Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenMonkey
Vote with your dollars and give them to publishers and storefronts that deserve it.
|
So, what does it mean when the people are voting
for agency priced ebooks?
After all, agency pricing for 5 out of the 6 largest publishers went into effect over a year ago, and it doesn't seem to have appreciably slowed the adoption of ebooks. It's entirely possible that by the end of this year, the people who got into ebooks before agency pricing went into effect will be outnumbered by those who got in after -- and have not seen much retailer-controlled pricing.
My suspicion, albeit as yet unproven, is that most people merely do not care who is setting the price. All that matters is whether that price is acceptable.
And I, for one, don't have a problem with it. Of particular note is that it is not anti-competitive. Retailers are now all playing on an even playing field, and still have numerous other factors to differentiate their services -- ranging from devices and apps, to customer service, to self-publishing options. Smaller publishers aren't forced to use agency pricing, and can undoubtedly undercut the Big 6 on price if they choose.
And, of course, no one complains when Joe Author wrestles back control of electronic rights from his publisher, signs up for Smashwords and Createspace and.... tells the retailer what price to sell the book at. I swear, someone ought to string up those agency pricing independent authors, they are killing the market for ebooks.
