Quote:
Originally Posted by taustin
Common sense may dicatate that, but reality disagrees. At most, 10% of the cost of producing a book goes to putting ink on paper (less on more popular books).
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The problem is that publishers have spent the last 100 years trying to persuade us otherwise.
For many, many years the publishing model was to publish expensive hardcover and sell it to all those that couldn't wait. Then when they ran out of customers willing to cough up $39, they printed Trade Paperback format to try to milk the customers that were still waiting. Finally, Mass Market Paperback was printed and sold at $7.99. In the meanwhile lots of people went to second-hand bookstore (were you can't take your e-book after you finish) but that is another story ...
Publishers never *ever* told us that the production price difference (actual paper and binding) between the hardcover ($39) and MMPB ($7.90) was less than 1 dollar.
Only now, when they are trying to justify high prices of bunch of ones and zeroes they tell us that the majority of price is in authors royalty, editing, typesetting, cover illustration, marketing, ...
Dear paper publishers, trying to gouge us on e-books, I wish you Many Happy Returns ;-)