Quote:
Originally Posted by RJ_Cruze_Jr
Actually, the book they're releasing is an eARC -- electronic Advance Reader Copy. What that $15 buys you is the chance to read the book months before it hits the shelves. Case in point: about a week ago, Baen made the eARC for David Weber's Mission of Honor available. The book won't even be in stores until July, and if you're willing to part with $15, you get to read it six months before anyone else. That's the main reason people aren't moaning at Baen.
On the downside, because it is an advance copy, it's still in the process of being edited, so you're going to run across typos, grammatical errors, continuity errors, etc. But, if you're one of those hardcore fans who absolutely must have it now, it's the proverbial "bees knees."
However, once the book is ready to hit the shelves, the finished e-book is released at the usual $6 street price, and is usually available for download about a week or two before the hardcopy edition hits stores. So, in this case, eARC is not coming out at a higher price the same time as the hardcover like most publishers are proposing -- it's coming out at a higher price months before the hardcover even hits stores.
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Yes, I'm well aware of how it works; I'm just making the point that $15 is not an "outrageous" price to charge for an eBook that someone really wants to read. There is a market at the price point.