Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
If, of course, the book exists in print. If the book is only released as an ebook, Billy just has to hope his local library has an ebook department, decides to buy it, and in some cases, if Billy's one of the first 26 people to check it out.
The lack of legit loaning/resale of ebooks is working toward re-establishing access to books as something for the upper classes, or at least removing access from the most impoverished classes of people. The first sacrifice in the ebook-vs-paper publishing wars will be mmpb's--and suddenly, Billy will have a lot fewer chances to find a copy at a yard sale for fifty cents.
I don't mind waiting for lower-priced secondhand books, but I'm baffled that authors & publishers seem to think this is a *good* thing for them. They don't get royalties on those sales. Why not release $5 ebooks instead of telling me to read something they don't get paid for?
I think a lot of the price debates is big publishers not realizing how many book readers *never* paid full price for books, and would be happy to by ebooks at the prices they'd been paying for paper--which had no connection to the prices on the cover.
For specific nonfic that directly suits my interests, I'll pay quite a bit for an ebook version. For leisure-reading fiction, though, I consider all ebooks (within genres I enjoy, by authors I like) more-or-less fungible ... I can always find something else that I'll enjoy reading just as much. And no amount of essays, or ranting, or explaining about the costs of the industry, are going to convince me that I should be paying more for my reading entertainment. I have a budget; I want the best possible value for that budget.
I'm not saying "I'll never again pay more than $6 for a fiction ebook." I am saying that I'd need a very good reason for it, something stronger than "ooh, you're gonna love this book." Because I know I can get books I'm gonna love for $6.
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Oh, that is very well said! My local library does have a good eBook department and I got the cheapest available eReader (a Kobo WiFi 50% off at a closing Borders plus I had a gift certificate). Still, the cost for entry to eReading was not the $50 I paid for my reader. You really need your own computer and Internet connection w/ WiFi, so we are talking the monthly Internet connection fee as well as the cost of the computer, a broadband modem, and a WiFi router, not just the cost of the eReader and any eBooks you purchase. This is outside the range of a lot of people.