Publishers Agonize(?) Over Ebook Release Dates

[ahammer]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

The last book I bought was a hardback "The Canterbury Papers" which I only bought because I was waiting for 6 hours for Pirates of the Caribbean 3. (Yes, I was dressed in my pirate regalia for the opening night)

hmm seems so out of place for you

[ahi]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

for me, yes and no. before getting a liseuse, i purchased mostly used books, but the vast majority of my reading came from the library. partly because of a lack of space to store all my books, partly because books are expensive, and if i had to pay for every single one i read, i'd have gone broke. and i would say the majority of my paperbooks i bought used.

now that i've got a liseuse, i fall a bit too easily prey to the facility and convenience of buying books online, particularly when the books are very cheap or on sale (fictionwise is really not good for my budget) but on the other hand i've been reading a lot of free classics from here, feedbooks, ebooks libres et gratuits, etc.

i never was a hardcover buyer, and i certainly won't pay a hardcover price for an ebook either ; however, if i'm really impatient to read it, i might get it from the library rather than waiting, in which case the chances of me ever buying the book at any price are drasticaclly decreased. so keeping the ebook edition back and pricing it too high are both practices which will result in losing my (potential) custom, anyway.

edit : sorry, i was referring to your previous question, whether i buy more or less than before.

Do you think your purchases are notably more numerous than that of the average avid reader without an eBook reading device?

- Ahi

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by ahi

Do you think your purchases are notably more numerous than that of the average avid reader without an eBook reading device?

- Ahi

Probably not more than an avid reader but there are plenty of occasional readers out there. I'd be curious to know what percentage of pbook sales are to them. There are plenty of folks out there who read a couple best sellers a year. Most people who read at all, don't read much. The avid reader is a small percentage of the population but goes through a lot of books. Most people who own ebook readers are in this category, I would venture to say. Many of them were willing and able to spend hundreds on a dedicated device to read. That means a high percentage of avid readers with disposable income who are willing to splurge on their habit.

A note on Amazon's sales figures: It makes sense to me that 35% of book sales are Kindle books where there is both digital and print available if I assume that most Kindle owners have similar buying habits to my own. If I buy a book now, it's practically always a Kindle edition. I bought a lot of paper books before but most were from a brick and mortar. I only ordered from Amazon if I couldn't find it locally, I knew I wouldn't have time to hit the store, or it was a gift I was having sent. I bought lots of stuff from Amazon but only a handful of books. I've heard reports that they've sold over half a million Kindles. If half a million of their avid readers are now buying Kindle editions almost exclusively or even predominantly, that's a lot of sales. I don't know a ton of folks with readers but I know a few and they all avoid buying paper books now.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by ahi

Do you think your purchases are notably more numerous than that of the average avid reader without an eBook reading device?

- Ahi

honestly, i don't know. all of my friends are avid readers, however few of them read exclusively books they've purchased ; many of them frequent the library (avidly ). i remember the day a friend of mine told me, his eyes shining, a look of near exaltation on his face, that he had made an "amazing discovery" : the public library !! i stared at him like he was from the moon, but in his defense he grew up in a provincial town whose library was pretty small (as he explained to me) and even after having lived in paris for several years it hadn't occurred to him until then to try the library here, and when he did he was completely bowled over by the sheer quantity and selection of books available (for free !).

even the ones who frequent the library *also* buy books, and we've got quite a little "traffic" of paperbook sharing amongst ourselves, but i honestly don't know how many they purchase per year and how that compares to my habits.

i'd say i purchase more books than the average person, but probably fewer than one or two of my friends (note i'm talking about how much we purchase, not how much we read, which is probably more or less comparable). in particular i'm thinking of one friend, who showed me one day the books she had bought in preparation for 3 weeks holiday at her parents' house on the southwest coast. there were about 20 of them, and i said to her "seriously ? you're going to read all of them ? won't you do anything else while you're there ?" and she said, "nope. that's my clever plan : i've invited you along so you can talk to my parents and keep them busy so i can get some reading done." 2 weeks later, as i was about to leave to meet her down there, she called me up and asked me if i could go to the bookstore for her and get a couple of titles to bring down with me, because she had run out of books to read. since she doesn't go to the library (she doesn't want to deal with finding time to go and making sure she gets them back on time) she definitely buys more than i do, but i think she's sort of in a class of her own.

however i can say that since i've gotten a liseuse, i buy almost no paper books anymore. that was actually part of the plan ; ebooks take up so much less space... and as i think i said, i probably purchase more ebooks now than i did paperbooks before, definitely more than i purchased *new* paper books before.

[narbeauchamp]

I posted this article to my FB earlier today with the following comment :

While paperback and hardcover books are rarely released at same time...delaying ebooks can be more problematic in the long run-I mean how many people are going to spend money on a dedicated device (Kindle,Sony Reader,Iliad etc) because they DON'T want to read...when I buy a book in paperback/hardcover instead of electronically,it is not often because they aren't available,but more so because I can (via various combinations of discount) get the book at a better price...or I am concerned that I may want to read the book but not be stuck with it (ie unable to sell,return,share,or just give the book away) on my reader....

Ammending it with the following : I own a 700,previously owned a 505 before it broke,and there's another few 505s in the household.We regularly buy ebooks and regular books. We read alot,for pleasure,and for work. We have various bookstores that are easily accessible to us,and with some rewards programs we can often get even hardcovers at near paperback pricing.What happens though,when we can't find something we want as an ebook,is we forget,and we never buy it at all.The other upside is that buying a "regular" book makes it easier to share,sell back etc-but at least one of us would pay more money for the ability to easily share-without having to tie all three readers to ONE purchasing account. I can just as easily buy on impulse -regular or electronic,but when I feel "slighted" I am more likely to never purchase at all (and maybe even wait for the library-although I love NYPL it rocks ! )

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by ahi

My personal suspicion is that Moejoe's case is more common than your own, griffonwing.

- Ahi

Quite correct, I'm sure. I always was the weird one.

Originally Posted by ahammer

hmm seems so out of place for you

It does, doesn't it.

I can't wait to start reading again. I used to devour books as young lad.

[Kali Yuga]

FYI, the "1-2% of book sales are e-books" number is from that article, so presumably it's coming from an analyst. Seems about right to me though.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The reason behind delaying the eBook release is so people will purchase the hardcover instead of the cheaper less profitable eBook. I don't understand their logic.

I'm not sure why you don't understand it, since you're stating it quite clearly.

In Amazon's case, the publisher is allegedly receiving the same wholesale payment per book -- but they are concerned (with good reason) that Amazon will eventually turn the screws and demand a lower wholesale price for e-books. Ergo, publishers are trying to defend their pricing structure and profits on both a short- and long-term basis.

Right now it is unclear how much e-books, at the $9.99 or even $15.95 price point, are actually cannibalizing hardcover sales (if at all). Amazon probably knows by now, since they have tons of sales data to analyze; publishers are in the dark though, since they don't have access to the retail data. For example, if you are a serious reader, and spend $50 a month on books, if you get into e-books do you wind up spending the same $50/month on books? Do you wind up buy the same number of books, thus cutting your monthly book bill? Do you buy more because the delivery method is more convenient? Do you buy less because you often sell a book you've read? Do you spend more because there is no "used e-book" market?

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't buy hardcovers because I have a reader. I buy eBooks or MMBPs or I use the library for eBooks or books. So to treat me like I dont matter means I won't be supporting their product with my money....

It's a standing policy that users who prefer the lower-cost paperpacks must wait several months. While I agree that it would be great for e-books to come out at the same time as the hardcover, and clearly this is an inconvenience, I am not sure you have much ground to take any more offense from a delay in e-book publication than if you were a "paperback only" reader.

I also don't see much of a necessity yet for publishers to put out e-books simultaneously with the hardcovers, until a) e-books gain more market share and b) publishers have an idea of if/how e-books will affect hardcover sales and overall net income.

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by ahi

<SNIP>I think there is little doubt that eBook device owners read more--but do they really buy more? Do people on Mobileread find that they started spending more money on books since they got their eBook reader?

- Ahi

I definitely buy more ebooks than I did paperbacks and I was a BIG paperback buyer. It wouldn't have made any sense to buy a dedicated reader if I didn't read as much as I do. The cost of most readers are prohibitive for the occasional reader unless they have a large disposable income.

[rixte]

Right now, when I hear about a book that sounds interesting, I check to see if there's an ebook version. And for a lot of books, that is its one chance to make a sale - if it doesn't exist, I've moved on to a book that does. In a few cases, I'll check back once or twice but it has to have some pretty exceptional reviews from friends for me to make that effort.

I definitely won't buy the book in hardback - before I went to ebooks almost exclusively, there was probably a 50-50 split on authors that I knew and trusted but an almost 0% chance that I'd buy an unknown author in hardback before.

On the other hand, I buy a lot more and take a lot more risks with unknowns and random recommendations than I ever did with physical copies. Overall, the publishing industry gets more of my money. But a specific publisher that delays ebook releases is going to get a lot less of it - and not because of a particular grudge or boycott, but because if they wait, I'll have probably received another 50 recommendations since then.

[Darqref]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

It's a standing policy that users who prefer the lower-cost paperpacks must wait several months. While I agree that it would be great for e-books to come out at the same time as the hardcover, and clearly this is an inconvenience, I am not sure you have much ground to take any more offense from a delay in e-book publication than if you were a "paperback only" reader.

I also don't see much of a necessity yet for publishers to put out e-books simultaneously with the hardcovers, until a) e-books gain more market share and b) publishers have an idea of if/how e-books will affect hardcover sales and overall net income.

Its possible that other publishers might have other results, but the only hard information we have is from Baen. Baen was very clearly a mmpb publisher at the time ebooks started. Then they started their Webscription program, and the results of simultaneous release of ebook and pbook drove them to become a mainly hardback publisher. The authors (and publisher) make more from each copy of the hardback, and hardback sales increased as the webscriptions went up. Let me repeat that - Hardback sales increase when an ebook is released simultaneously!

Why? I can only guess, but my guess is that ebook readers are more likely to comment or otherwise drive buzz - and since the first part of the webscription is available 3 months BEFORE the hardback release, this tends to drive pre-orders (of the hb). Thus printing cycles are more accurate, sales are better, and everyone wins.

And to make matters worse, they even make more money by selling the un-edited version even earlier, and call it an eARC (Advance Reader Copy - paper versions sent to reviewers so that reviews may appear at the same time as release). Which STILL DOES NOT HURT HARDBACK SALES.

So why do other publishers not get it? Not Invented Here, is my guess.

[rixte]

Actually that reminds me of one other data point about my own habits.

I buy 'hardback' books in ebook format, that I wouldn't have bought in hardback. And when I read and enjoy them, not only do I recommend them to friends - several times I've bought just bought them in hardback as presents for people. I don't have an interest in collecting them for myself, but they definitely increased sales from me there.

[TallMomof2]

I used to buy a lot of pbooks, before Amazon I'd hit the bookstores once a month or so and purchase a stack of MMPBs. I carried a book with me where ever I went and read constantly. When I traveled I would carry plenty of reading material and leave it behind when I finished.

I actually purchase more ebooks now because of the ease and availability. I stopped looking in bookstores years ago and don't even peruse the books at Costco anymore.

Publishers delaying the release of ebook versions will lose me as a customer. By the time the ebook is available I will have forgotten about the book or have lost interest. Plus, if I really want to read it, I'll hit the library. In the U.S. that means the author only is paid for the one time sale to the library.

[ahi]

Ok... so based on all these testimonials, the (probably much) less than 1% of people who buy eBooks instead of pBooks on average probably buy somewhat more books than their pBook purchasing counterparts.

In light of this, I'm still not shocked that publishers (arguably rightly) feel they can ignore us.

- Ahi

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by ahi

Ok... so based on all these testimonials, the (probably much) less than 1% of people who buy eBooks instead of pBooks on average probably buy somewhat more books than their pBook purchasing counterparts.

In light of this, I'm still not shocked that publishers (arguably rightly) feel they can ignore us.

- Ahi

Aye, but as the numbers grow, (and they grow daily, with more knowledge and more publicity of ebook reader technology) they will not be able to ignore us.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Aye, but as the numbers grow, (and they grow daily, with more knowledge and more publicity of ebook reader technology) they will not be able to ignore us.

Of course. But that time is not tomorrow, next week, or even necessarily next year.

And in the meantime, principled declarations of not buying from publishers that ignore us are really nothing short of irrelevant (in terms of having any hope of impact, unless it is a particularly small publisher).

- Ahi