Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
As to the $13 e-book, I think the author is out of line. I don't know the author, haven't read his work, and have no idea whether the book is worth $13. And I have happily paid that much for an e-book, so I don't think that a $13 price is necessarily out of line.
However, if the book *is* worth $13, it's not worth $13 because some 2000 calorie coffee drink at Starbucks costs $4. It's also not worth $13 because Weeks spent two years working on it. As others have noted, it has no inherent worth; it is only worth what people will pay for it. Which means that individual readers will need to decide for themselves whether the price is right; Weeks's opinion doesn't have any impact on whether an individual reader would value the book that much.
I sort of understand why he was annoyed by the fan's comment, but a simple "if you don't think it's worth it, don't buy it" would have been enough.
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Indeed, he does seem to have made a rather pointless comparison when the short and sweet response you mention would have been more effective as right from the outset it avoids any response of 'I don't overpay for coffee either' or encourages more relevant comparisons such as to the paper edition where it may not fare too well either.