The article flies in the face of the folks around here that believe eBooks should be substantially cheaper, some say a $1, because they are digital and free to reproduce. To quote from the article:
Quote:
Producing e-books still has many of the costs associated with print publishing such as advances, editorial, sales, marketing, promotion and publicity. In addition, there are a host of new costs, including converting files to multiple formats, digital warehousing, anti-piracy protection, and content and metadata tracking. The upfront investment is so formidable that Random reckons it may not turn a profit in the US—a far more buoyant e-book market than the UK—until 2013.
Futhermore publishers’ costs may not diminish after their initial investment. Sara Lloyd, Pan Macmillan’s head of digital publishing, writing for The Bookseller Daily at this week’s London Book Fair, said continuing costs would include infrastructure investment, as well as constant updates to software and systems.
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Another interesting item is that Author's get a higher percentage of money on eBook sales than they do on book sales. I know I do, by the way.
Dale