One day, three reports.
None offers good news for the BPHs.
First, the latest from the AAP:
http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/0...third-of-2015/
Quote:
The Association of American Publishers draws its data from 1,200 publishers. They no longer offer much in the way of specifics most months, but this month they did share a few interesting factoids:
- Publishers’ book sales for January thru April were down 5.6% ($3.0 billion compared to $3.2 billion)
- Trade book sales were down 2.1% year-to-date (and down 2.9% for the month)
- Adult Books were up 3.5%, while Kids/YA and Religious presses were down 15.1% and 9.2%, respectively
- Downloadable audiobooks grew by 33.3% through April
- Hardback book sales were down 4%, and
- eBooks were down 9.3%
|
Then, in the "snow falling in the Matto Grosso" dept:
http://www.idealog.com/blog/the-publ...ot-yet-barked/
The tradpub cheerleader who spent a year pooh-pooh'ing the Author Earnings reports has a new take:
Quote:
What we’re also seeing and hearing is that publishers might have boxed themselves in with their return to agency pricing. When publishers first “raised prices” by instituting agency pricing for ebooks in 2010, they saw no reduction in ebook sales, which continued to grow. Michael Cader’s analysis (can’t find it in print, but he told it to me) was that publishers may have misread the real impact of price increases because they raised them in a growing market. The number of ebook readers was increasing every day, so those who were put off by the high prices were outnumbered by the new entrants who just wanted to read their books digitally on their shiny new devices.
Whatever is the reason, the anecdotal reports I’m getting suggest that the price increases aren’t being so easily swallowed in the current round of Agency pricing. Amazon may not care about ending discounting from those prices because they don’t need to or want to, but it would appear that the new deals won’t let them. They certainly don’t have the flexibility to do so that they did before Agency came to the marketplace. So the sometimes startlingly high publisher-set prices are prevailing. And, aside from the Hachette numbers that were reported, we’re hearing widespread but totally unofficial reports that big publisher ebook sales are dropping noticeably when their new higher agency prices are activated.
Hugh Howey told me this was happening in a private exchange three months ago. I didn’t believe him. I do now.
|
In the Pyrrhic Victories department, it seems that restoring Agency pricing to ebooks in order to boost print sales has unintended consequences. For one, Amazon likes it:
http://kriswrites.com/2015/08/05/bus...s-and-victims/
Quote:
And what’s fascinating to me is that these books, and the dozens of other traditionally published upcoming releases that I looked at are coming out of different publishing companies. Not different imprints of the Big 5, but each of the Big 5.
Once again, pricing seems…agreed upon.
Five years ago, just after ebooks took off, the largest traditional publishers set their ebook prices high so that readers would buy the paper editions. Despite the high prices, ebook sales increased. Then the whole Justice Department debacle happened, pricing became an issue for traditional publishers, and, last summer, Amazon and the big publishers started renegotiating their contracts.
After a lot of Strum und Drang, the contracts were finalized: Big publishers could set their own ebook prices, and Amazon wouldn’t automatically discount them. I’m seeing different reports as to whether Amazon is even allowed to discount ebooks, except through price matching.
Nonetheless, Amazon is leaving the ebook prices—set by the publisher—alone…and messing with the paper prices.
I mean seriously messing with the paper prices. I should not have been able to get a brand-new hardcover for more than half off the list price on the day the book released. Maybe at Christmas. Maybe nine months from now, as the publisher gets ready to release the mass market paperback.
But now? Release day? Seriously?
|
Quote:
But agents and traditionally published writers are also seeing something they haven’t seen in a long time. They’re seeing reduced royalties and lower sales. Plus, the sales that do occur are often at deep discount.
According to my royalty statements, 80-90% of the books I’m selling through my traditional publishers are at deep discount. I’ve heard other authors say the same thing. When they drill down into the numbers on their royalty statements, these writers find very few paper books (hardcover or mass market) selling at full retail price.
|
So, the BPHs have gotten their wish: lower sales volume (of higher-priced, higher margin ebooks) and higher sales volume of (lower priced, lower margin pbooks). Which is resulting in lower revenues (as reported by AAP) and much lower income for tradpub authors.
Much, much more at the sources.
(Not new, but worth keeping in mind for context:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/0...-industry.html)
The publishing world is changing right before our eyes.
Real fast.