Quote:
Originally Posted by bill_mchale
Is that $1 per book printed or sold? Also, what about shipping and warehouse costs?
Lets keep in mind though, that you are referring to text books, which are built around facts and also generally have a much more complicated layout than the average novel. A novel doesn't need the fact checker, and frankly, when I consider the layout in some novels, modern software can do as well if not better (And perhaps for some of these books, it already is doing that role).
Ultimately, though, I think that the costs can be trimmed quite a bit from many ebooks.
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Bill
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I'm referring only to the printing costs, not factoring in unsold copies or returns or warehousing or shipping because those things vary even more widely across sectors of publishing.
[EDIT: and yes, as someone just pointed out, I'm thinking in terms of paper not hardcover, which costs more.]
As for costs for novels versus academic books -- the numbers I tossed out are for my style of supplemental workbooks. They tend to be more complex layouts than a straight novel, true. But they are also much shorter -- half the page count or less -- with fewer words per page on average. So as a ballpark estimate I was assuming the various factors cancelled each other out. Similarly, a novel does not need fact checking per se, but also has considerably greater potential depth and breadth of editorial and proofreading concerns. ("Didn't the author say that Mr. Smith's first name was Bill, not Bob, about a hundred pages ago?") Whether a given publisher chooses to pursue those issues will vary.
And I agree with you that costs can be trimmed. But those costs will be trimmed by paying people -- our selves, colleagues, friends, and neighbors -- less money or eliminating their jobs entirely. And/or they will be trimmed by delivering a less polished product. I'm not saying that those things aren't inevitable, perhaps. But rushing toward the lowest possible cost of content has consequences that are often ignored. No such thing as a free lunch...