Quote:
Originally Posted by Crowl
It's relevant because the publishers are businesses trying to make money from selling books and while we would like to see ebooks come out at the same time as the hardback for a much lower price it just doesn't make sense for them to do that.
Ideally they would release ebooks at normal prices when the hardback came out, but the compromise of charging a premium or holding back the ebook until the paperback is released doesn't seem so terrible, especially when there are far more issues with unrealistic pricing than that.
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I disagree with that. I think releasing eBooks at the same time as a hardback for less money makes a lot of sense. Because you've skipped production and distribution, the price you're charging for the eBook is almost pure profit, You've already done the majority of the work in editing.
Without knowing the profit margin on hardback books, I can tell you that while it's high, It still can't beat an eBook at a lower price. The eBook has a non-substantial cost-per-unit that the hardback (or paperback) does not have. The advantage that publishers have right now, is that they can cater to the small-but-growing crowd of eBook customers - lower price means greater accessibility. My guess is that you could sell an eBook for 50-60% of the hardback price, same release date, and make equal profit share. That's good for publishers, authors, and customers.
We just need to convince the publishing industry that higher numbers != greater profit.