Angry Robot Books Want Your Opinion on Ebook Pricing

garygibsonsf · 04-04-2009, 05:07 AM

Angry Robot, a new sf and fantasy imprint of Harper Collins, have set up a survey where they want you, the reader, to tell them what you think is a fair price for e-editions of their books. To take part, go here:

Angry Robot Ebook Survey

Moejoe · 04-04-2009, 05:10 AM

One Miiillioon Dollars!

Joking aside, thanks for the post, will check it out right smartly

basschick · 04-04-2009, 06:06 AM

their survey missed some glaring options, but i did my best with it.

garygibsonsf · 04-04-2009, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basschick

their survey missed some glaring options, but i did my best with it.

The survey wasn't maybe as well thought out as it could be, I agree, but at least they're asking.

DanT · 04-04-2009, 11:56 AM

Well at least the range of the ebooks pricing question was from $0-$7, quite reasonable. Not the $14-$24 that some publisher want to push now.

zelda_pinwheel · 04-04-2009, 12:02 PM

thanks for the link ; i've completed the survey as well, if only to support a publisher who's going to the trouble to see what readers actually want.

wayrad · 04-04-2009, 12:11 PM

Thanks for the link! I used Baen as my guideline for a suggested price; although of course I'd prefer ebooks to be as cheap as possible, I didn't want to suggest anything unreasonably low. Baen prices are quite modest and they seem to be doing OK.

Renaldo · 04-04-2009, 12:13 PM

I agree that it could've been more complete, but it sounds like it was specifically going after some thoughts they wanted answers to. Whatever the case, this survey is great and I'd love to see more publishers and etailers do this to find out what their customers really want and are willing to buy. I think some of them might be surprised. I also liked the way they worded this one:

No-one's really figured out what an ebook should cost. At the moment the standard is "like the paperback/hardback, but a little bit cheaper"... which is not exactly a brilliant strategy.

I encourage everyone to fill out this survey.

AnemicOak · 04-04-2009, 12:18 PM

Interesting coming from Harper Collins since they've recently started charging $14.99 for a lot of ebooks that are $7.99 as a pbook and won't explain why (not that they really have to).

Sparrow · 04-04-2009, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanT

Well at least the range of the ebooks pricing question was from $0-$7, quite reasonable. Not the $14-$24 that some publisher want to push now.

Yes, that was a nice surprise.

And hopefully they'll be using a decent source for the ebook release - unlike some other publishers, who issue a naff OCR version that hasn't even been spell-checked.

Elsi · 04-04-2009, 12:41 PM

I took the survey, but there was one question I absolutely could not answer honestly. I tried to skip it, but was told "This question requires an answer". To the question "Angry Robot will make all our books available to read, either in full or in part, on the internet. How do you think this will effect your likelihood to buy Angry Robot ebooks?" I wanted to reply "I don't read books on my PC." Instead, I was forced to pick one of their prepared answers that assumed everyone is willing to read books or book samples on the Internet. See the attached image for all the choices they offered.

Oh, and by the way, the proper question would have said, "How do you think this will affect your likelihood to buy ..." One would think that someone at a publishing house would know the difference between affect and effect.

Elsi · 04-04-2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renaldo

I also liked the way they worded this one:

No-one's really figured out what an ebook should cost. At the moment the standard is "like the paperback/hardback, but a little bit cheaper"... which is not exactly a brilliant strategy.

Actually, I think this *is* a brilliant strategy. One assumes that the publisher has a good sense of the price range that the marketplace will tolerate for a hardback or paperback book. Given that there are much lower manufacturing costs for eBooks, they should be priced less than the lowest priced print version of the book currently available. Once a book goes out of print, the eBook price should remain at a prices lower than the paperback edition.

Jellby · 04-04-2009, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elsi

"Angry Robot will make all our books available to read, either in full or in part, on the internet. How do you think this will effect your likelihood to buy Angry Robot ebooks?"

Why do English speakers find it so difficult to distinguish between "effect" and "affect"?

tylerdurden51 · 04-04-2009, 12:48 PM

i think it should only be a few dollars. i mean it really costs them nothing but their time. they can get more sales if it were cheaper

rlparker · 04-04-2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elsi

Actually, I think this *is* a brilliant strategy. ...

Agreed. If that had been a choice, I'd have picked it. So I said $5.

The first line in the version of the survey I took was

"Angry Robot, the new SF, F and WTF? imprint from HarperCollins..."

Okay, I got SF and F but what is "WTF?"? I mean, I'm familiar with an expression whose initialism is "wtf", but I can't figure out what that has to do with books. Unless it's a book you read that's so dense or obscure or pointless, you go wtf?

04-04-2009, 05:07 AM	#1
garygibsonsf Addict Posts: 321 Karma: 432192 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite	Angry Robot Books Want Your Opinion on Ebook Pricing Angry Robot, a new sf and fantasy imprint of Harper Collins, have set up a survey where they want you, the reader, to tell them what you think is a fair price for e-editions of their books. To take part, go here: Angry Robot Ebook Survey

04-04-2009, 12:41 PM	#11
Elsi Wizard Posts: 2,366 Karma: 12000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas, USA Device: Kindle; Sony PRS 505; Blackberry 8700C	I took the survey, but there was one question I absolutely could not answer honestly. I tried to skip it, but was told "This question requires an answer". To the question "Angry Robot will make all our books available to read, either in full or in part, on the internet. How do you think this will effect your likelihood to buy Angry Robot ebooks?" I wanted to reply "I don't read books on my PC." Instead, I was forced to pick one of their prepared answers that assumed everyone is willing to read books or book samples on the Internet. See the attached image for all the choices they offered. Oh, and by the way, the proper question would have said, "How do you think this will affect your likelihood to buy ..." One would think that someone at a publishing house would know the difference between affect and effect. Attached Thumbnails

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04-04-2009, 05:10 AM	#2
Moejoe Banned Posts: 5,100 Karma: 72193 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South of the Border Device: Coffin	One Miiillioon Dollars! Joking aside, thanks for the post, will check it out right smartly

04-04-2009, 06:06 AM	#3
basschick Wizard Posts: 1,096 Karma: 4695691 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	their survey missed some glaring options, but i did my best with it.

04-04-2009, 11:56 AM	#5
DanT Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 719 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Kobo Glo	Well at least the range of the ebooks pricing question was from $0-$7, quite reasonable. Not the $14-$24 that some publisher want to push now.

04-04-2009, 12:02 PM	#6
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	thanks for the link ; i've completed the survey as well, if only to support a publisher who's going to the trouble to see what readers actually want.

04-04-2009, 12:11 PM	#7
wayrad Fanatic Posts: 551 Karma: 1121392 Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Device: HTC One M8	Thanks for the link! I used Baen as my guideline for a suggested price; although of course I'd prefer ebooks to be as cheap as possible, I didn't want to suggest anything unreasonably low. Baen prices are quite modest and they seem to be doing OK.

04-04-2009, 12:13 PM	#8
Renaldo Addict Posts: 294 Karma: 250590 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Great Pacific Northwest Device: Kindle 3G + WiFi	I agree that it could've been more complete, but it sounds like it was specifically going after some thoughts they wanted answers to. Whatever the case, this survey is great and I'd love to see more publishers and etailers do this to find out what their customers really want and are willing to buy. I think some of them might be surprised. I also liked the way they worded this one: No-one's really figured out what an ebook should cost. At the moment the standard is "like the paperback/hardback, but a little bit cheaper"... which is not exactly a brilliant strategy. I encourage everyone to fill out this survey.

04-04-2009, 12:18 PM	#9
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	Interesting coming from Harper Collins since they've recently started charging $14.99 for a lot of ebooks that are $7.99 as a pbook and won't explain why (not that they really have to).

04-04-2009, 12:48 PM	#14
tylerdurden51 Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: none	i think it should only be a few dollars. i mean it really costs them nothing but their time. they can get more sales if it were cheaper