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Originally Posted by SilverBear
To even try to equate the "fair and just" price for an eBook with the price of the same book in print form is not just a futile exercise like trying to "compare apple with oranges."
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You are right to put the "fair and just" in quotes here. There is no reason for a publisher to set any price other than the one which maximizes profit. If publishers make more money, they are going to, on average, pay more taxes and share more with authors. What about the far larger profit margins of a Microsoft or Apple? I'm not criticizing them for their success, just pointing out that publishers are normal in pricing what the market will bear.
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A fundamental change in thinking, and a fundamental change in marketing and distribution is urgently needed.
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Why? As far as I know, publishers are doing rather well, especially considering there being a recession/depression at present.
I guess that the answer, as to why they have to change, could be the darknet threat. There does seem to be evidence this has cost the music industry sales. But part of the reason for this is the music industry's disproportionate reliance on young people. Book publishers have an older customer base that is, perhaps, more likely to play by the rules. I say perhaps there because I am not sure. Publisher profit margins over the next few quarters may bear watching. However, it seems that there are more book titles than ever. Also, the darknet is going to pull off readers who care about price, and only price, regardless. This skews the remaining group a bit in the direction of those who can afford to pay more. There no reason I can see why publishers should ignore this in their calculations.
I don't like that the selection of new books at my public library is going down, and the selection of eBooks is puny. You may not like that you can't afford to buy as many eBooks as you like. But I don't see why a publishing company should make that their problem.
P.S. I do think companies need to act morally. No sweatshop factories! No child labor! Pay the authors their royalties by the contracted date! However, I just don't see why I have a right to low prices.