Funny, I was just thinking about this topic yesterday. I bought 4 books: 2 were remaindered books and the other 2 were secondhand. Despite the almost-scary number of books I've bought over the years, only about 1 in 25 has been at cover price. The publishers can wail about the evils of online piracy all they like, but they and their authors have never made much money from me. If I buy an ebook for $6, they haven't "lost" the $19 from the mythical new $25 hardback version that I would have otherwise bought. They've gained the $6 I would have otherwise spent on the secondhand version.
For me, a book has always been worth $4 to $9. The $15 to $25 figure has never applied. (actually, I've converted from euros to dollars and taken inflation into account, but you get the idea).
|