Quote:
Originally Posted by shalym
If that were actually the way it worked, the ebooks would be stored on the publisher's server until sold by Amazon. Do you really think that this is the way it works?
Shari
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Yes, that is the way it works. Think about how indie authors sell their ebooks on Amazon. They upload the books to Amazon and every so often (monthly or quarterly) Amazon tells them that x copies of the ebook were sold and they are owed $y. Amazon doesn't say "We expect to sell 20 copies of your book so here is advance payment for 20 copies. Now you can upload your ebook."
It works -- for ebooks -- exactly the same way with traditional publishers.
pBooks work on a completely different model (the wholesale model) not only for historical reasons but because there is a physical product. Publishers determine how many copies to print based on the number of copies ordered by retailers. If Amazon thinks it can sell 20 copies it orders 20 copies and pays for those 20 copies and the publisher prints those 20 copies and sends them to Amazon.
Of course, in pbooks publishers print more copies than are ordered by retailers. But the number that is printed is initially based on the number ordered by retailers, which is why the preorder button is such a big deal for pbooks, but not for ebooks.