Are The Days Of The $14.99 Ebook Numbered?

[BeccaPrice]

I agree, QuantumIguana - I think the publishers are, ultimately, slitting their own throats by insisting on such high prices.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

The advantage to the eARC is that you get the book up to 3 months before publication date. It's the unproofed version, and apparently at least one book (by David Weber, I believe) had substantial changes between the eARC and the published book, so you have to really trust the author (or not care) when you get the eARC.

But, they do warn you that changes might be made.
Apache

[ereadingdotcom]

Originally Posted by taustin

Baen has been selling eARCs for several years, at least. And not only are they a higher price to begin with, the author gets a higher percentage, too. (And apparently, quite a few of the people who buy them also buy the release version later.)

Thanks, Taustin, Becca. I wasn't aware of that. Personally, I think it's a brilliant idea. And considering how protective authors can be about their final product, I think it's very cool of some of them to be doing it, too. This is also a great alternative to the (in my opinion) highly-overpriced print ARC's that end up on eBay, sometimes selling for huge numbers.

[ereadingdotcom]

I think if you look at it from a business perspective, high prices in ebooks are really the publishers crying out that their business--as they knew it for decades--is dying on the vine. There are already massive cutbacks taking place in the print divisions even as digital departments at the publishers are starting to grow.

Until there is a seismic shift in the physical organization of traditional publishers, you'll continue to see them trying to use the tsunami of digital sales to help keep themselves afloat.

[kevinp]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

No, not at all. There's no comparison between the best shows of the 60's, 70's, 80's, or even the 90's (maybe with a couple of outliers) and shows like "the Sopranos" or "Breaking Bad" or "Mad Men" or "Boardwalk Empire" or "Game of Thrones" or many more.

Of course, the low end is probably lower, too...but that's a different issue.

Actually, I agree with Kumabjorn. I'm a great fan of "Modern Marvels". But, out of the 200+ channels I get on basic cable, I'll be darned if I can ever find anything like that on when I'm bored and want to watch TV.

I grew up watching the shows of the 70's and 80's and have no problem letting my 2 and 7 year-old sons watch any of them. These days, they'll put anything on TV. I have to be ready to mute or change the channel just for some of the commercials!