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Lemurion · 08-08-2008, 06:59 AM

My own thought is that with most paperbacks retailing for approximately U$8.00, it makes sense to consider U$6.00 a good baseline cost for an eBook.

As to darknet copies I think it's fairly clear that some downloads take away from legitimate sales, and also that others do not. If I had to guess I would think the majority of bulk downloads (torrents of 4,000 eBooks) do not take away from sales, but that some number of targeted (downloads of one specific book) do.

Now here's where it gets really tricky: what if there's no legitimate eBook available and someone buys a pbook and then downloads a darknet copy. In some cases this person buys the pbook purely to justify the eBook download. That's more a gained sale on the paper side than a lost one on the electronic.

Then there are others who download from the darknet after looking for an unavailable eBook. Those are definitely lost sales too, although these ones could be prevented by the simple process of making an eBook available.

I also believe that there are cases where someone will download a book from the darknet, and then buy another of the author's books because they liked the first. From a purely economic standpoint that's not really any different than someone who first discovers a book at the library and later goes out and buys the author's newest titles.

Then of course there are also the people who download everything a specific author has ever written from the darknet and read the lot.

The real question is always how to put numbers to each category. The first thing I would think publishers should do is make sure the book is available, and at a "reasonable" price -- which for the purpose of this discussion I'll call $9.95 based on Kindle pricing. I think it's high, but not outrageous and it's a good working figure.

Once that condition is met, the numbers should help determine the reaction. If darknet downloads are fairly small percentage of total sales, then it would likely be a better use of resources to work to increase sales rather than aggressively fight the illicit downloads. If they're a very large percentage of total sales that would likely justify a more aggressive approach.

It has been proven (see Flint et.al.) that making an eBook available for free download can lead to increased sales both for the author and that specific book. Given that information we need to first see if it does hold true for the darknet and if so whether the net gain from this factor offsets the losses from illicit downloads.

It has to be approached pragmatically, because of the nature of business. Businesses exist to make money for their stakeholders. Whichever policy is followed regarding darknet downloads should be framed with that in mind. The RIAA's crusade does not appear to have significantly affected music downloading, and appears to have accelerated any decrease in music sales. I don't consider that good business.

08-08-2008, 06:59 AM	#191
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	My own thought is that with most paperbacks retailing for approximately U$8.00, it makes sense to consider U$6.00 a good baseline cost for an eBook. As to darknet copies I think it's fairly clear that some downloads take away from legitimate sales, and also that others do not. If I had to guess I would think the majority of bulk downloads (torrents of 4,000 eBooks) do not take away from sales, but that some number of targeted (downloads of one specific book) do. Now here's where it gets really tricky: what if there's no legitimate eBook available and someone buys a pbook and then downloads a darknet copy. In some cases this person buys the pbook purely to justify the eBook download. That's more a gained sale on the paper side than a lost one on the electronic. Then there are others who download from the darknet after looking for an unavailable eBook. Those are definitely lost sales too, although these ones could be prevented by the simple process of making an eBook available. I also believe that there are cases where someone will download a book from the darknet, and then buy another of the author's books because they liked the first. From a purely economic standpoint that's not really any different than someone who first discovers a book at the library and later goes out and buys the author's newest titles. Then of course there are also the people who download everything a specific author has ever written from the darknet and read the lot. The real question is always how to put numbers to each category. The first thing I would think publishers should do is make sure the book is available, and at a "reasonable" price -- which for the purpose of this discussion I'll call $9.95 based on Kindle pricing. I think it's high, but not outrageous and it's a good working figure. Once that condition is met, the numbers should help determine the reaction. If darknet downloads are fairly small percentage of total sales, then it would likely be a better use of resources to work to increase sales rather than aggressively fight the illicit downloads. If they're a very large percentage of total sales that would likely justify a more aggressive approach. It has been proven (see Flint et.al.) that making an eBook available for free download can lead to increased sales both for the author and that specific book. Given that information we need to first see if it does hold true for the darknet and if so whether the net gain from this factor offsets the losses from illicit downloads. It has to be approached pragmatically, because of the nature of business. Businesses exist to make money for their stakeholders. Whichever policy is followed regarding darknet downloads should be framed with that in mind. The RIAA's crusade does not appear to have significantly affected music downloading, and appears to have accelerated any decrease in music sales. I don't consider that good business.