Quote:
Originally Posted by Polyglot27
Now, if an ebook version of a book is discounted after a certain period of time has elapsed after the first edition, the publisher would not be losing money but would have the advantage of retaining control of the title. The reader would not have to buy second hand copies where the publisher does not get anything, but buy the electronic version since there will be no mailing costs and the download is instantaneous. The advantage to users is that a book will never have to go out of print or out of stock.
All this is maybe just more wishful thinking.
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No, it isn't, and something like what you suggest is likely to occur.
Right now, a book may see a hardcover edition first, then, after a year, a mass market PB. The delay is to keep the cheaper PB edition from competing with the HC. If reading the book
now, and/or having the durable larger format is sufficiently important to you, you buy the hardcover. If price is more important, and you're willing to wait, you buy the PB.
Ebooks add a possibility to the mix: instead of buying the PB, you buy eBook edition. The question is what price you pay.
You will
not see eBook editions offered simultaneously with the hardcover at MMPB prices, for reasons that ought to be obvious. If a publisher releases an eBook edition at the same time as the hardcover, you can assume it will carry a higher price than an MMPB edition. You are paying a premium for early access, because you
do want to read the book now, and since you probably buying the eBook
instead of the hardcover, the publisher will want to charge a price that will yield a comparable amount of revenue and profit.
If the eBook is issued to coincide with the MMPB edition, a price comparable to the MMPB is likely. One thing I think may occur is that existing eBook editions released simultaneously with the hardcover will be repriced when the paperback is issued.
There are a fair number of complaints when that
isn't the case, and some publishers have a wishful thinking idea of how much they'll be able to charge for eBooks competing with MMPBs. Ultimately, I think they'll be forced to rethink their notions.
One thing I do
not think will happen is eBooks issued by any major trade publisher at prices significantly
less than the corresponding MMPB. I don't believe they
can do that, as they simply can't price below cost and expect to stay in business.
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Dennis