Quote:
Originally Posted by leebase
Anybody actually know how Baen is doing?
|
Baen does.
They're a privately held company, and have no obligations to put out any financial info.
I've heard suggestions that they put out about 70 books a year. For comparison, a big publisher can put out around 200 books in a week. If this is correct, then they're still pretty tiny.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by leebase
With the kindle, nook, sony, iPad and all the smart phones -- just how is their free ebook system working for them today?
|
There's no way to know, just as there is no way to say if their choice not to use DRM alters their sales in either direction.
If they're keeping it up, though, they probably still believe that it's a cheaper or more effective way to promote their books than via advertising.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by leebase
They release $6 copies of their ebooks the same day their brand new hard backs go on sale for near $20. What has this practice done to their hard back sales?
|
It's probably all but destroyed them.
The key question though is if the margins on the $6 ebooks are anywhere near those of the hardcovers. That would depend entirely on the advances, royalty rates, and other associated costs. It also depends on how much they're selling through their own site compared to other retailers. $6 bought direct from Baen means they don't have to cough up $2 - $3 to the retailer.
We can guess that it's working, but "how well" is not public knowledge.