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Originally Posted by cstross
5. This means that there's little or no flexibility in the process, and the publishers can't easily cut their overheads by redesigning the publishing pipeline to work sensibly.
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I disagree with the above. Publishers could easily sell directly via the web. Yes, it would cost some overhead up front to set this up. Even if they don't sell direct there needs to be no wholesale. A web service could be set up to provide e-book files directly to retailers cutting out all the warehousing and distribution costs. Surly with the price of gas these days printing and distributing pbooks is much more expensive than it was even 3 years ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cstross
6. They recognize that they could boost ebook sales by cutting the prices. But if they did that, they'd risk cannibalizing the sales of their dead-tree editions, and reducing their profitability. Their hands are tied so they can't streamline their processes to make a bigger profit on the ebooks; if they cut the ebook prices by even 10% below the dead-tree prices, they're eating into their profits. And that brings us round to point #2 above.
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This is in no way true. Selling ebooks for less money can still bring more profit per unit even with lower retail prices.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cstross
7. Moreover, ebook sales of DRM'd high-cover items are so piss-poor -- figures in double digits are not uncommon, compared to the four to five digit sales expected of a hardcover -- that there's no pay off in sight to act as an incentive for executive risk-taking (like, oh, selling ebooks for what everyone understands is a realistic price).
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Well, duh! This is because people are of the opinion that a DRMed ebook should not be the same price as a pbook. With a pbook I can read the book anywhere, resell it used, give it away, whatever. With a DRMed ebook I can read it on one device and thats it. Why should I pay the same price for this one use ebook that I would pay for a pbook?
BOb