Tor/Forge/St. Martin's Press (Holtzbrinck)

pskopp · 09-19-2007, 12:22 AM

On December 28, 2004, I entered a post stating that as far as I could tell Tor/Forge/St. Martin's Press (Holtzbrinck) had only released one ebook since May, 2004. Fictionwise released 59 of them today. All in secure Mobipocket only. The Fictionwise club price for Soarer's Choice by L.E. Modesitt after Micropay rebate is $16.63 U.S. The Fictionwise club price for The Assassin King by Elizabeth Haydon is $15.44 U.S. Both of these books are being released in paperback this month and are priced at Amazon at $7.99 U.S. Seems to me this is a "guaranteed to fail" approach to getting back into the ebook market. You would think they would try to reach as many consumers as possible to make as much money as they could. But no, DRM (or something) is obviously more important than money. Someone at Holtzbrinck undoubtedly got a huge bonus for this ridiculous ebook marketing approach.

delphidb96 · 09-19-2007, 01:30 AM

Tor has 'issues' with security and pricing on ebooks - that's for sure. I notice that they didn't stay hooked up with Baen's Webscriptions all that long, the first go-around. Makes me suspicious that many Holtzbrinck employees are wandering around with bandages where their noses used to be.

Derek

Quote:

Originally Posted by pskopp

On December 28, 2004, I entered a post stating that as far as I could tell Tor/Forge/St. Martin's Press (Holtzbrinck) had only released one ebook since May, 2004. Fictionwise released 59 of them today. All in secure Mobipocket only. The Fictionwise club price for Soarer's Choice by L.E. Modesitt after Micropay rebate is $16.63 U.S. The Fictionwise club price for The Assassin King by Elizabeth Haydon is $15.44 U.S. Both of these books are being released in paperback this month and are priced at Amazon at $7.99 U.S. Seems to me this is a "guaranteed to fail" approach to getting back into the ebook market. You would think they would try to reach as many consumers as possible to make as much money as they could. But no, DRM (or something) is obviously more important than money. Someone at Holtzbrinck undoubtedly got a huge bonus for this ridiculous ebook marketing approach.

NatCh · 09-19-2007, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Makes me suspicious that many Holtzbrinck employees are wandering around with bandages where their noses used to be.

What a great way to put it, delphid96!

nekokami · 09-19-2007, 04:46 PM

Hm. I wonder what this means for the Tor-Baen revival effort?

JSWolf · 09-19-2007, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pskopp

On December 28, 2004, I entered a post stating that as far as I could tell Tor/Forge/St. Martin's Press (Holtzbrinck) had only released one ebook since May, 2004. Fictionwise released 59 of them today. All in secure Mobipocket only. The Fictionwise club price for Soarer's Choice by L.E. Modesitt after Micropay rebate is $16.63 U.S. The Fictionwise club price for The Assassin King by Elizabeth Haydon is $15.44 U.S. Both of these books are being released in paperback this month and are priced at Amazon at $7.99 U.S. Seems to me this is a "guaranteed to fail" approach to getting back into the ebook market. You would think they would try to reach as many consumers as possible to make as much money as they could. But no, DRM (or something) is obviously more important than money. Someone at Holtzbrinck undoubtedly got a huge bonus for this ridiculous ebook marketing approach.

Don't go by the club price. Turns out it's not really worth it.

JSWolf · 09-19-2007, 06:42 PM

What you can do however is once Soarer's Choice is released in paperback and the price on Fictionwise is still too high, email them and tell them. I did that once and it did get sorted.

Lemurion · 09-25-2007, 09:15 AM

Holtzbrinck will never succeed in the eBook market as long as they stick to hardcover prices for books that are in paperback. The market is showing that an eBook is worth less than a paperback, and needs to be priced accordingly.

HarryT · 09-25-2007, 09:45 AM

"Value" is very much a matter of individual perception. For me, an eBook is "worth" more than a paperback (because it doesn't use any of my valuable storage space), and I'd be happy to pay somewhat more if it was a book that I wanted.

Liviu_5 · 09-25-2007, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

"Value" is very much a matter of individual perception. For me, an eBook is "worth" more than a paperback (because it doesn't use any of my valuable storage space), and I'd be happy to pay somewhat more if it was a book that I wanted.

While the above quote is definitely true on the individual level, for e-books to succeed you need mass acceptance of prices, and that's where I think the previous poster is right; until now e-content has very low mass value, indifferent of the value you assign to it as an individual.

JSWolf · 09-26-2007, 11:29 AM

One of the reasons I bought my Sony Reader was to be able to purchase ebooks at a lower price then pbooks. So, if these books are going to remain seriously overpriced, I for one will not be purchasing.

09-19-2007, 12:22 AM	#1
pskopp Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canada Device: Dell Axim	Tor/Forge/St. Martin's Press (Holtzbrinck) On December 28, 2004, I entered a post stating that as far as I could tell Tor/Forge/St. Martin's Press (Holtzbrinck) had only released one ebook since May, 2004. Fictionwise released 59 of them today. All in secure Mobipocket only. The Fictionwise club price for Soarer's Choice by L.E. Modesitt after Micropay rebate is $16.63 U.S. The Fictionwise club price for The Assassin King by Elizabeth Haydon is $15.44 U.S. Both of these books are being released in paperback this month and are priced at Amazon at $7.99 U.S. Seems to me this is a "guaranteed to fail" approach to getting back into the ebook market. You would think they would try to reach as many consumers as possible to make as much money as they could. But no, DRM (or something) is obviously more important than money. Someone at Holtzbrinck undoubtedly got a huge bonus for this ridiculous ebook marketing approach.

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09-19-2007, 04:46 PM	#4
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Hm. I wonder what this means for the Tor-Baen revival effort?

09-19-2007, 06:42 PM	#6
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,120 Karma: 144284184 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What you can do however is once Soarer's Choice is released in paperback and the price on Fictionwise is still too high, email them and tell them. I did that once and it did get sorted.

09-25-2007, 09:15 AM	#7
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	Holtzbrinck will never succeed in the eBook market as long as they stick to hardcover prices for books that are in paperback. The market is showing that an eBook is worth less than a paperback, and needs to be priced accordingly.

09-25-2007, 09:45 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	"Value" is very much a matter of individual perception. For me, an eBook is "worth" more than a paperback (because it doesn't use any of my valuable storage space), and I'd be happy to pay somewhat more if it was a book that I wanted.

09-26-2007, 11:29 AM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,120 Karma: 144284184 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	One of the reasons I bought my Sony Reader was to be able to purchase ebooks at a lower price then pbooks. So, if these books are going to remain seriously overpriced, I for one will not be purchasing.

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