[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by phrodod

I'm a first time poster here. And here's my take on this subject.

In order for e-books to become popular, publishers need to offer SUBSTANTIAL discounts to e-customers. 20-35% off just doesn't cut it. I wouldn't expect to see widespread adoption unless e-book prices were no more than 25-35% of paperback prices.

I might go with 50%. I'm not sure well see 25% - 35%.

Right now, the computer reading experience is tiring, so most people won't read at a computer the way they will with a paper book. And electronic ink readers are still EXPENSIVE. If I'm expected to foot the bill for the reader independently of the book, I'd better get a HUGE discount on the book. I can get paper books from the library, and can pick up paperback fiction for under $10 per book new. I can also get them used, and sell them or pass them on when I'm done. Since I can't do any of the above with an e-book, I expect to pay a lot less.

How tiring it is depends upon the reader and the device/ Things like the Sony Reader with eInk technology are intended to make the reading experience as comfortable as reading a paper volume.

Even if I read 100 books a year, a $300 reader works out to $3/book. I'd have to get a better discount than that to justify my investment. And if most readers are like me, they'll only read twenty or thirty books a year. It generally takes me 1-2 weeks to finish a book. At that price, I'd have to get a rebate on a reader and get the books for free.

IT works out to that price for that year. In subsequent years, the cost per book of the reader drops.

With the $60 offer from Sony, I'm going to try out the reader anyway (if they'll ever ship it...), but I'm primarily hoping to use it for those situations where I currently print out a substantial amount of paper documentation. If it saves me a large amount of printing, it will (hopefully) be worth it. I don't expect to use it for most of my pleasure reading, but I might be pleasantly surprised.

I read ebooks on my PalmOS PDA. I started using it in the first place precisely for documentation, that I could have in searchable electronic form, and carry a full set on manuals in my pocket. It worked for for the purpose.

Subsequently I discovered I could comfortably read fiction on it, too.

It seems to me that the best ways of promoting something like the reader are by hooking commuters who ride buses, subways, etc., and who bring along the current newspaper or magazine. If these were offered in a Reader format, it would be MUCH simpler to page through the newspaper in electronic format than in paper format in this type of environment.

There you encounter the issue of deleivery: how do you get this morning's newspaper on their reader reliably? And at least half the folks I see on the subway any given trip are reading books.

One other thing to note is that with the high price of these devices, people have to be much more careful than with regular books, magazines, or newspapers. You don't want to get them wet or drop them. Where you might read a trashy novel at Starbucks or on the beach, with your Reader, you might be worried about spilling your latte or getting sand or salt water splashed on it.

We can hope the prices will come down, but this is simply a variant of issues folks already face with smartphones and iPods.

With all the potential negative issues, the main potential positive issue I can see is price. Publishers using e-media avoid printing, materials, and shipping costs by having the consumer foot this bill.

What bill? With electronic editions, manufacturing, distribution, and shipping largely don't exist. Acguisition, preparation, and promotional cost still do.

In addition, they don't have to worry about the potential price dilution from ending up in the discount bin. There'd be no reason that books would have to end up there if they were only sold electronically. Finally, there'd be no reason for e-books to go out of print. Once the format is ready, you can keep on selling it as long as people keep buying. For all these reasons, publishers should be eager to make e-books succeed, but to do that, they need to offer customers better incentives. Cheap prices are the key to this.

There would still be reasons for things to go out of print.

When a book is out of print, the author can request that the rights be returned, and attempt to resell the property elsewhere. Electronic editions and Print on Demand have raised the question "What is meant bu out of print?", and current contracts tend to include sales of paper editions, PoD editions, and ebooks over a specified period to determine when the rights lapse.

The author doesn't want the rights retained by the publisher indefinitely unless the publisher actively attempts to *sell* the work. Simply having electronic copies available isn't exactly active selling.

And yes, you don't exactly have books ending up in the bargain bin, though the equivalent might happen. It would depend upon how the book was sold.

One possible marketing approach to maximize profits would be to gradually lower the price as the book aged. If you wanted the latest book right away, you'd know that you'd pay more, but if you're willing to wait a bit, you can get a much better price. If you're looking for new authors, and the books are really cheap, you're far more likely to take a chance if the price is minimal.

This is the retail approach to fashion: age items, with different price points at 30, 60, and 90 days, and finally marked down for clearance.

But clothing can't be returned to vendors if it doesn't sell. Books can be. The publishing industry has traditionally had a 100% returns policy. If it doesn't sell, it goes back for credit. Publishers are starting to experiment with higher discounts to retailers in exchange for less returns

There have been some experiments with lower prices on first books by new authors.
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Dennis