MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Angry Robot Books Want Your Opinion on Ebook Pricing

LeeH · 04-05-2009, 03:19 PM

Thanks for the feedback, guys - I work for Angry Robot, and it's all vital information.

Some very valid points have been raised about the range of possible answers to some of the questions, and I'll bring this up at a future marketing meeting. However, as has been suggested earlier in this thread, we have a number of ideas of what we want to do, but our current survey is focussed on a very specific area.

As for the affect/effect thing - it was probably just a typo. I'll ensure the culprit is whipped.

In terms of what we want to achieve with this, your input is all really valuable, and we have already had a tremendous response to the survey.

We need to make sure the price we set for our eBooks is fair. Fair for the reader, fair for the publisher, and fair for the author.

garygibsonsf hit the nail on the head with his breakdown of cost areas. Just because a book is being published electronically, the other associated costs are still there. 50% to the retailer is a good rule of thumb - sometimes it's lower, usually it's higher. Then there's the editor, copy-editor, several layers of proofreader, advance to the author, office space, artwork, etc. Other than warehousing (which should be relatively low for a small imprint like ours) and the cost of printing (which is pretty much the lowest cost involved in the whole process), the cost of producing an eBook is identical to the cost of a paperback.

However, it is perceived that the cost is lower, so we need to address this misconception and set the cost of the eBook, accordingly.

We'll be selling our eBooks though many of the usual retail channels, but also through our own site, and as we can cut out the middleman this way, everyone benefits from the higher margins (which essentially means we can pay the author more, while at the same time making a higher margin ourselves, which in turn leads to good (and sustainable) eBook pricing in the longer term).

Nothing is set in stone, yet, and the survey answers we get will be vital in guiding our overall pricing structure.

Like all businesses, we won't always get it right, and our customers won't always agree with what we do, but we're determined to ensure that everyone gets a fair deal, all round.

04-05-2009, 03:19 PM	#39
LeeH Member Posts: 13 Karma: 134 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: York Device: iPad	Thanks for the feedback, guys - I work for Angry Robot, and it's all vital information. Some very valid points have been raised about the range of possible answers to some of the questions, and I'll bring this up at a future marketing meeting. However, as has been suggested earlier in this thread, we have a number of ideas of what we want to do, but our current survey is focussed on a very specific area. As for the affect/effect thing - it was probably just a typo. I'll ensure the culprit is whipped. In terms of what we want to achieve with this, your input is all really valuable, and we have already had a tremendous response to the survey. We need to make sure the price we set for our eBooks is fair. Fair for the reader, fair for the publisher, and fair for the author. garygibsonsf hit the nail on the head with his breakdown of cost areas. Just because a book is being published electronically, the other associated costs are still there. 50% to the retailer is a good rule of thumb - sometimes it's lower, usually it's higher. Then there's the editor, copy-editor, several layers of proofreader, advance to the author, office space, artwork, etc. Other than warehousing (which should be relatively low for a small imprint like ours) and the cost of printing (which is pretty much the lowest cost involved in the whole process), the cost of producing an eBook is identical to the cost of a paperback. However, it is perceived that the cost is lower, so we need to address this misconception and set the cost of the eBook, accordingly. We'll be selling our eBooks though many of the usual retail channels, but also through our own site, and as we can cut out the middleman this way, everyone benefits from the higher margins (which essentially means we can pay the author more, while at the same time making a higher margin ourselves, which in turn leads to good (and sustainable) eBook pricing in the longer term). Nothing is set in stone, yet, and the survey answers we get will be vital in guiding our overall pricing structure. Like all businesses, we won't always get it right, and our customers won't always agree with what we do, but we're determined to ensure that everyone gets a fair deal, all round.