[Timboli]

Or another way to re-phrase the title.

Do publishers who overcharge for ebooks, have a clue?

It doesn't seem they do to me, and they appear to be backing themselves into the niche corner. Ultimately time will tell of course.

I've been reading and collecting books for many decades now, and even before ebooks came into my life, I was way behind with my reading, and once I started collecting ebooks (legally) that multiplied a hundred-fold, perhaps more. I am at the point, where unless a miracle in science regarding longevity at least, occurs, I am not going to ever read all I have.

Because I have so many, and because I am so far behind, then when I want to purchase an ebook by one of the many authors I follow, if I don't like the price, I can just wait it out .... perhaps forever, because I am never short of something to read.

Now let's get something clear, I am happy to pay a fair price, always have been. I don't have to get something at a 'cheap as' bargain price. If such ever comes my way, of course I will grab it .... just like I am constantly snapping up great sounding Indie ebooks for free. But I like to support the authors I like and love.

I follow many authors, and I do so, because I like their writing. If I like an author, then I generally just buy their next book, never bothering with Reviews (especially as to me, they are some kind of spoiler regardless). When I will buy their book though, is always governed by the price.

For a few years now, I have preferred to read an ebook, and even though I have hundreds (perhaps thousands) of unread physical books, you will more often find me reading an ebook.

The transition (as I am sure many of you have found) from physical book to ebook, has however not been easy or smooth, especially with a good number of publishers playing games with availability and pricing.

It has become so ridiculous and annoying, that I have mostly given up and started enjoying the many benefits of Indie authors. Sure many aren't perfect, and they have their own annoyances, but overall I feel happier dealing with them, rather than those I feel are the enemy.

The enemy that is, to fairness, ethics and morality.

While it appears that mainstream ebook purchasing has declined, Indie ebooks by all accounts are on the rise.

The reader nowadays has more choice than ever ... not only with content and quantity, but how much they need to pay.

One could argue, that for may Indie ebooks, the quality is not there, and to some degree I guess that is true. It is not as big a degree as some of the publishers in question try to make it out to be though.

I do agree with paying more for higher quality. The question however, is how much more?

I can only estimate what is fair and reasonable to pay for an ebook, based on physical book prices. I look at the many many factors involved, and for me I have a general limit of $10 USD for a new ebook. I will sometimes go above that, for a particularly good or long book. What constitutes that type of good though, is often very subjective, so it doesn't happen much. Older books I expect to pay less for, and Indie ebooks even less ... unless they have proved themself to me with a prior read by the same author.

One needs to consider many things when it comes to books and ebooks and prices in general these days. Potential and existing customers are not what they used to be. There is so much more on offer now to entertain and distract us, and attention spans because of it appear to be much shorter. Most, if not all media, have expanded their content many times over, whether that be movies or games or books etc. And people only have so much time. Travel now, is much more prolific and all the activities on offer.

So why are so many publishers playing hard ball, when surely the writing is on the wall, that they need to adapt and change their commercial model?

Shouldn't they be trying to make their books more attractive? Part of which is user friendly, so an ebook ... and at a fair price.