Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I got over comparing the price of ebooks to any kind of print equivalent a long time ago. It's worth what it's worth to me; plain and simple. The price of an existing (or non-existent, pre-order) paperback book doesn't even factor in my decision (if I have no intention of actually purchasing the paperback, that is) any more.
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This is exactly how I view e-book pricing. I don't view the lack of paper, the lack of weight, the lack of crispy book-smell as something that is indicative of a lesser product, and nor do I think that "but there were no production costs!" is a good reason to expect a steep discount for an e-book: any author worth his salt will tell you that blood, sweat and tears went into his work regardless of how it was printed, and any programmer worth his salt will tell you that clean coding isn't "no production cost".
To me, I'm paying for the words that I'm reading - I'm paying for the world that I'm being drawn into by the author. Whether his agency or the store has priced different formats strangely is the choice of that store or agency, and I don't compare the prices because at the end of day, it's the same product, no matter the format - so the price I pay is the price I choose. I've never really seen the point in comparing prices between hardcovers and paperbacks (I always go for whichever has a prettier cover), and I likewise don't see the point in comparing e-books to paperbacks.
It's all the same story, so I'll pay what I'm asked so that I have the privilege of exploring the creative fruits of somebody else.