Very interesting K-Thom, one part I don't really get though is:
Quote:
Originally Posted by K-Thom
...Even then some of the titles will never make a profit, being subsidized by the bestselling eBooks.
I had to reduce my product line by about 100 titles last summer which simply cost me money and never really earned some. No whining, publisher's risk.
If a title doesn't cover it's initial cost in the first two years, it's supposed to be a non-starter and I consider it a loss. Each additional month just is an attempt to regain part of the investment.
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After the initial investment is there really much of an ongoing cost? I.e. why would you ever drop a book.
I understand that there is a potential cost to accounting, and that maybe the extension after 5 years is a further cost. But surely the accounting should be mostly automatic, and the server/disk/bandwidth cost of ebooks must be so close to zero that it doesn't matter. I guess IT costs include backups and maintenance, which in bulk could start to add up.
In short, and if it's not a business confidential issue, would you be able to expand on why you'd drop an ebook, and what the extra costs are? Apart from contract expiry, which I assume is reasonably straight forward.
This is a completely honest question, with no subtext. I know I assume unit costs are pretty much zero, I suspect a number of other readers here assume the same, so a bit more info on this may help those of us with these assumptions learn more.
Of course, if it is business sensitive, fair enough.
Thanks.