Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy
That would be because readers have got used to sub-$5 prices for old books. Even new ones that would have actual tangible costs to produce rarely cost much more than $10. People aren't stupid, and most here know perfectly well how much work is involved in digitising a paper book. They also know that publishers do not employ proof readers to check ebooks.
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This is a good point. If I actually believed that a $10 backlist book meant that it was properly proofed and edited as opposed to a $6 backlist book, that would make a difference to me.
If I actually thought that a $10 backlist book was what the publisher had calculated they *needed* to charge in order to make backlist publishing pay for itself (and turn a profit), I would happily buy to help them out and encourage them to continue the practice.
As it is, I don't believe a $10 backlist price point represents anything other than the publisher feeling that $10 is some kind of magic ebook price. It doesn't mean I won't buy, but it does mean I might wait, forget, decide it isn't worth it, etc.
I went through the same thing recently with "Brave New World". It was published in 1932, it's a classic imho, and it's been $8 at B&N for forever, so I've just had it sitting in my wishlist for months, hoping it will come down. Now today I've heard it's (a) 99 cents at Amazon (though potentially not from a publisher that actually owns the rights!) and (b) free on thecopia.com (which I'd never heard of before and don't know if it's reputable or not).
I bought the Amazon version before I realized that it might not be a legal copy (hope Amazon refunds me when/if they have to remove it!) BUT I would have bought the B&N version months ago if it'd been $5 instead of $8-10. For that matter, I might have even jumped at the $8 price if I had known for sure it would be a good quality edition and not a crappy scan. But I've been burned on that with a lot of backlist classics.
Maybe it really does have to be $8 to turn a profit, but considered it's REQUIRED READING in quite a few college / high school courses, I don't think the publisher wasn't guaranteed to get back their investment.
(As for the cover they recommissioned, it...is ugly. And generic. If they paid more than $50 for that cover, they were taken, because I could have done better. Original complaint, I know.)