Another grossly overpriced ebook.

[Angst]

Lost in a Good Book, Jasper Fforde

Paperback (New): $10.20
ebook (Kindle): $14.99

A 50% markup just to read the ebook. As a matter of fact, for every book by Jasper Fforde carried by Amazon, the ebook price is higher than the paperback price. I'm getting really, really pissed off at the new agency rules.


edit:
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse:
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels


Hardcover: $5.56
Paperback: $11.25
ebook: $12.99

[JackNolte]

Yeah, it has to do with the contracts publishers sign with printers, which are usually two years out. They know the ebook revolution is here, but they're trying to hold it back just a little due to cash flow issues. It's not working, though. People are just getting angry.

But I heard through the grapevine because of Borders' shaky standing, all publishers are scrambling to move to an ebook model even faster.

[CyGuy]

I am a proponent of the "50% rule" myself, but they used it backwards. In your example above, the eBook should be $5.10, half the price of the paperback.

[screwballl]

Many publishers are using this as a way to discourage people from using ebooks since they have their own conspiracy beliefs of digital pirates stealing their ebook and giving it away for free through file sharing... when in reality most people will see that and just find a different book altogether. Considering it costs the publishers maybe $2 for the creation, submitting, advertising and such for the ebook, versus an average of $3-6 per paper copy, they are still making a massive profit, and the authors are still only seeing $1-2 whether it is paper or ebook.
This is also typically why it is better to buy a ebook from somewhere like smashwords that is less likely to have the bloated pricing, and better chance of supporting individual (aka indie) authors.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by Angst

I'm getting really, really pissed off at the new agency rules.

I believe that I come from a strange place on this issue.

I am soberly used to viewing eBook purchases as a purchase concerning content and not container. So I always ask, "What is the content worth to me?"

You will retort that we are all like that, of course. And I would be willing to grant you your objection. However, in the physical book world I am soberly used to doing the exact opposite. Paying for container and not content. What?!

Wretch that I am, I purchase "fine" books with a recklessness feared by Drivers Education instructors the world over. The Everyman's Library, The Folio Society, The Easton Press, and so many others. Could I purchase a 4.99USD Bantam paperback of whatever? Or a Signet "You never did read Moby Dick with a font this small before, huh?!" edition. But I would much rather pay 30-100USD for a quality container.

So, this reveals my backwardness. Due to the fact that I am accustomed to paying for the container, I find myself in a backwards world electronically in which I am accustomed to paying for content and not container!

This is a really long way of saying that my subjective opinion concerning the valuation of electronic editions of any given text or texts is what it is for reasons that I do not know.

I liken it to an MSRP: only in this case, the MSRP isn't merely a guide to be followed if'n you should chuse ta do so!

People get angry over all of this, but I can't help feeling slightly amused.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by screwballl

Considering it costs the publishers maybe $2 for the creation, submitting, advertising and such for the ebook, versus an average of $3-6 per paper copy, they are still making a massive profit,

Not according to at least one professional author. Charlie Stross said in his blog that the cost of putting ink on paper and getting it in to our hands is maybe 10% of the total price. The average book requires about a year of effort on the part of the author, and an equal amount of time on the part of the publisher's staff, between editing, typesetting, proofing, etc. So 10% less than the current edition is entirely reasonable. More than the current edition is, as everyone agrees, ridiculous, of course. But ebooks are not nearly as cheap to produce as many people believe, because most of the process is exactly the same.

[Angst]

Originally Posted by taustin

Not according to at least one professional author. Charlie Stross said in his blog that the cost of putting ink on paper and getting it in to our hands is maybe 10% of the total price. The average book requires about a year of effort on the part of the author, and an equal amount of time on the part of the publisher's staff, between editing, typesetting, proofing, etc. So 10% less than the current edition is entirely reasonable. More than the current edition is, as everyone agrees, ridiculous, of course. But ebooks are not nearly as cheap to produce as many people believe, because most of the process is exactly the same.

Ok. So why do I have to pay 50% more for the ebook if it costs 10% less to produce?

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Angst

Lost in a Good Book, Jasper Fforde

Paperback (New): $10.20
ebook (Kindle): $14.99

A 50% markup just to read the ebook. As a matter of fact, for every book by Jasper Fforde carried by Amazon, the ebook price is higher than the paperback price. I'm getting really, really pissed off at the new agency rules.

Buy the paper back

Lee

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Angst

Ok. So why do I have to pay 50% more for the ebook if it costs 10% less to produce?

You don't. Just buy the paperback.

Lee

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by leebase

You don't. Just buy the paperback.

Lee

That's worth repeating.

[Boston]

This isn't because the e-book is marked up, so much as it can't be discounted.

Many publishers don't allow discounting of e-books anymore but still allow discounting of paper.

When this happens, I wait for the paper price to drop on the used market and buy it there.

I'm sorry it hurts the author but I see no reason for the publisher to benefit from their price setting practices which are structured to discourage ebook sales (I believe the arrangement they have allows them to profit just as much, if not more, from paper sales because its based on retail).

[thekidsmom]

Instead of waiting until the paperback is discounted (who gets less of a cut then? the author? the bookstore? the publisher?), I would rather pay a 'fair' ebook price up front in the hopes that everyone is happy.

IMO, a 'fair' price for an ebook is at least 25% less than the paperback. Whether that makes financial sense or not to the parties involved, I have no idea. It just makes sense to me that without an actual printed product, the production cost for my version (ebook) is less expensive to produce, and therefore cheaper to buy.

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by taustin

Not according to at least one professional author. Charlie Stross said in his blog that the cost of putting ink on paper and getting it in to our hands is maybe 10% of the total price. The average book requires about a year of effort on the part of the author, and an equal amount of time on the part of the publisher's staff, between editing, typesetting, proofing, etc. So 10% less than the current edition is entirely reasonable. More than the current edition is, as everyone agrees, ridiculous, of course. But ebooks are not nearly as cheap to produce as many people believe, because most of the process is exactly the same.

10% of first edition hardcover I can understand, that still falls within the $3 range of my estimate, since many first run hardcover books are $25-35. After the book has been out a while, they use cheaper paper for the smaller softcover editions, usually by this point the book has already covered all costs needed to create it from start to finish, and everything else is more or less profit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/books/15ebooks.html

Amazon.com, which sells electronic editions for its Kindle device, has effectively made $9.99 the de facto price for most best sellers, a price that publishers believe will reduce their profit margins over time.

So that says it right there, some publishers keep ebook prices artificially high to encourage purchasing the paper version, which they "claim" to make more profit off of. But when you see that $3 covers the cost of scanning (many commercial scanners can scan thousands of pages per hour and automatically convert that to digital text we now see as an ebook).

I agree it is about time to start another 9.99 boycott like mentioned here:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/kindle-readers/

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Boston

This isn't because the e-book is marked up, so much as it can't be discounted.

Many publishers don't allow discounting of e-books anymore but still allow discounting of paper.

This seems to be the case with Lost In a Good Book.

The paperback's list price is $15.00 discounted 30% to around $10.20
The ebook lists for $14.99 and discounts not permitted.

It appears the ebook price was originally $12.99 but increased recently.

[Boston]

Originally Posted by thekidsmom

Instead of waiting until the paperback is discounted (who gets less of a cut then? the author? the bookstore? the publisher?), I would rather pay a 'fair' ebook price up front in the hopes that everyone is happy.

IMO, a 'fair' price for an ebook is at least 25% less than the paperback. Whether that makes financial sense or not to the parties involved, I have no idea. It just makes sense to me that without an actual printed product, the production cost for my version (ebook) is less expensive to produce, and therefore cheaper to buy.

It's the bookstore that gets less of the cut. Payment to the publishers is based on retail. Which is why fixing prices on e-book isn't to derive more profit from the book in question but because of the threat e-books pose to their current business model (in my opinion).

Many times the e-book never drops much below the discounted selling price of the paperback version. I actually have $1 guideline...the ebook must be at least $1 cheaper than the discounted new paperback for me to buy. If I can get a very good used copy for less than 1/2 the price of the ebook, I buy used. I wait for one of these conditions to occur. Right now, I find my purchases are about split.