Quote:
Originally Posted by Worldwalker
The only reason it would be necessary to sell pbooks as cheaply as ebooks is if they were in competition, but they're not. They're two different market segments, just like the different formats of pbooks. Hardcovers don't sell for the same price as trade paperbacks, and trade paperbacks don't sell for the same price as mass-market paperbacks, either.
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How can you say they're not in competition?
Hardcover books traditionally are published first, with paperbacks coming out about a year later. Sometimes a trade paperback precedes a mass-market paperback. The consumer is mostly paying for the privilege of reading a book early.
The only books I've ever seen that have been issued in hardcover and paperback at the same time are some reference-type books.
Hardcovers initially have the market to themselves--they are not competing with the cheaper versions. But now you throw e-books into the mix, and want them to come out at the same time as hardcovers, and at a significantly cheaper price. Of course they're competing, and the more mainstream e-books become, the more significant that competition becomes.