Quote:
Originally Posted by sufue
I wonder if that's really the case, or whether being cautious and reactive, rather than proactive, in the face of a technological frame-break is the way to slow death?
For one thing, by keeping prices of even old old backlist titles at the price of a new paperback (or worse!), I suspect that they are missing big chunks of potential additional revenue from avid readers who would like to "format-shift". I have many authors whose complete backlists I would happily buy in e-book at a modest price, just to be able to re-read at a whim since I can carry all my e-books around with me...and also, I admit, to clear some space off my shelves. 
For example, I bought all of Steven F. Havill's older backlist titles when they first came out, at a very reasonable price (then) of about $3 each - can't remember exactly now, and they've since gone up. And these sales were "pure additional income" to the publisher and author since I had already bought these books once in paper, and certainly wouldn't buy again in paper for any reason. |
Too much conservatism in the face of a paradigm shift in the market is definitely the way to a slow death - and I think putting backlist at $3-5 in eBook format is something that has to happen. Tor's idea that the first Wheel of Time book which has been in paperback for 20 years should be $15 rather than $5 in eBook is ridiculous - most readers clamoring for low priced backlist have it completely right and the publishers have it totally wrong there.
The key here, though, is that the drive for low-priced backlist has been attached to the drive for drastic drops in current bestseller eBooks, and that's where the problem comes up.
While conservatism can lead to a slow death, making the wrong bold move will almost always lead to a fast death - and the people who run corporations have a fiduciary duty to avoid the moves that will lead to a fast death.