Quote:
Originally Posted by Gudy
Here's one: ebooks should compete with hardcovers.
Why?
Considering that a great many books are mass market paperback only these days and never come out as hardcovers, that is one heck of a far-fetched assumption to make. Also, by your argument MMPBs cannibalize hardcover sales, but still I don't see many publishers going the hardcover-only route unless the initial book sales are a total disaster. :-P
So, replace hardcover with paperback, and you'll have yourself a fine argument, one that many people here may actually agree with, as long as the offered ebooks are DRM free. See also: Baen's sales figures.
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Actually Gudy, MMPBs do cannibalize hardcover sales, which is why they aren't usually released at the same time as the hardcover.
In order to maximize the profit for a title, the publishers may choose to release it first in hardcover, then about a year later as a MMPB once the hardcover sales have tapered off. Of course some titles start as MMPB right off and some never leave hardcover at all, though the perma-hardcovers are usually non-fiction.
Publishing houses aren't charities, you know.
