. Two people can read the same book. One person can put it down and say, "That was a good book. I'd pay $20 for that--it was that good." The other one can put it down and say, "That was a good book. I'd pay a fair price so that the author, publisher (if there is one), and seller can make a profit on it and keep on producing more." One of these two would, no doubt, look at the other and accuse him or her of lacking appreciation for the art--or, worse, of being cheap. Yet, they both enjoyed it and understood it equally. It's just that one is more pretentious and needs to flaunt the money aspect to prove it. That person is also more gullible as they obviously lack any understanding of the mismanaged publishing industry.
This can be applied to almost any industry or art where there is the perception of sophistication. Beware of people who are trying to push sophistication and appreciation as the reason to raise prices, as they are pretentious. Most good-quality things don't really cost as much as the producers would have the public believe, it's usually ego that drives their marketing campaign. If you think the publishing industry is bad for this, take a look at the pretentiousness in the specialty coffee industry--or the wine industry, for that matter. A coffee can cost a very reasonable price for the farmer to produce, but there are some roasters who want to market it as some sort of profound drinking experience, worthy of $10/cup. People who dare mention the relative cheapness of the production cost are ridiculed as being cheap, unappreciative, pedestrian, and having an unsophisticated palate. Only the truly "appreciative" understand and are willing to throw a lot of money at it, right? Right?
This is one of the most disgusting and disappointing aspects of human nature.