|
Of course McMillan is trying to protect it's business. What business wouldn't? Those of us who like McMillan product aught to ALSO be interested in McMillan having a healthy business.
I disagree that McMillan is trying to protect it's DTB business. They are trying to protect their REVENUE. A book when it comes out is "hot" (if they are lucky), or certainly "as hot as it's going to get". That's the only time they can get the most money for it. That's why they don't publish the paper back and the hard back at the same time.
The hard back may psychologically seem to be "worth more" -- but it's never been all that much more to produce, and certainly not enough to justify the difference in price. It's just a way to charge more for a book when it's at it's peak desirability and less later.
eBooks are going to be even more flexible. There's no need to create different versions and there is instant distribution and pricing. If a book is selling well, they'll keep the price high. If sales start to wane, they'll drop the price.
Amazon was simply setting the price too low for NYT Bestsellers, using them as a loss leader to build the market for kindle's.
Lee
|