Quote:
Originally Posted by boxcorner
I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's definitely something missing from the e-book reading experience. Apart from proper editing, I think perhaps what is missing is added value. Many DVDs include extra information about the film, actors, how it was made, and so on. If all e-books contained lots of supplementary background information, perhaps a biography of the author, maybe an article by the author about why they wrote the book in a particular way, included sample versions of other e-books by the same author, trial versions of other books available from the publisher, quizzes or other competitions based on the book with free book prizes, etc. Purchasers of e-books could be offered a discount to buy the printed version. Maybe then their perceived value of the e-book version would be higher. Alternatively, include an e-version with each p-book - it might create more incentive to buy the p-book.
Anyway, the experience of reading e-books needs to be at least as good, if not better than the experience of reading a paper book. I realise that some people have stopped buying and reading paper books, they feel that e-books are more convenient, and so on, but many people who love books don't see the e-book as being a replacement, rather as supplement. So long as readers come away with an impression that the e-book versions are inferior to the printed versions then they will expect to pay less for them. Over pricing of e-books has created a lot of resentment and in my view this blatant profiteering increases the likelihood of piracy. Adding further irritations in the form of DRM and geo-restrictions only makes matters worse.
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I honestly don't think pirates give a damn WHAT publishers do to promote ebooks. They want the price of ebooks to be zero and will steal from the author if it is above zero. THE END.
Your suggestions bear merit, but you should understand THAT.