Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
It frequently surprises me when some posters assume the publishing industry is full of idiots simply because they don't want to join in a race to the bottom and make books a commodity. The publishing industry is constantly experimenting with pricing trying to find that point that maximizes their profits (which I suspect can vary quite a bit depending on the specific book).
It's a very interesting new world with ebooks and backlist. I do wonder what the real world data is for how sales have been changed by ebooks and audiobooks, but we aren't likely going to find that out unless individual authors decide to share that information. I haven't run across anyone actually doing it since Scalzi did it with Redshirts and Lockout, and that's been a while.
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We disagree about the characterisation of Indie book pricing as a "race to the bottom". And like it or not, in my view at least books are already a commodity and have been for a long time. We have disagreed about both of these things in the past and continue to do so. The publishing industry are pricing ebooks in what they consider their own best interests, which of course includes a consideration of the effect on print book sales, which most Indies do not seem to place a high emphasis on if they care at all. I don't like it very much, but it is certainly neither stupid nor unreasonable. They are making a good effort at having their cake and eating it to by reducing prices to Indie levels later to catch those who would not pay the initial price and having
It's a very interesting new world with ebooks and backlist. I do wonder what the real world data is for how sales have been changed by ebooks and audiobooks, but we aren't likely going to find that out unless individual authors decide to share that information. I haven't run across anyone actually doing it since Scalzi did it with Redshirts and Lockout, and that's been a while. sales and promotions.
A limited number of authors releasing data is interesting but of little value compared to more broad based analysis such as Author Earnings used to provide to the public. Somewhat ironically given its origins this data and analysis is now provided only to subscribing customers and is likely being used by the Big 5 together with other industry reports to inform their pricing decisions.