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Originally Posted by jgilliam1955
Thanks for the impute people. BESIDES the GREEN ISSUE, Has anyone used the "REDBOX" for DVD rental or Netflix? How much has changed over the last 10 to 20 years on DVD rentals? A lot of people are looking for what is convenient for them. DVD rental stores will be going away as more people run to the DVD rental machine right down the block or click on the TV to rent a movie instantly from Netflix. This is why the e-book readers will get better & more people will buy one. The publishers are saying a ebook is only 2 to 3 dollars cheaper than a regular hardcover book. Right now they do not want to deal with the coming storm. If an author can bypass the publisher & sell his book cheaper & make more money on the internet, why shouldn't he.
Most of us no longer write checks. How about music? Now it is time for the publishing companies to adapt or die. The Kindle 1 & 2 & Sony e-readers are leading the way.
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In my very humble opinion (being nowhere near an expert) I see the current pricing issue as being a problem of transition. The book world is still overwhelmingly print and will be paying for the fixed costs of printing for the near future. This creates a tension between the ebook consumer and the publisher who views the title as the product. That title took a $x to bring to market and they have to bring $x + profit in to make it worthwhile. That $x is across all formats. If ebook sales cannibalize the high-margin early sales then that changes their profit model. That exorbitant price they charge for a hardback isn't about the better cover and paper. That's a small amount of the price. They're exacting the biggest margin they can from people who don't want to wait as well as people who appreciate the higher quality printing. With ebooks gaining popularity, they need to figure out how to support those print runs on lower margin sales until they reach a tipping point where they can scale the entire print operation back or eliminate it. On the other hand, we ebook buyers don't see why we should have to support print run costs.
Eventually the tide will turn towards electronic distribution. I'm guessing print will likely be POD at that point. Until that happens, there's a huge industry that will be in flux. I see the publishing company of the future being focused on the professional services of editing and marketing. I don't think self publishing (at least for new authors) will get much traction without it. I don't want to sort through the slush pile of bad writing the publishers currently do. For every Web 2.0 phenom, there would be so many undiscovered gems and a sea of narcissistic junk. However, I do see authors getting a bigger, and much deserved cut in this new model. There will be less overhead and the publishers will be service providers vying for clients rather than gatekeepers to the expensive and insular print distribution channel. JMHO.