N.Y. Times Article: Steal This Book (for $9.99)

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

The marketplace (in the broadest sense) defines demand and set price. Looking at the e-book marketplace today, $4-$10 US is the market clearing price for e-books (at least in the US). Either you can compete at this price zone, or else you'll be out of the business in a few years. This holds true for publishers, and authors as well.

And remember, free is always competition. Look here, or at Project Gutenberg. (I'm not referring to pirating, although that is part of the marketplace as well.)

If Amazon buy for $13 and sell for $9.99 when they palnning to start make profit on eBooks? In 1-2 or 5 years?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Kris777

If Amazon buy for $13 and sell for $9.99 when they palnning to start make profit on eBooks? In 1-2 or 5 years?

At this rate, never. Look at what has happened when book prices (here and there) were raised. A huge amount of squawking and a drop in sales. Either the price amazon pays as wholesaler drop to a profit point, or they'll never have a profit. My guess is that the publishers will get squeezed. When you're going broke, you do whatever it takes to get cashflow....(referring to the publishers)

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

At this rate, never. Look at what has happened when book prices (here and there) were raised. A huge amount of squawking and a drop in sales. Either the price amazon pays as wholesaler drop to a profit point, or they'll never have a profit. My guess is that the publishers will get squeezed. When you're going broke, you do whatever it takes to get cashflow....(referring to the publishers)

Yes, when Amazon started sell paper books on amazon.com they had no profit for several years too and many B&N customers started buy from them so it looks like a business model for them.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by Leep

While Amazon adjusted their price to $9.99 for "First Family", they have not followed up with that policy for new books from other popular authors. i.e. Lee Child's prerelease for "Gone Tomorrow" is $14.85, and Michael Connelly's new books range from $11.99 for "Brass Verdict" to $15.39 for the pre-release price of "The Scarecrow".

The $9.99 price point only applies *once it hits the NYT bestseller list*. Pre-orders cannot do that. And there's some lag between when it hits the list and when it gets discounted. (And in a few rare cases it never gets discounted.)

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

At this rate, never. Look at what has happened when book prices (here and there) were raised. A huge amount of squawking and a drop in sales. Either the price amazon pays as wholesaler drop to a profit point, or they'll never have a profit. My guess is that the publishers will get squeezed. When you're going broke, you do whatever it takes to get cashflow....(referring to the publishers)

Amazon could take the loss for years and make it up by the sale of other, more profitable ebooks (backlist titles, professional books, self-published, etc).

[Parastie]

For me, it's all about content. I'm paying for how much I'm getting out of the product.
Song - 3 minutes of entertainment per use $0.99 is good.
TV show - 30-60 minutes $1.99 per show seems good
Movie - 2 hours of entertainment per use $9.99 seems good (I prefer to rent or download)
Books- Hours if not days of entertainment, depending how busy I am.

Do I mind spending $26 for a new book that I really want? No, even in ebook form. I'm not paying for the book itself, I'm paying for the content. If I went out and bought the hardback book for $20+ at a local store, then why wouldn't I pay for it on ebook?

[pdurrant]

Because when you pay $26 for access to a DRMed ebook you get access to that book in one format for a few devices, access that might go away at any time at the whim of the publisher or wholesaler or retailer.

When you pay $26 for a hardback, you get to own the hardback. You can keep it, read it anywhere you wish, loan it to friends, resell it.

Originally Posted by Parastie

Do I mind spending $26 for a new book that I really want? No, even in ebook form. I'm not paying for the book itself, I'm paying for the content. If I went out and bought the hardback book for $20+ at a local store, then why wouldn't I pay for it on ebook?

[GlennD]

It's all about the publishing industry trying to cram the new technology into the old business model, much like the music industry tried to do. Parts of that fit in the ebook model (writing/editing/typesetting), parts of it don't (the physical components of publishing, shipping, remainders etc). Publishers need to start looking at the process from the ground up, separate from the pbook marketing process, and see how they can best earn income with the new reality. And they'd best do it quickly before the market decides for them.

I'm not totally convinced that Baen's method is the best long term strategy either. (That's not a criticism of Baen - more than anyone they've thought outside the box and found a way to make income from ebooks, both current ones and backlist material that's been out of print for years.) Most writers have multiple publishers, but consumers don't tend to care who publishes a book, just who writes it. Some sort of retailer is a good thing for consumers, who (in general) probably aren't going to hop from publisher to publisher looking for a book.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by Parastie

Do I mind spending $26 for a new book that I really want? No, even in ebook form. I'm not paying for the book itself, I'm paying for the content. If I went out and bought the hardback book for $20+ at a local store, then why wouldn't I pay for it on ebook?

What publishers are missing is the opportunity to expand their market beyond the folks who are willing to drop $20+ on a hardback. There are a slew of folks who normally jump on the library waitlists for favorite authors or wait for the paperback who would cave to a $10, anytime impulse buy at some point between the release date and when they would otherwise get their hands on it. Show them 4-6 "you might also like" titles and you could see a $0-20/year customer turn into a $20/month customer.

If publishers and distributors need to streamline their business models, that's just reality. The changes underway have nothing to do with authors and readers, and everything to do with the middlemen; it's the publishers and distributors who need to make themselves viable in the new market, before upstarts take both their authors and their readers away.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

What they are also forgetting is the ability for e-books to extend the backlist virtually forever at minimal to no cost. That can increase sales over the long haul. In my mind the business challenge is all about the transition. Once past the transition point the opportunities should actually be very good with reduced costs, unlimited backlist etc.

This won't work as currently structured. A publishing contract usually expires and when it expires the eBook rights expire at the same time. This needs to be worked out before eBooks can bridge the no-longer-published gap.

dale

[Boston]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

What they are also forgetting is the ability for e-books to extend the backlist virtually forever at minimal to no cost. That can increase sales over the long haul.

...and unlike pbooks, ebooks cannot be shared (unless on the same Amazon account).

I used to pass along all of my pbooks. Now if I recommend a book to someone, they have to go buy it.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

This won't work as currently structured. A publishing contract usually expires and when it expires the eBook rights expire at the same time. This needs to be worked out before eBooks can bridge the no-longer-published gap.

In most contracts, the reversion of rights is not automatic. Even if the book is out of print, the author has to specifically request their rights back. So most publishers can indeed start publishing most ebooks on their backlist if they want. In cases where the rights have reverted, it's usually because the book was not in print so most authors would be all-too-eager to see them printed again, if only in ebook form.

[fugazied]

People believe that the distribution costs are essentially zero now. A few servers can hold thousands and thousands of ebooks. There is no longer a book shop taking 30%, there is no longer a shipping company taking 5% and no longer printing costs at probably 20%. SO that means that the entire $9.99 goes to 3 people: 1) Author/Editors 2) Publishers 3) Ebook distributor like Amazon.

So basicaly we don't want to pay large sums for these 'virtual digital' products. You can't share an ebook like you could lend a friend a book, they need to also have an expensive reading device. So there are disadvantages to ebooks, and they are cheaper for the publishers to distribute. The logic is compelling in my opinon.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by fugazied

People believe that the distribution costs are essentially zero now. A few servers can hold thousands and thousands of ebooks. There is no longer a book shop taking 30%, there is no longer a shipping company taking 5% and no longer printing costs at probably 20%. SO that means that the entire $9.99 goes to 3 people: 1) Author/Editors 2) Publishers 3) Ebook distributor like Amazon.

So basicaly we don't want to pay large sums for these 'virtual digital' products. You can't share an ebook like you could lend a friend a book, they need to also have an expensive reading device. So there are disadvantages to ebooks, and they are cheaper for the publishers to distribute. The logic is compelling in my opinon.

Agree. If you for example have 10 friends you can give your paper book to all of them and 10 people will read the same book (your friends can give you their books too) but if you purchased DRMed book you can't give it to anybody. No problem like this if you buy DRM free ebooks from websites like Fictionwise.com

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by Kris777

Agree. If you for example have 10 friends you can give your paper book to all of them and 10 people will read the same book (your friends can give you their books too) but if you purchased DRMed book you can't give it to anybody. No problem like this if you buy DRM free ebooks from websites like Fictionwise.com

Just out of curiosity and because I really don't want to look up the answer, is it copyright infringement to lend someone a paperback book?