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Originally Posted by benn600
I'm interested in:
1. Answer the poll.
2. For those who mainly get free content, what are your favorite sources?
3. How many hours per week do you read?
4. Do you enjoy audiobooks while reading?
5. Did you get the $150 bonus on Sony Connect? Do you spend other money on Sony Connect? How much money per month? How satisfied are you?
6. Generally, do you read mostly free and/or public domain works or do you prefer paid content?
7. Are you likely to buy new releases which are priced way out of sight--$12-$25?
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1. already done
2. Project Gutenberg, silkpagoda.com
3. 30-40 hours/week
4. not at all -- why would I want to hear somebody else reading the words aloud as I read them, forcing their interpretation upon my mind. I don't like audio books at all, even when I'm not reading.
5. No, I bought too early for that -- I got the $50 at the connect store. I am spending between $0 and $20 per month, same as I always have done for paper books. I'm very satisfied so far although I wish more of my favorite authors were represented at connect.com. But that's not entirely Sony's fault -- some authors don't want e-books, some publishers are dragging their feet.
6. Generally I'm enjoying reading the long-out-of-print books which Project Gutenberg has made available once again. There was some terrific stuff written 100 years ago! But I also enjoy reading my favorite current authors as well.
7. If you want accurate responses to a poll, you should NOT follow the poor model set by political pollsters and add judgemental language to your question. Who's to say that $12-$25 prices are "way out of sight?" When computer books cost $40 to $100 in paper while fiction books of the same size run $20-$40, calling $12-$25 prices for e-books "way out of sight" is just silly!
Authors get between 10% and 20% of the retail price. They do not get a fixed amount, such as $1.25, for each book. So when the prices are higher, authors get more money. When the price drops to paperback level, the authors get less money per book, although they get the same percentage. Of course, that drop in per-book-amount is hopefully more than offset by the increase in numbers of books sold. In a fair and free market, you don't have to pay any price you don't like. There are other authors, other publishers, you can buy instead. Or you can read PG free books if you don't want to pay the prices the publishers ask. But copyright gives monopoly protection, which means that publishers can set whatever amount they wish. So when a book comes out in e-book format at hardback prices, the author makes the same money per sale as for a paper book. The publisher and the bookseller make larger profits, however, due to the huge reduction in printing, shipping and storage and display costs. The only way it will be fair to authors and to readers is when the publication contract gives a fixed amount per sale to the author, and then the publishers and retailers can lower what they take in, to offset the vastly lower distribution costs for e-books. But as long as authors get a percentage, wanting lower prices is asking them to take a cut in pay.