WTF do publishers think they're doing ?

[fidjit]

So walking past the local Australian book shop today and noted that the new Andy McDermott book - Empire of Gold was out.

Straight back to the PC to see if it's available from an Australian Publisher for ereaders......nope..nothing, only paper copies . Borders Australia the folio paperback version is $19.99AU and similar pricing at other Australian sites but NO electronic version.

Hokay, what about Borders US. Listing for the 27 September , $9.99US ( about the same in Aus $$ ) and only paper version.

Amazon UK - available in paperback and hardcover ( approx $10.42 and $23.00 au ) AND FINALLY.......Kindle version $17.99AU.

Amazon Australia - Mass Paper back due 27 Sept $ 9.99 US, Kindle version available....price $14.98US. Hokay it's not cheaper than the US paperback but it's cheaper than the Aus paperback version......and it's electronic format.

Then have alook at the US site .... nope not available till 27 september in paperback or Kindle but when the Kindle version's available it'll be $7.99 WTF !!!!

So for once us Aussies ( and Brits I suppose ) get a bonus from Amazon but pay a hefty price for the bonus.

What the heck are publishers trying to do to us ??? Why not do worldwide releases at "standard" worldwide prices ??

Perhaps I'm at a disadvantage knowing about geographical restrictions etc and spending so much time looking at all the different countries, but any "ordinary Joe" Aussie Ebooker besides a Kindler wouldn't be able to find an electronic version for their reader ( epub ) either locally or internationally.

It shouldn't be that hard to find a book and expect to pay some sort of parity world wide.....

/END RANT

Now to read the book

[tubemonkey]

I can understand charging more for ebooks in countries outside the US. It costs a lot of money to send electrons over such great distances.

I really feel for you guys.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I can understand charging more for ebooks in countries outside the US. It costs a lot of money to send electrons over such great distances.

I really feel for you guys.

You do have to remember that when the US electrons get to Australia, they will be upside-down of course. There is quite an overhead for Australian servers to flip these prior to selling them.

Seriously, the geographical restrictions on all books (including e-books) is a PITA and one we've all had cause to bemoan in the past. Personally, I don't understand it; neither why books are released on different dates, nor why costs can vary so much (the second of these particularly for e-books).

[MrPLD]

It's aaaaallll about greasing the gears in the old business methods.

... that and the fact that it's actually the /spin/ of the electron that has to be changed, if they're not, then your text will be colour-inverted.

Paul

[HarryT]

Are the differently-priced versions from different publishers? It's very common for a book to have different US and UK publishers.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

You do have to remember that when the US electrons get to Australia, they will be upside-down of course. There is quite an overhead for Australian servers to flip these prior to selling them.

That's right; I forgot about the flipping charges.

[CommonReader]

It's obviously a problem to set the correct price for books published in "global languages" like English or Spanish. What is the correct price that fits both India and the US or Spain and Honduras? What do you do if there are massive changes of the exchange rates? It is much more simple for languages like German with many readers who mostly live in countries with very comparable standards of living.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by MrPLD

... that and the fact that it's actually the /spin/ of the electron that has to be changed, if they're not, then your text will be colour-inverted.

I'm sorry, but the physics of ebook electron conversion is starting to get too complicated for my monkey brain.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

It's obviously a problem to set the correct price for books published in "global languages" like English or Spanish.

Actually, it's not. Set one effing price that you're willing to sell for and be done with it. Publishers' attempts at market segmentation are tiresome, to say the very least.

What is the correct price that fits both India and the US or Spain and Honduras?

That's not the problem we're currently facing. It's usually the other way round, English books in Europe or Australia or anywhere other than the US, really, cost about an arm and half a leg more than in the US. That said, if somebody from India wanted to pay the US asking price, why not? And if they couldn't afford it and you wanted to offer a cheaper version for the Indian market, that's cool, too: just be prepared for additional business from outside the subcontinent, as it were.

What do you do if there are massive changes of the exchange rates?

That's a risk I am willing to assume, as buyer. You get the asking price in USD, end of story.

It is much more simple for languages like German with many readers who mostly live in countries with very comparable standards of living.

German is a bad example. They have a (state-enforced) monopoly on bookprices.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by fidjit

It shouldn't be that hard to find a book and expect to pay some sort of parity world wide.....

/END RANT

Could not agree with you more. Geo restrictions are the single biggest issue with ebooks currently.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sabredog

Could not agree with you more. Geo restrictions are the single biggest issue with ebooks currently.

Then blame the authors. It is ENTIRELY their fault.

[Lexi Revellian]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Then blame the authors. It is ENTIRELY their fault.

What? Noooooo! Where would the publishing industry and readers be without us?

ANSWER: Nowhere. Without a paddle.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lexi Revellian

What? Noooooo! Where would the publishing industry and readers be without us?

ANSWER: Nowhere. Without a paddle.

Not saying that all authors are so short-sighted, Lexi; just those who make the deliberate choice to sign multiple contracts for a book in different countries, to make more money. That's the cause of geographical restrictions; the publisher has no say in the matter.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Lexi Revellian

What? Noooooo! Where would the publishing industry and readers be without us?

ANSWER: Nowhere. Without a paddle.

I'm perfectly content with reading from authors who died long ago.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Actually, it's not. Set one effing price that you're willing to sell for and be done with it.

While I will not necessarily defend Australian publishers pushing extremely high prices, regional publishing actually does make sense in a lot of cases.

First, the cost of living varies greatly from one area to the next. It's good economic sense to charge more in countries where they can afford it, and less where the national income is lower.

Second, there are different costs to doing business in different countries. If the buyer is in the US, for example, the retailer might have to charge sales tax, or might not; if they are in the UK, they are required to charge VAT. You also have costs associated with currency conversion.

Third, it does make sense for a fair number of books and authors to have local publishers, rather than one publisher in one nation controlling all prices. A UK publisher is not going to know, understand, or have the resources to promote a book in the US and Canada and Australia and translate it into dozens of languages. For an author with small sales this isn't an issue; for an author with sales large enough to really make a go at international distribution, it does.

Same thing for retailers, by the way. It also makes sense that the company have some kind of operations in the country, if they are large enough; otherwise it would be very hard for Aussie citizens to hold Amazon accountable if there's a major issue.

Of course, the issue here isn't the pricing, it's the availability. The Australian ebook market is still fairly small and new, so they have to go through the same growing pains as the US did. It won't take that long for it to get resolved, especially for new books; once ebooks go over 5% of the market, it makes increasing economic sense to issue the ebooks as quickly as possible. Most of the "zomg no ebook out for it" in the US is about obscure backlisted items, not new titles. (And yes, you have agency pricing to thank for that.)

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

if somebody from India wanted to pay the US asking price, why not? And if they couldn't afford it and you wanted to offer a cheaper version for the Indian market, that's cool, too: just be prepared for additional business from outside the subcontinent, as it were.

As in what, people are going to volunteer to pay more just for the fun of it?