Quote:
Originally Posted by rhadin
I've read statements like this before from authors. I'm curious. Why is it not to the author's benefit to have higher book prices across the board?
If the numbers released by the various industry followers are correct, sales of ebooks have been rising at a tremendous rate, even with agency pricing in effect. And as bookbuyers become accustomed to paying a higher price for a book, there is less complaining about the price. This is what has allowed the prices of pbooks to rise over the years. Otherwise, we would still be paying 25 cents for a paperback and $3 for a hardcover (in the new market not the secondhand market).
How does the Guild's position in favor of agency pricing and anti-Amazon (or Google) monopoly hurt authors?
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The battle over prices in the publishing industry is about who speaks.
Consolidation in the publishing industry has left a handful of large international companies deciding whose voice will be heard. Many on this thread have had the experience of trying to crack into mainstream publishing, with varying success. Market monopoly sustains high prices, which sustains the old infrastructure of publishing.
Amazon is shattering Big Pub's monopoly on who speaks. Look at the free list on Kindle today; hundreds of books available from hundreds of heretofore unheard writers. Yeah, a lot of it is bad. But bad by whose standard?
Some of us will break free and be heard on the grand scale. Many won't. Those who make a niche for themselves will then be able to command higher prices for their work, and to keep a much larger percentage of what the consumer pays.
Technology alters every industry by simplifying process. Early adapters of technology benefit by undercutting traditional price structure; that's been Amazon's business plan.