Quote:
Originally Posted by charleski
They're cheaper to the extent that a 20-30% discount on the physical price would be reasonable. Anything more is sheer fantasy.
Tim Hutchinson (the CEO of Hodder Headline) did a breakdown of costs in 1998. It was:
Booksellers' share: 55%
Manufacturing costs: 15%
Overheads: 9%
Marketing (including some distribution cost): 8%
Royalties: 8%
Publisher's profit: 5%
The idea that an ebook should be half the price is just wishful thinking.
|
Those figures are very misleading. Do you honestly think the book seller gets 55% of the profit.
Yeah, sure. If they can sell the book for the list price they would, but nobody sells the book for the list price. If you have a book with a $30 list price that sells for $15 then the book seller is making nowhere near 55%.
What happens in reality is the book seller gets the book for 55% of the list price, and if he is able to sell the book at 50% of the list price he gets to keep 5% (minus his costs for overhead & personnel). The figures you have provided are only valid in the fantasy world where people pay list price for a book.
The reality is that you would need to double all your figures to have a true representation. Yes, the publisher may only be getting 45% of a $30 book, but he's getting 90% of a $15 book. Furthermore, half the cost of the hardback book produced by the publisher is not incurred when producing an ebook. Using your own figures, manufacturing and overhead puts you at nearly 50%.