Random House adopts agency pricing March 1st

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Love it!

Thanks, Kenny. You might also want to check my blog this coming Monday. It will probably amuse you.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Thanks, Kenny. You might also want to check my blog this coming Monday. It will probably amuse you.

Please remind me if I forget.

[Bittybye]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

Not really. Any sufficiently popular book, song or movie will be pirated instantly, regardless of price, availability, DRM or any other unpopular corporate tactic. The frustrated consumers are vastly outnumbered by the ranks of those who just want Free Stuff.

The most reliable indicator of how frequently a title will be pirated is how popular it is.

I suppose so, but they'll make people like me who want to support their favorite authors but can't afford to pay the high prices.

Take my mom for instance, she lives in a very tight budget so I share an account with her and she downloads the books I buy (since we have similar tastes) but had she not been able to use my books she couldn't afford the prices.

[yochillum]

Originally Posted by Skydog

+1

+1

I encourage everyone to speak to these companies in the loudest way possible: with your wallet. The only way these publishing companies will learn that we are loyal to the ways in which we read our books than we are to any particular imprint is to demonstrate that with our buying power.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by yochillum

+1

I encourage everyone to speak to these companies in the loudest way possible: with your wallet. The only way these publishing companies will learn that we are loyal to the ways in which we read our books than we are to any particular imprint is to demonstrate that with our buying power.

This "talking with your wallet" is true, but they also must understand why. If you just simply stop buying from them, they'll just think they are publishing the wrong books and publish different ones unless they know why.

[Joykins]

I think the complaints about Agency pricing boil down to 3 things:

1. Because discounting is still allowed for paper books, e-books are often priced higher than paper books even though Agency DRM'd books are considered inferior because they cannot be lent (or, in exceptional cases--Macmillan--lent more than once) or resold, and are often rife with formatting and proofreading errors.

2. Discounting is not allowed for Agency books, including indirect discounting like retailer coupons and loyalty rebates. Again, paper books qualify for this--I can use my 30% off coupon at B&N for paper books but not ebooks.

3. Distrust that the paperback release will reduce pricing promptly (I have no idea if this is happening); and a general disbelief that prices will ever reach the remainder bin level.

I do think a benefit of Agency pricing is that it puts an upper limit on the prices of general fiction or nonfiction. Just think how much they'd LIKE to charge, ha.

I have postponed e-book purchases or put books onto my library list because $12.99-14.99 is too much to pay to try out a new author, IMO. For those same books I might have bit at $5-10. But I would have done the same in the bookstore for a paper book; I'm well used to waiting for the library and mass market releases.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by Joykins

3. Distrust that the paperback release will reduce pricing promptly (I have no idea if this is happening); and a general disbelief that prices will ever reach the remainder bin level.

Just checked one of the Random House books on my wishlist, and it's now $17.99 (I'm afraid I don't know the prior pricing, but I'm sure I didn't add it to my wishlist at $17.99). As far as I can tell, the mmpb version was originally published in 1990. Granted, the current mmpb edition is also well above my mmpb threshold at $14.99.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by queentess

Just checked one of the Random House books on my wishlist, and it's now $17.99 (I'm afraid I don't know the prior pricing, but I'm sure I didn't add it to my wishlist at $17.99). As far as I can tell, the mmpb version was originally published in 1990. Granted, the current mmpb edition is also well above my mmpb threshold at $14.99.

I bet there's a lightly used version available much cheaper.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

Oh? So, I'm just imagining how ebook sales are continuing to rise, that Amazon is selling more ebooks than hardcovers and more ebooks than paper books, and that $10 is still a fairly common price point? Yes, clearly I'm left out in the cold.

I might add, my habits haven't changed that much. In fact, most of the ebooks I wound up purchasing that were over $10 were not agency priced. I don't suppose you have an explanation for that situation?

Yes I do. You didn't wait for a sale.

Yes, some prices did go up. However, the publishers seem to have done what they said they would. New ebooks are $12-$14, with a small price cut for NYT Best Sellers; when the paperback comes out, the prices fall from $6-$10. There are no more delays in ebook availability. Ebook market share is rather unclear, but it does appear that there is robust, if not fierce, competition between at least four major retailers in the US (Amazon, Apple, B&N, Kobo, Sony).

Yeah, sounds like a total nightmare to me.

MOST prices went up. They went up to an unreasonable amount. eBooks that were fairly priced are now more expensive then the pBook edition and do not say this is OK because it's not. The delays were from idiot publishers who felt the delay's would bring in more sales of the hardcover version. All it did was piss off people who prefer eBooks and did not help hardcover sales. People who prefer eBooks are not swayed by these publishers tactics. We either waited and bought or we didn't buy at all.

Yes, but did you have a sustainable thing?

Fictionwise was private and did not, as far as I can tell, release financial information, and they sold out to B&N for $15 million. The "heavy discounting" tactic didn't help Borders, and it effects on Fictionwise's bottom line is unknown. Was it ruined by agency pricing, or by B&N's neglect, which may well have been intentional? They supposedly sold around 7.5 million ebooks between 2000 and late 2009 -- whilst Apple brags about 100 million ebook downloads in about a year.

It's rather common when a transition like this is under way for screaming deals to appear -- and then flame out. Those of us who lived through the dot com madness saw it, ranging from huge flameouts (Kozmo's free delivery) to businesses that only survived by toning down their huge deals (e.g. eMusic going from a $10/month unlimited downloads to 40 downloads per month).

Your guess on whether Fictionwise could have survived on its earlier terms are as good as mine, though I suspect your answer is "yes" and mine is "no."

I don't know how long Fictionwise could have sustained it's model. My feeling is that it would have lasted a good long time. Also, with Readers on the rise, I think Fictionwise would have sold a lot of eBooks. In fact, I think they would have sold more then Apple says they have sold. But under the agency mess, that was something that had to go and given that without the model it once had, Fictionwise became nothing special. Also, I feel that Fictionwise would not be out of business had they not sold out to B&N.

The agency model took away what made Fictionwise different and well respected. The agency 6 has caused CyberRead to go under. What is the agency model doing for customers that is a true benefit over what we had before? I cannot see anything significant or even not significant in any real way.

The agency model is screwing with consumers, it's screwing with libraries, it's basically, trying to destroy eBooks because of failing pBook sales. What these publishers fail to realize is that in this economy, people aren't going to be buying hardcover books like they used to. Why spend $15-$25 on a single book when you can get two or three books for the same price sans the hardcover? The agency 6 doesn't give a damn about satisfied consumers. All they want really is to do away with eBooks since hardcover sales ae plummeting.

And just so we're clear on this, you are basing this on what exactly? Sales data? Total ebook revenues? A detailed industry analysis of price-per-unit? A full comparison of pricing for all the ebook retailers, pre- and post-agency pricing?

No, you're basically just saying "I paid less at Fictionwise." And while that statement is correct, it is also riddled with problems, and simply is not the whole story.

I also paid less as Sony, BooksOnBoard, CyberRead, Kobo and others as well. I was just using Fictionwise as an example. I'm basing this on what was vs. what is. Take an agency eBook at $7.99. It will be $7.99 because no discounts or sales. Take a $7.99 pBook and yes, we can get sales/discounts and the price paid will be less then $7.99. The story is prices have risen. Discounts are no longer allowed. And that's the truth.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by queentess

Just checked one of the Random House books on my wishlist, and it's now $17.99 (I'm afraid I don't know the prior pricing, but I'm sure I didn't add it to my wishlist at $17.99). As far as I can tell, the mmpb version was originally published in 1990. Granted, the current mmpb edition is also well above my mmpb threshold at $14.99.

Are you sure it is a mmpb? $14.99 seems hight for a mmpb. Seems reasonable for a trade edition.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I bet there's a lightly used version available much cheaper.

I usually get Tepper from the library. And (when I was a member) the Science Fiction Book Club.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Joykins

I usually get Tepper from the library. And (when I was a member) the Science Fiction Book Club.

Oopsie. I didn't even realize those were links...yeah there is a used P-book version for 1 cent!

That's a book that I've meant to year since it came out but just never got to it...maybe I'll snag that 1 cent one!

[TallMomof2]

I'm with Jon on this. Most if not all of the Agency books I am interested in went up substantially when the Agency agreement went into effect. I read mostly Science Fiction, Romance/Paranormal and History/Biography. No retailer discounts or coupons make the ebooks more expensive than their physical counterparts. I expect to pay more for History/Biography, smaller market but I have a dozen books on my wishlist and they have not come down in price. Even after the release of paperback versions.

My personal stance is to buy *used* Agency books when I absolutely want the book.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are you trying to kill off reading?

No, what I was saying in my hypothetical was that if something like agency pricing had been in effect in the 90s when the chain bookstores began to take off then maybe independent bookstores would have had a fighting chance. The same thing applies to chain bookstores in relation to Amazon. Because the chain bookstores and then Amazon could offer very cheap discounts, bookstores are now in danger. I'm not a fan of Amazon so I don't really care if they can't sell e-books at $9.99 or less. Sorry if you don't like that. Additionally, I tend to buy a lot of academic books from university and academic publishers and their books tend to cost a lot of money. I don't mind parting with $20, $25 or $30 for a good book. I don't have a Wal-Mart mentality when it comes to books.

Do you have any numbers that say that agency pricing has actually lessened the number of books read? Amazon is still selling lots of eBooks including eBooks by agency publishers.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by Joykins

3. Distrust that the paperback release will reduce pricing promptly (I have no idea if this is happening); and a general disbelief that prices will ever reach the remainder bin level.

"Promptly," no. It takes about a year after the book is released for the ebook prices to drop -- it's currently linked to the paperback release.

For example: "Caught" by Harlan Coben (NYT Best Seller released last March) is currently $15, and the paperback will be released in a few weeks.

"Fantasy In Death" by JD Robb (NYT Best Seller last February) is now $7 in ebook, and $8 in paperback.

I don't know if anyone has actually tracked the prices on a large number of titles, though, which would be a far more accurate and useful measure.