How much would you pay?

[Justin Nemo]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

It would imply that, perhaps, yes , but a download is part of the way to a read. I have read a few freebies this year. None of them have so far been by indies, but there are a couple (by MR members*) that I hope to get to soon.

*I think that's another way you can make me aware of your work. Post in here. Contribute. Be helpful.

How can a download be part of the way to a read if it is not read?

[Yapyap]

Up to $2.99 for a self-published author I haven't read before, and this only when it comes with several reliable, non-biased recommendations and has an interesting (and grammatically correct) description/blurb. But at that price, it's not so much an impulse buy but one I actually consider.

I'll get indie books for free or rarely for $0.99 also without non-biased recs if it looks interesting and the blurb doesn't have noticeable mistakes in it.

I buy mostly traditionally published books at $5-6 (with Kobo coupons if possible), so I'm not likely to take a chance on an indie who may or may not be able to write and deliver a decently written (and edited, or at least looking like it's been edited) work for more than half of that.

I'd be willing to pay a similar $4.99-$5.99 also for a self-published author if I've already read something by that author and loved it enough to want to read more; so far, I've yet to come across a single self-published author like that, though.

There are a very few trad-pubbed authors I'll pay up to $10 for (and only if it's a next book in a series I'm already hooked on; with standalones, I can wait for the price to come down) and only a couple I'll pay more than $10 for.

[Justin Nemo]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

Up to $2.99 for a self-published author I haven't read before, and this only when it comes with several reliable, non-biased recommendations and has an interesting (and grammatically correct) description/blurb. But at that price, it's not so much an impulse buy but one I actually consider.

I'll get indie books for free or rarely for $0.99 also without non-biased recs if it looks interesting and the blurb doesn't have noticeable mistakes in it.

I buy mostly traditionally published books at $5-6 (with Kobo coupons if possible), so I'm not likely to take a chance on an indie who may or may not be able to write and deliver a decently written (and edited, or at least looking like it's been edited) work for more than half of that.

I'd be willing to pay a similar $4.99-$5.99 also for a self-published author if I've already read something by that author and loved it enough to want to read more; so far, I've yet to come across a single self-published author like that, though.

There are a very few trad-pubbed authors I'll pay up to $10 for (and only if it's a next book in a series I'm already hooked on; with standalones, I can wait for the price to come down) and only a couple I'll pay more than $10 for.

I personally don't think you should pay $10 for any book and we are talking about ebooks here and not printed hard backs with pretty covers.

I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the comments here, but one thing that has stood out from everything else is the amount of crap that is available for sale. Now I know this is a dodgy subject, because one man's crap is another man's gold, but shouldn't the publishers/distributors of this rubbish be saying “Hold on this is drivel, we don't want it”? Wouldn't that make space for serious writers and give you, as buyers more confidence to buy new untried authors.

It may be profitable for the likes of Amazon (and I'm not pick them out particularly) to sell this stuff, but is it cost effective in the long run and don't they have a duty to weed this rubbish out?

[ernesto50]

Originally Posted by Justin Nemo

There's only one place I know at the moment where the author gets 100% of sales price.

Yeah but the majority doesn't mean 100% I'm down for 60:40, 70:30 and 80:20 splits, too

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by Justin Nemo

I personally don't think you should pay $10 for any book and we are talking about ebooks here and not printed hard backs with pretty covers.

I personally think I will pay what I like, including over $15 if needed, for a book I really, really, really want - and that I want now and not when BookDepository gets the hardback to me three weeks later for a higher price. (Well, Amazon UK might get it to me a little faster than that, but Amazon UK would also charge me £8 just to ship that one book.)

But I really don't pay that sort of prices for more than 2-3 books a year, while I buy several hundred books a year. We're talking the sort of books I'll preorder the moment they become available and count down the days to release. The overwhelming majority of books (authors, series) don't fall into that category and are instead more the "interchangeable entertainment" sort.

[Justin Nemo]

Originally Posted by ernesto50

Yeah but the majority doesn't mean 100% I'm down for 60:40, 70:30 and 80:20 splits, too

Maybe, but I do mean 100%

[Justin Nemo]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

I personally think I will pay what I like, including over $15 if needed, for a book I really, really, really want - and that I want now and not when BookDepository gets the hardback to me three weeks later for a higher price. (Well, Amazon UK might get it to me a little faster than that, but Amazon UK would also charge me £8 just to ship that one book.)

I didn't mean you particularly, I was generalizing

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by Justin Nemo

I didn't mean you particularly, I was generalizing

Yeah, but even with generalising, you can't really put a price on how much something is worth to other people under certain circumstances.

For me, it's not so much that I value ebooks less and am thus willing to pay less, it's just that I buy pretty much only ebooks these days and I buy many books - many more than in the years before, now that I don't have to worry about storage or shelf space - and that means I simply can't afford new B&M bookshop hardcover/paperback full retail prices for most of the books I buy and read. But there is still the occasional exception for which I'd choose surviving on ramen noodles for a week and pay as much as it takes (well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the point remains).

[Justin Nemo]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

Yeah, but even with generalising, you can't really put a price on how much something is worth to other people under certain circumstances.

For me, it's not so much that I value ebooks less and am thus willing to pay less, it's just that I buy pretty much only ebooks these days and I buy many books - many more than in the years before, now that I don't have to worry about storage or shelf space - and that means I simply can't afford new B&M bookshop hardcover/paperback full retail prices for most of the books I buy and read. But there is still the occasional exception for which I'd choose surviving on ramen noodles for a week and pay as much as it takes (well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the point remains).

OK let me start again. I don't think that anyone should pay $10 for an ebook. The reason being that you don't have the same production costs with an ebook as you would with a hard back.

[Yapyap]

And what if the hardback costs $25?

What I don't like to do is to pay more for the ebook than for a new paper book (either hardback or paperback, depending on what's being released). The majority of brand new hardback full retail price (and why a brand new hardback easily costs $15 above a brand new paperback) isn't made up of production costs either, after all.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Justin Nemo

OK let me start again. I don't think that anyone should pay $10 for an ebook. The reason being that you don't have the same production costs with an ebook as you would with a hard back.

Except that I never even considered production costs when I was purchasing books before ebooks came along. I valued books strictly by the enjoyment I took from their contents. That mentality hasn't changed a bit just because the medium did.

So for me (for ME, mind you... I'm not presuming on anyone else), the whole "Oh, but the production costs!" mantra is a bunch of hooey. I'm buying words that are strung together in ways that are pleasing to me. Always have been. So I'm not going to start crying about production costs now when I didn't give two hoots about production costs then.

I'm perfectly willing to pay the exact same price for those words in an ebook as I am for those same words in a physical book. And yes, I still consider a dollar or two higher or lower the "exact same price." I simply do not recognize any logic that suggests an ebook is somehow inherently less valuable.

[Justin Nemo]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Except that I never even considered production costs when I was purchasing books before ebooks came along. I valued books strictly by the enjoyment I took from their contents. That mentality hasn't changed a bit just because the medium did.

So for me (for ME, mind you... I'm not presuming on anyone else), the whole "Oh, but the production costs!" mantra is a bunch of hooey. I'm buying words that are strung together in ways that are pleasing to me. Always have been. So I'm not going to start crying about production costs now when I didn't give two hoots about production costs then.

I'm perfectly willing to pay the exact same price for those words in an ebook as I am for those same words in a physical book. And yes, I still consider a dollar or two higher or lower the "exact same price." I simply do not recognize any logic that suggests an ebook is somehow inherently less valuable.

Er... I don't do mantras, I gave that up with the bald head and the orange dress. I am merely stating a fact, which is in case you weren't listening, that a hard back book costs more to produce than an ebook, which is why they are priced accordingly. Ergo, lower production costs, lower price.

[Justin Nemo]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

And what if the hardback costs $25?

What I don't like to do is to pay more for the ebook than for a new paper book (either hardback or paperback, depending on what's being released). The majority of brand new hardback full retail price (and why a brand new hardback easily costs $15 above a brand new paperback) isn't made up of production costs either, after all.

And that is perfectly understandable.

[Yapyap]

Of course, the question was "How much would you pay?", so to then say that "anyone shouldn't" (pay above whatever arbitrary limit) just makes the whole question a bit pointless.

Also, while I don't like to pay more than hardback price for an ebook, because while I am perfectly aware that production costs don't make up all of the hardback price and a good chunk of the price of a brand new hardback release comes from perceived value, not "production cost (including royalties, editing, cover, administrative costs etc etc + a tiny profit" but more "production cost + whatever we think that people are willing to pay for it to get this book in this format right away", I perceive it as "fair" that an ebook without paper, printing and storage costs "should" cost a little less than the hardback, the end result still is that I pay whatever my own arbitrary limit for a given book at a given time is.

And for some rare books, this may be higher than whatever the shop's discounted hardback price is, because for some rare books, I value the immediate delivery (and lack of shipping and my own storage costs) over the "but it should be cheaper because the production costs of this particular copy are lower" argument.

And for most books, I am willing to pay much less than the full retail price of a brand new mass market paperback release (preferably buying with a discount code and/or at a promotional/sale price, while knowing that the price I'm paying very likely isn't anywhere near covering the traditional publisher's costs, i.e. author royalties, editing, administrative costs), because my funds aren't unlimited and those aren't books I want to bankrupt myself for.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Justin Nemo

How can a download be part of the way to a read if it is not read?

It indicates they have a passing interest in it, so it's more likely to be read than if they didn't download it. But most people who download free ebooks tend to have a massive TBR list that they are continuously adding to every day. Myself, I am more likely to read something I paid for. Which, to be honest, is the only reason I charge anything for mine.