Thread: Backlash against Author Douglas Preston
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Old 02-26-2010, 01:53 PM   #115
Kali Yuga
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dmaul1114 View Post
Then we're on the same page on the pricing front. An e-book should NEVER be more than the cheapest print version available. It should be the same as that or a bit lower if the savings in cost can be passed on while giving the author the same dollar amount per copy sold (the publishers costs and efforts are reduced with ebooks vs. print, not the author's).
Well, you two might agree, but....

Price should ultimately be based on demand; it really should not have anything to do with even the price of a good in another format. "Cost" should ultimately only generate a minimum floor for the price of a good.

Or should we base the price of digital audio, or even CD's, relative to the price of vinyl records, cassettes and 8-track tapes? Or price video games on CD based on the price if it was on floppy discs?

Not to mention there are several reductions in the consumer's cost that no one ever acknowledges. For example, that $15 ebook has no shipping costs; for that $10 paperback, you could tack on sales tax and/or the time in the store and/or $3 for shipping and handling (a profit center for retailers, by the way). Or if you really want to compare apples to apples, $8 or whatever for overnight shipping, which still isn't as fast as digital distribution.

I see no particular reason to link an ebook's price to its paper equivalent. It's only even mentioned because we are used to paying X for paper books, and hold the illusion that you are ultimately paying for paper rather than the intellectual property and the financial resources invested in the book.
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