Irate kindlers 1star carpet bomb Michael Connelly's new book

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by Ron.

The only reason to charge 14.99 for an ebook is that you don't really want to sell ebooks.

BINGO. Publishers would like nothing more than to see ebooks disappear with their revenue going directly to protect their precious hardcover sales. First, unreasonable pricing by the cartel followed by restricting checkouts in e-librairies.

They do not seem to understand that any action or restriction they elect to impose will NOT make me buy their hardcover. Ever. Quite the opposite.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by edbro

I'm starting to think all reviews are worthless. Too much of the "eye of the beholder" going on.

Currently on Goodreads, Fahrenheit 451 is ranked #11 on the Best Books of the 20th Century list. At the same time, it is ranked #23 on the Worst Books of All Time list. Go figure!

You either love it or you hate it!

[Barty]

So how much approximately does the publisher get from amazon for each hard cover listed at $27.99 vs the ebook at $14.99? For the ebook that's around 70% or $10.49, right?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Catlady

What an arrogant twit.

I was already annoyed about the stupid remark about how a majority of Kindle users aren't "price focused"--sorry, Mr. Connelly, not all of us are big-shot authors with megabucks. But this remark tops it for sure.

His books were recommended to me, and were on my list to try. But now, why bother? I'll find enough to read from authors who are less full of themselves. So he's just lost a potential reader/customer.

This isn't the author speaking but some lackey. I don't know if Connelly even know what this moron is saying in his name.

[tubemonkey]

Michael Connelly Books: The book is selling very well in the Kindle store right now. The majority of ebook readers are not price focused. The people that are price focused will be happy to know that the price lowers to $12.99 once the book becomes a Kindle Bestseller. The agency pricing is not going away. In fact, more publishers are going in that direction.

If he's not actively fighting against the agency model, then boycott his books. He's part of the problem.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by CallOfCth'reader

At the moment I'm toying with the idea of buying two of Stephen King's books in e-format, but the price is the blocker. They are both £8 ($13 at current exchange), which I think is a touch too high for me. I have both as pbooks, and I'm thinking that £16 for the convenience of having them on my ereader is a little too high. I may cave, or I may not.

Don't cave. Caving just enables the publishers to continue on with the agency model. The only it will be defeated is for consumers to boycott all books covered by it.

I don't buy books (I do PD and library), but if I did, I would never spend more than $9.99 per book; period.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Piper_

I would have been there with you. Like I said last night - let the customer decide.

I normally would never pay that much for an ebook, or even 12.99. But some new releases are worth it. I'd be really irked if I couldn't get Dragons the day it comes out.

This is why boycotts will never work. There aren't enough people willing to do it.

[RockdaMan]

Doesn't appear to be working. 5th in Kindle sales.

Trending downwards though.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If not, this is giving Amazon preferential treatment.

Whats the issue with that?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This isn't the author speaking but some lackey. I don't know if Connelly even know what this moron is saying in his name.

It doesn't matter. It's on his Facebook account, so it's "him".

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by Barty

So how much approximately does the publisher get from amazon for each hard cover listed at $27.99 vs the ebook at $14.99? For the ebook that's around 70% or $10.49, right?

This is an important question, I think. I'll give it a shot, but I'm sketchy on it. Others know the numbers better than I do, so I hope they'll chip in with additions and correct anything I get wrong.

But FWIW, my understanding is:


Publishers get:
70% of the ebook price
50% of the pbook price

(They sell the pbook to Amazon for half the list price, and Amazon sells it for whatever they want - taking a cut or making a profit.
They sell the ebook directly to the customer, and give Amazon a 30% cut.)


So, for this book... If my understanding is correct:

Paper book:

Publisher listed it at $27.99

Sold it to Amazon for 50% of that

So the publisher gets $14.00

(Amazon added 28 cents for themselves, so the customer pays $14.28)

ebook:

Publisher lists it at $14.99.

Sell it to us, give Amazon 30%, so the publisher gets $10.50

So the check the publisher would get for that ebook would be $3.50 (25%) less than they'd get for the pbook.



But as for how much they profit, well...

1. Most people say the overhead (Printing, distribution, returns, etc.) on ebooks is at least 15% lower than the pbook.

So by the most-generous-to-them numbers, they're really only making $1.50 less on the ebook... if my math is right.

2. I've been told by authors that their royalties are lower for ebooks. I find that to be incredible, but maybe some or all do.

3. Then there are the long-term considerations - e.g., the lack of competition from resale.

Either way, I think they're making the same or (quite likely) more for the pbook version as they are getting for the ebook version at these prices.

I'd love for someone who's more in the know to help get this rundown tightened up, though.

[Worldwalker]

There's something else you're forgetting in the difference in prices, Piper: returns.

For historical reasons, publishers give 100% refunds for returned books. And such returns are often 50% or more of a print run (the "more" comes in when the publisher guesses really, really badly about what the next blockbuster is going to be).

Also, you're assuming that, for the hardcover, Amazon pays the publisher what the retailer pays the distributor. I don't know Amazon's numbers, but it's entirely possible (in fact, given the depth of their discounting, probable) that they pay the publisher only 40% of the cover price of the book, the price the distributor would pay. So for a book listed at $27.99, Amazon would pay the publisher $11.12, giving them $3.16 profit.

But out of their $11.12, the publisher has to pay for the printing, shipping, and warehousing of not just one but two books -- one that will be sold, and one that will be remaindered or recycled. If we assume that the price to print a hardcover book (buying the paper and the ink, physically printing and binding it, putting the dustjacket on it, putting it in cartons, delivering it to the warehouse, paying for warehouse space to store it in, paying taxes on unsold books if they're in the warehouse at the end of the fiscal year, keeping track of the thing, and so on) amounts to 5% of the cover price, that's another $1.40, meaning that the publisher is getting $9.72 per pbook if every one of them sells, or $8.32 per pbook with 50% returns.

$10.50 for the ebook versus a maximum of $9.72 (possibly as low as $8.32) for the pbook. Assuming equal royalties (which may not be the case) the publisher makes more money from a $15 ebook than they do from a $28 pbook.

Let's look at paperbacks: Baen charges $8 for a pbook and $6 for an ebook. If they get 70% of the price of that ebook (it's kind of complicated, due to their sales model, but treating it as though it's in line with the cabal works for the moment) they're making $4.20 for the ebook; if they get 40% of the price of the MM paperback, they're grossing $3.20, and if dead tree costs are 50 cents (which is probably way low), they're netting $2.70 even without returns. There's a reason Baen sells ebooks for six bucks a pop: they're raking in the dough. When I buy a Baen book off Webscriptions, they're getting $4.20 of my money; when I buy it at Borders, they're only getting $2.70. But what if I want the hardcover? Well, if I'm one of those people who just has to have that book with the fancy covers and all, they'll sell me one. Or Amazon will, with faster shipping. My fondness for ebooks wouldn't change that -- no committed HC buyer is going to switch to little digital files if what they really want is something to smell and caress. But if I just want to read that book ASAP? Then I'll buy the ARC (advance reader's copy) -- basically, an unproofed galley -- months before the official release, for $15. Let's say Baen pockets $10.50 of that (and isn't paying much in production costs -- as I understand it, the ARCs are little more than the author's raw manuscript files, which is kind of the whole point). So they're making nearly as much as they would off a physical HC even given my low estimates of production costs.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Then I'll buy the ARC (advance reader's copy) -- basically, an unproofed galley -- months before the official release, for $15. Let's say Baen pockets $10.50 of that (and isn't paying much in production costs -- as I understand it, the ARCs are little more than the author's raw manuscript files, which is kind of the whole point). So they're making nearly as much as they would off a physical HC even given my low estimates of production costs.

Baen is selling ARC's? I didn't know anyone was technically "allowed" to sell an ARC. Or are you suggesting that the ARC be turned into a marketed product that people who have to read the book ASAP can legally purchase? If that's the case, it may work; but this day and age, almost anybody can email the publisher, claim to be a review blogger and get free ARCs mailed to them.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It doesn't matter. It's on his Facebook account, so it's "him".

That Facebook account is in name only. I did just ask for his opinion and not the lackey's. We'll see what happens.

[patrickt]

Why would I care why those who are admittedly lying review a book? If I see a book with a rating of one star I will just assume that rather than a bad book what we have is a nitwit target.