Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarana
That's what Half Price Books told me. Except for certain authors, a large proportion of sales are for books released within the last 2 years. I still buy the occasional paper book, nearly always online, but it's because it is not available in ebook form. I have it scanned and convert it so that I can read it given that I can no longer read ordinary paper books.
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Yeah, I think that is the law of unintended consequences at work.
People aren't half as impulsive (or stupid) as some corporate types believe.
Raise the price of ebooks? Shift a series from mass market to trade or hardcover? People know to wait for the used pbook market to fill up. And anybody capable of buying an ebook knows how to find used books online.
Increasing the price not only encourages people to buy used but it also encourages early buyers to try to recoup some of the price hike by moving it once read. So it provides both the demand and the supply.
The Law of unintended consequences is a lot like quicksand: the more you fight it the faster you sink.
Publishing is a weird business.