Quote:
Originally Posted by MovieBird
Wait a minute, publishers make an asinine business decision, and I'm supposed to feel sorry for them? Screw that, they can either figure out a way to deliver a product at a price point that the consumer wants (in sufficient volume to make a profit), or they can go out of business.
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Gosh no, you don't have to feel sorry for them, it's just that if they have to keep paying these advances, they will set their prices accordingly. And, unfortunately for folks like you and me, there are ebook shoppers who are willing to pay higher prices, enough to maximize the profit of the supply meets demand curve at a higher price than we'd like to pay.
Two things need to happen to have the pricing fall naturally: advances need to start coming down, and the reading market needs to become more price resistant.
The first may be happening gradually. The big advance is usually a bidding move to attract or keep a best-selling author. But with overall profitability seemingly starting to slide, I think these are going to start falling by necessity. After all, even with a best selling author, if you lose $2 on every book you aren't going to "make it up on volume."
Second, if you as a reader feel that X is too high a price to pay for an ebook, then don't pay it. The only way to bring prices lower is by not buying it when it's higher. Getting rid of the collusionary agency pricing will probably help here.
Just one of two won't solve the problem, in my opinion.
Lower advances + no reader resistance = "charging what the market will bear" = more profit for publishers.
Reader resistance + no lower advances = publisher losses = bankruptcy.
Lower advances + reader resistance = lower prices = new sweet spot = new lower price to complain about ("$7.99!!! What greed! I'll never pay over $4.99 for a book!")