Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Again... please try to stay on point. My argument with Lee is the notion that customers paying a higher price for books always equates to giving authors more support. And it's not true. Not at all. Not even close.
Was I supporting my favorite authors less when new-release best-sellers were selling for $9.99 on Amazon than someone who's now paying the current higher price set by publishers? Or were the authors always getting the same cut (ignoring normal inflationary factors)?
Am I supporting my favorite author less if I buy a new-release ebook for a lesser promotional price than someone who didn't buy the new-release book during that promotion? Or did the author get the same cut?
Am I supporting my favorite author more if I buy their new-release hardcover at list price than someone who buys it at the same time at a discounted price somewhere else? Or did the author get payed the same?
My point has always been that the price payed by the customer is NOT the factor that some were insisting was the most important when determining how much someone might be "supporting the arts" (before they reversed course and tried to make the argument about paying vs borrowing).
The most important factor in determining how much you're supporting your favorite author (if such things concern you at all, quite frankly) is--and always has been--WHEN you bought their book. Not how much you paid for it.
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I don't think that is what he is saying, or trying to say, though I could be wrong. Certainly when you buy the book has it's own influences on the author and publisher. But that wasn't my point and isn't what I thought we were talking about.
The whole hard back, trade back, paper back thing is mostly about paying a premium to get the book earlier. Since book contracts tend to give the author a percentage of either the list price or the price that the whole seller pays the publisher, a higher price puts more money in the author's pocket (or does more to pay down the advance).
If you buy the hard back at the list price verses buying the hard back at a discounted price has no influence on the publisher or author. The price difference is strictly how much profit the book seller makes, or how much loss if the bookseller is selling it at a loss. I suppose that there are special circumstances where that might not be true, since there are few absolutes in the book industry, but I think it's on the whole accurate.