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Originally Posted by DMcCunney
The issue that publishers are dealing with is that ebook sales will cannibalize pbook sales. How many people are likely to get both for the same book?
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I was talking about the case where the publisher is making both the pbook and the ebook, if you were wondering. And this is like saying that if an ereader manufacturer makes devices with two color options for covers, the device with the most desired color will cannibalize the other.
If the price is in the impulse buy range, there would be enough people who would want to buy both, or buy an ebook rather than go to the library. Or get a book in the original language when they already have it translated. Try out a new writer with ebooks, and buy the pbook if they enjoyed the work. It would also be easier to buy books as presents.
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Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Dream on. Small book retailers are increasingly a thing of the past in the US. They can't match the buying power and pricing of the big chains, and can't match the big chains on price. They ones still around are specialty stores targeting niche markets.
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This would be the publishers doing. Obviously the small retailers can't match the prices of the bigger ones. They don't get the same deal on the books. But if the publisher only uses big retailers, then they effectively sell all books half-price. So the "value" that the book has for them is half the "value" that it has for the person who ends up buying it.
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Originally Posted by DMcCunney
You won't, and why should they? The market for print editions of PD books, in hardcover or paperback, is a niche market. Some houses address it, and some don't. But the money made from it is unlikely to be any significant fraction of their total revenue. It's small potatoes in the larger scheme of things.
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Won't what? Comment? I just did. And you didn't contradict me on the fact that they make more profit then they do with new authors. Does that mean that you agree?
These books will not bring the revenues that the gold mines bring, but they can bring a steady profit.
But the part about the manufacturing price is really interesting.
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Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Who told you hardcovers don't cost all that much more to make? "Trade paperbacks" exist to provide a cheaper edition than the hardcover, because there are costs in hardcover binding.
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Originally Posted by Sil_liS
Did you miss the fact that I quoted you? You say that it costs $1 more to manufacture a HC, and since the other costs are the same, it would mean that HC would cost $1 more to make than the PB. To me $1 difference means that it doesn't cost that much more to make.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
No, I was wrong in the last post. Subsequently I checked back. Better numbers are the ones I mention above, from someone in book production, in the context of a discussion of pricing.
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Just so I'm clear about your way of thinking:
1. You read my post that said that HC don't cost that much more to make.
2. You see the fact that I quoted you for that statement.
3. You realize that your initial statement was wrong.
4. You decide to reply with "Who told you hardcovers don't cost all that much more to make?"