[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by JWLaRue

ZP,

Sure looks to me like they basically blew you off. You're correct, they haven't figured out the advantages and disadvantages of the content and container now being separate things.

Doesn't make me want to deal with them at this point.

-Jeff

well, i think you're partly right (they haven't figured a *lot* of stuff out) but i'm not sure i would go so far as to think they "blew me off". they did send an identical letter to at least 2 of us (and probably everyone who wrote), and i would have appreciated a little more reactivity, but at least they went to the trouble to answer at all, and *claimed* at least to be very interested in what readers think of this new-to-Penguin market. this is why i think MORE PEOPLE SHOULD WRITE and also why i replied to their email as follows :

Dear Penguin,

Thanks very much for your reply. I am really pleased to hear that you
are open to hearing the reactions of your readers. I do understand
your point of view, that ebooks are a new way to access books. I also
appreciate very much your intention to reduce the price of the ebook
following the release of a less expensive paperback edition. I think
most readers have integrated the publishing model of "if you want it
right away, you have to pay for the more expensive hardcover edition",
and I think this model can be applied to ebooks as well (more
expensive for new books, price reductions for older books).

However I think there is an important distinction to make between a
paperbook and an ebook, not least because once you have read a
paperbook, if you don't want to keep it, you can sell it in a
second-hand bookshop, thereby somewhat reducing its initial cost to
you (even if artificially). This is not possible with an ebook.

Also, more and more readers make a distinction between the *content*
(the actual text of the book) and the *container* it is delivered in
(hardcover, paperback, ebook...). Just as no reader would pay the same
price for a paperback as they would a hardcover, I think very few will
be willing to pay the same price for an ebook container. A hardcover
is clearly more expensive than a paperback to produce, therefore the
price difference can be justified.

However following this logic, an ebook is significantly *less*
expensive to produce (no costs for paper, ink, printing, binding,
shipping, storage, handling, inventory management...). These are
significant savings for the publisher. My opinion as a reader and
buyer of books is that following the logic outlined above, an ebook
should be priced at half the price of the paperbook, at most. This
provides for paying the author, editor and publisher, but takes into
account the absence of other costs in the production chain.

So, taking your example, when you release a hardback at £18.99, the
ebook could be priced at around £9.50. Then, when the paperback is
released at a price of £8.99, the price of the ebook would be reduced
to £4.50. Given that ebook production costs almost nothing to the
publisher once the initial file is created, even at these
significantly lower prices the publisher does not have to fear a loss,
and in fact may dramatically increase their sales.

I feel sure that if a publisher passes these savings along to their
readers in the form of ebooks priced less than paperbooks, this will
in turn encourage the customer to buy more books from that publisher,
because they will appreciate the honest dealings of this publisher and
want to continue to do business with them.

Thank you very much for your attention,

A K

seriously, maybe i'm naïve but i do think if enough people write to them saying they will not pay hardcover price for an ebook, they will be forced to listen because they want to sell books. *what* are y'all waiting for ???