From Dear Author: Digital first boosts total sales...

[fjtorres]

...and windowing reduces them.
(Among other observations.)
http://dearauthor.com/ebooks/let-the-tail-wag-the-dog/

Windowing, on the other hand, had no measurable increase in sales according to Dr. Hu and Dr. Smith.

We find that delaying the release of ebooks causes in an insignificant change in overall hardcover sales but a significant decrease in ebook sales, total sales, and likely total revenue and profit to the publisher.

The scholars determined that the reduction of digital sales overall was the result of a loss of marketing buzz:

This result is consistent with Elberse and Eliashberg (2003)’s finding that delaying the release of movies in international markets compared with the release in U.S. market reduces such movies’ box office in international markets, mainly because of the loss of marketing buzz.

While windowing the digital book after the print book release, it appears that the reverse is not true and that an early digital release can lead to increased print sales.

Interestingly enough, Hollywood *has* taken notice of the quoted effect (and the link between international movie piracy and windowed releases): the generally poorly reviewed BATTLESHIP was released internationally weeks ago, gathering a couple hundred million worth of SFX-driven revenue, before it hits the US and vanishes shortly thereafter.

Similarly, the not-at-all-poor AVENGERS *also* raked in several hundred million in international revenue before doubling its take in its US launch. So it's not just plotless lightshow SFX movies than can benefit by reversing the traditional launch windows to minimize piracy and maximize "buzz".

Expect to see more simultaneous world releases.

Especially noteworthy summation:

Eric Simonoff, a literary agent at Janklow & Nesbit Associates, said that whenever he discusses the book industry with people in other industries, “they’re stunned because it’s so unpredictable, because the profit margins are so small, the cycles are so incredibly long, and because of the almost total lack of market research.”

All things that other industries see as *bad management*. Hmmm...

Lots of other interesting nuggets and links in there.

[xg4bx]

if a film can be available for me to own within a handful of months of being in the theater, why are readers still forced to wait up to a year or more for an mmpb of the same book? that has always driven me nuts. by the time it actually comes out i'll have either forgotten about it or moved onto other things.

and just an observation about movies: if studios are so afraid of losing money maybe they should try not spending hundreds of millions of dollars on films.

[ProfCrash]

There are a large number of e-books that were windowed that I did not buy and have no intention of buying. I can think of two that I did actually buy and one was not really windowed but delayed because of Penguin and Amazons silly fight a few years back.

[Fbone]

The international movie release may be delayed for reasons beyond the studios control. The movies have to go through each country's rating system, govt review or censorship commission. Also, theater time slots may be full. Not all countries have these 30-screen multiplexes. If Marvel has 2 movie releases close together, they may wait a few weeks for their other film to play out before introducing the next one. You certainly don't want your movies competing with each other.

Market research is expensive, time consuming and difficult for publishers. The retailers don't supply them with their customer details.

[Synamon]

This brings to mind Tipping Point, which goes into detail about the mechanisms for starting and sustaining a trend. There are specific actions that take place to tip a product over the hump and result in mass popularity. New adopters have eReaders and they want digital books, they are also the ones that drive trends. Passing up these people by windowing ebooks is terrible sales strategy if the goal is a bestseller.

[alexand]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

There are a large number of e-books that were windowed that I did not buy and have no intention of buying.

Yes,I seldom buy it.