Quote:
Originally Posted by John F
Actually, they support the art more. The people who buy at higher prices can afford fewer books, so they use the library more, borrow from other people, ... Those who buy at lower prices buy more books, so they support more authors with more money.
Just an idea, no idea if it is true or not, but since we seem to just throw stuff against the wall and see if it sticks, ...
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You are assuming that everyone has the same amount of money and the same priorities. That is not a valid assumption at all. It's much more likely that people who buy at higher prices are simply willing to spend more money on books.
One of the issues with debating an issue with very little real data and the data that we have tends to be an very high level is that it's hard to prove anything. Even the statement that hard back books accounts for X percent of the revenue has two issues. First, it's from a source removed from the actual data and thus no one really knows the accuracy and second, it doesn't real mean what people think it does. You have to look at things like profit and most important what are the numbers for the books that drive the industry?
Mid-tier author A sells 15,000 paper back books and barely earns out. Now multiply that times the thousands of mid-tier authors. Does that earn as much profit as best seller author who sells 200,000 hard back copies of his or her new book? We really don't know that level of detail, nor are we likely to find out anytime soon.
I tend to compare book publishers to stock pickers, 1 good pick pays for 100 picks that don't pan out or are average. The average joe index investor sees good returns (think mid-tier authors), but the guy who gets in on the ground floor on a company that pans out is the one who makes millions (think best seller).