Yes, the eARCs are expensive (for Baen) at $15 each. But they are refreshing honest about why they're offering them. Here's a quote or two from emails announcing eARC availability:
"You can do better ($6.00) by waiting, but if you are a true Weber and Honor Harrington addict we want to take advantage of you. Order At All Costs, AKA Honor #11 now instead of when it debuts as a WebScription title, (August 2005)"
"In the interests of maximizing the exploitation of our base audience (we've heard the word "profit" used in this context) and supporting their continued addiction to ebooks we have released two new eARCs for your enjoyment."
eARCs as electronic hardcovers? Hmmm... perhaps so. Occassionally, getting the book two to three months ahead of the hardback/ebook release is worth the money. I'm certainly a lot happier to pay 'hardback' price for an eBook when it offers something more than the paper version (in this case, earlier access).
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
But they also sell "ARC" ("Advance Reader Copies"?) versions earlier, for many books, at a much higher price. One might regard those as being equivalent to the "hardback" release.
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