Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
I'm basing $9.99 on getting it now while the paper book is only in expensive hardcover. But once a paperback copy is out be it MMBP or some god awful expensive format created just to make more money, I want the eBook dropped less then $7.99. I don't go in for the new format of paperback that oddly shaped, doesn't fit the bookcase, and is there so more can be charged. And I don't go for the eBook price being based on that monstrosity of a paperback format.
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Jon, I'm not sure what godawful format you're referring to. Trade paperback? If so, then it's just another option for publishers trying to make books profitable. I personally prefer mass market paperback to trade paperback, and yeah, I wish they all fit my shelves--but I can tell you that one reason you're seeing so many trade paperbacks is that they sell--in some cases, making books profitable that would otherwise lose money in MMPB.
As for the publishers being morons--no, I don't think they are. (Though I sometimes say otherwise under my breath.) While I think they were all sipping from the same Apple-flavored kool-aid when they devised the agency model, they're all trying to come up with a way to take an industry that's been in trouble for years and steer it to sustained profitability. While it's a popular refrain here on MR to talk about greedy publishers, the fact is that most publishing operates on a very thin profit margin. What seems like an obvious pricing model to ebook aficionados may not be so obvious from the other side of the counter, where profits from ebooks are still small.
At present, it's spitting into the wind to try to insist that ebooks should be priced less than a MMPB. But I do agree on the question of sales and coupons, etc. I don't know what's going to happen with Fictionwise, but I hope when the time comes to reevaluate the agency model, they'll see the blunder of eliminating that kind of healthy retail competition. Maybe they'll be ready to take Apple down a peg or two by then.
Oh--and even though I'm currently published by a major publisher, I'm happy to see at least one current in the industry shift to favor the indies and smaller presses. They're our most important counterbalance to the increasing conglomeration of the pub industry.