Of all the big publishers Harlequin pretty much "gets" ebooks, got it long before other publishers, and likely sells a much higher percentage of its books in digital form than most other publishers. Ebooks are definitely not an "afterthought" for almost any company that publishes romance books.
I suspect their paper costs are much lower than most other publishers -- which are already a fraction of what most people presume (typically around 15% of the cover price btw). Most of what Harlequin cranks out are cheap paperbacks on cheap paper, with lower expectation of keeping tons of back catalog titles around.
And, of course, ebooks are delivered instantly and for free. To make a real comparison, you'd have to include the shipping costs.
Regardless, I'd say it's clear that they're pocketing a little extra revenue from the ebooks, and people would squeal like stuck pigs over a 3¢ price differential no matter how good a reason Harlequin provided.
And ultimately, I don't see how it matters. Either they're offering you a book at a price you're willing to pay, or they aren't. If they're charging too much, by all means let them know. But it sounds more like you're indexing that number off of a paper price, which is increasingly irrelevant these days....
|