Publishers still missing the point on e-book prices

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Publishers will have to deal with my discretionary income limits.

Not really. They just have to push out enough content that others will buy, that it won't matter whether you are among the consumers who accept their content. And judging by the content they're pushing out, that's exactly what they're counting on.

I hate to point this out, but the denizens of this site are only a small proportion of the consumers publishers are pursuing. If everyone on this site decided to boycott their ebooks tomorrow... they wouldn't even notice our absence.

(This is also why the talk on this site is essentially ignored by the major publishers: Our small numbers mean little to them.)

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Not really. They just have to push out enough content that others will buy, that it won't matter whether you are among the consumers who accept their content. And judging by the content they're pushing out, that's exactly what they're counting on.

I hate to point this out, but the denizens of this site are only a small proportion of the consumers publishers are pursuing. If everyone on this site decided to boycott their ebooks tomorrow... they wouldn't even notice our absence.

(This is also why the talk on this site is essentially ignored by the major publishers: Our small numbers mean little to them.)

But we're the one buying the indies...They care.

Of equal importance, there will be continual leakage from high cost markets to low cost markets. It happens to every other market in existance, why are e-books suddenly immune?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I don't worry about the big 6's future...They don't have one.

The issue you dance around is as follows. I have a choice of a $2.99 indie ebook or a $12-14.99 Agency ebook.

Will I get 4-5 time more entertainment out of the Agency ebook, on average? Only if I do, is it "worth the money". Otherwise, I'll spend the $2.99.

Nowadays most people will choose TV, films or games for entertainment. So i fo not think you comparison is relevant.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by tompe

Nowadays most people will choose TV, films or games for entertainment. So i fo not think you comparison is relevant.

Actually, it's even more relevant. My dollars on go so far, so cheaper let's me have more variety. (And not just e-books).

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Actually, it's even more relevant. My dollars on go so far, so cheaper let's me have more variety. (And not just e-books).

No. The people that read books do not think that one book is interchangeable with another book. They want to read a specific book. So they do not see it as just entertainment that can be replaced with another entertainment.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by tompe

No. The people that read books do not think that one book is interchangeable with another book. They want to read a specific book. So they do not see it as just entertainment that can be replaced with another entertainment.

How do you find new authors to read? At some point you have to sample things you don't know about. So do you sample high priced unknowns or low priced unknowns?

[carld]

Originally Posted by Ankh

When it comes to pricing, I personally think that it is "normal" (TM) that all of the following is true, at any moment in time:
1. If the audio book is available, its price is greater than the price of hardcover, paperback or eBook edition.
2. If the hardcover edition is available, its price is greater than the price of paperback or ebook.
3. If the paperback edition is available, its price is greater than the price of ebook.

That's the hierarchy as I see it as well. I also suspect it represents the view of the general public.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

How do you find new authors to read? At some point you have to sample things you don't know about. So do you sample high priced unknowns or low priced unknowns?

Book that have gotten very good reviews and have been recommended by friends or that are published by a well respected publishser. I will prefer a more expensive book since if it is cheap you can suspect that the book is not so good since they have to compete using price.

I also read price award nominated books.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by tompe

Book that have gotten very good reviews and have been recommended by friends or that are published by a well respected publishser. I will prefer a more expensive book since if it is cheap you can suspect that the book is not so good since they have to compete using price.

I also read price award nominated books.

Plenty of excellent books written by excellent authors that sell via Smashwords, Amazon and author direct for around $5.99.

Buying books currently is not limited to buying from big publishing houses.

Your statement that because a book is cheap means it is in general, no good is untrue. I have read high priced books many times that were utter drivel.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by sabredog

Your statement that because a book is cheap means it is in general, no good is untrue. I have read high priced books many times that were utter drivel.

Well I did not say that. For an unknown book it is a question of probabilities. To decide if a book is very good or just OK you nees to read maybe 100 pages. And I am only interesting in finding very good books. So I will minimize the probability of wasting my time by selecting books from good publishers.

[TechnoCat]

Originally Posted by Fbone

And I'll add a fourth group. The retailers. They don't earn enough profit then they go out of business.

So far no one (except Apple perhaps) has found a way to make money on digital/streaming services.

TV Networks do. XM Radio does. Dish Network does. Netflix does.

Brick-and-Mortar stores won't make much on digital services, because we don't get those from physical locations. Device makers make money by providing us the tools to get them. Content creators - e.g. Paramount Studios, Katy Perry <gag>, PopCap Games, The Wall Street Journal - make money by charging the streaming service providers (again, TV and radio stations, Netflix, etc) for access... who then charge us.

You can make money off of YouTube videos if you're good enough to get advertising... just not much money, because competition for eyes is fierce.

The challenge with ebooks is that, unlike TV and Radio, they haven't been streaming in other formats for decades already. It's a growth pain for the monopoly-distributors.

[sabredog]

Books from the sources I mentioned have sample chapters available AND reviews. So you can thus determine if the book is the one you wish to purchase.

Your wish to find very good books at premium prices is entirely your choice. This does not mean that others need share your view or need to put up with what are generally considered to be price gouging.

You said,

Originally Posted by tompe

I will prefer a more expensive book since if it is cheap you can suspect that the book is not so good since they have to compete using price.

I commented about the above as below;

Originally Posted by sabredog

Your statement that because a book is cheap means it is in general, no good is untrue. I have read high priced books many times that were utter drivel.

You did say that. Your assertion in this thread and the Hatchette Australian pricing thread that higher prices mean better books and ripping off customers is acceptable business practice is quite plain

[TechnoCat]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

It's frustrating that the argument here always seems to boil down to an all-or-nothing mentality. I don't think a book someone worked on for months, that has had adequate editing, that has a cover that actually hints at what's in it and catches the eye, is only worth $1.

I've run into cases where seemingly-intelligent folk don't believe a company that has invested $20 million into a product (due to FDA, clinicals, etc) should be allowed to charge more than, say, 20% over the manufacturing cost (as opposed to the more normal 10x, due to the millions in sunk costs.) Of course then you wouldn't ever get new products because you'd never recoup the investment, but that just leads to being called a heartless evil capitalist.

Supply and demand, plus some rational level of DRM or proprietary file types, will eventually prevail.

[Ken Maltby]

Careful there "TechnoCat", it's OK to call Republican Candidates "baseball bat" emancipators,
but you can't be too sympathetic to capitalists. The moderators will soon take notice
of anything like that.

As to pricing I think that the agency publishers have had to bow to reality and are,
for the most part, pricing their ebooks to the market. While the free market system
provides the best know compromise between consumers and producers, it pretty much
guarantees that neither are happy with the conditions at any given time.

Luck;
Ken

[stonetools]

Their actions make them seem pretty fixed on the idea that their pool of potential customers hasn't changed, and every dollar spent on .epub instead of hardcover is lost profit, instead of recognizing the huge pool of potential .epub buyers who were never potential hardcover buyers.

You need to read the entire quote (and indeed the linked article). Publishers are indeed adjusting to the realities of a shift to digital, but that takes time and money. Telling a couple of people in the marketing department to "THINK DIGITAL!!" ain't gonna butter the beans. Catering to folks who want Steven King quality at indie author prices sounds like a way to drive away professional authors away from the fiction market . And of course, this sidesteps the major reason for the agency pricing model: to ensure a diversity of booksellers by preventing Amazon from monopolizing the ebook retailer market. Most Mobile Readers skate past this , but there are very good economic and public policy reasons for making sure that there is just not one ebook retailer . Government regulators understand this, which is why in the end they will let agency pricing stand.