Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazybones
My pricing complaint has to do with the long tail of eBook publishing.
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The problem is, with ebooks the long tail is where the profits (and author royalties) lie. The reason ebooks can be priced low in the first place is because they don't have to pay for themselves over the 3 month release window or be deemed a failure (with all that implies for the author's future prospects).
The long tail means publishers have to stop their current pbook inspired pricing practices, which are based on a big sales spike near launch followed by removal from many is not most bookstores, returns, and then a tiny trickle of sales until the print run is exhausted. It *also* means consumers need to give up the expectation of massive time-based ebook list price drops. A twenty year old ebook you haven't read is no different than a 20 day-old recent release as long as both are appropriately priced in the first place.
One forward-thinking publisher of note has a simple ebook pricing policy: ebooks are list priced at $9.99 while/if the pbook edition is a hard cover, $6.99 if/when there is a paperback edition. Retailers get to discount from there but the list price doesn't change with time.
As we move forward into the ebook era the bulk of author earnings are going to come from the long tail simply because, even for tradpub titles, the launch window spike is going to decline drastically as print runs and shelf space decline and buyers' habits and mindset change to adjust to the always-in-print model. The urgency to buy an interesting book before it goes out of print or becomes hard to find will be replaced by adding titles to wishlists and just-in-time buying when you're ready to read. It already is happening and has been happening for five years.
The only relevant question for ebook pricing is: how does it compare to its genre peers? If it is a tradpub SF title, the bulk of its peers (regardless of publishing date) will run between $4 and $10 and average about $7. Romance titles may average lower, litfic titles higher, but comparisons should be oranges to oranges.
