MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - "The book publishing industry has entered a period of long-term decline"

glendalekid · 05-06-2011, 12:13 PM

I remember when television was touted as a "book sales killer." No doubt before that, it was radio. How about movies? Talkies, yet!! Rather than grabbing for the easy excuse, publishers need to find out what their real problem is. I do believe that it has been seriously exacerbated by ever-rising prices that have finally hit the "too high" limit for too many people. I hit the "too high" limit several years ago, and for that reason I am now a non-buyer.

If the current prices were not a problem, there would not be so many threads on here about prices and "how much would you pay". Publishers appear to have forgotten that it's easier to find 5 people who will pay $5.00 than one person who will pay $25.00. But then again, maybe they don't care and would prefer to have that one $25.00 customer rather than five $5.00 customers. If that's the case then they need to stop whining - otherwise they need to make appropriate changes.

I don't know how the rest of you feel, but one thing that really annoys me is when a company or industry believes it has me in a "gotcha" situation. The publishing industry has practiced this with book customers for some time now, and this attitude will surely fuel the piracy sites.

I have downloaded a lot of free books from Gutenberg, Mobileread, and Baen. Thank you for the additional suggestions, and I will check them out, too. I am thoroughly enjoying many of them, especially the books by R. Austin Freeman.

I have signed up for the Singapore Library. In reading the fine print at the Free Library of Phildelphia, I found the notation that Senior citizens 65+ and members of the armed forces are eligible for a free library card from them. So, I sent off an application to them the other day without a check. We will see if I get my free card. For the books currently not in e-book form, especially back-list books, I will continue with the library and Interlibrary Loan.

05-06-2011, 12:13 PM	#63
glendalekid Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 490454 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Sony 505	I remember when television was touted as a "book sales killer." No doubt before that, it was radio. How about movies? Talkies, yet!! Rather than grabbing for the easy excuse, publishers need to find out what their real problem is. I do believe that it has been seriously exacerbated by ever-rising prices that have finally hit the "too high" limit for too many people. I hit the "too high" limit several years ago, and for that reason I am now a non-buyer. If the current prices were not a problem, there would not be so many threads on here about prices and "how much would you pay". Publishers appear to have forgotten that it's easier to find 5 people who will pay $5.00 than one person who will pay $25.00. But then again, maybe they don't care and would prefer to have that one $25.00 customer rather than five $5.00 customers. If that's the case then they need to stop whining - otherwise they need to make appropriate changes. I don't know how the rest of you feel, but one thing that really annoys me is when a company or industry believes it has me in a "gotcha" situation. The publishing industry has practiced this with book customers for some time now, and this attitude will surely fuel the piracy sites. I have downloaded a lot of free books from Gutenberg, Mobileread, and Baen. Thank you for the additional suggestions, and I will check them out, too. I am thoroughly enjoying many of them, especially the books by R. Austin Freeman. I have signed up for the Singapore Library. In reading the fine print at the Free Library of Phildelphia, I found the notation that Senior citizens 65+ and members of the armed forces are eligible for a free library card from them. So, I sent off an application to them the other day without a check. We will see if I get my free card. For the books currently not in e-book form, especially back-list books, I will continue with the library and Interlibrary Loan.