PW: New release sales down, ebooks to blame - Page 2

crich70 · 08-15-2016, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

End of Watch at Amazon.com.

Kindle: $14.99
Hardcover: $18.00
Paperback: $10.27 (due March 28, 2017)
Mass market paperback $9.99 (due March 28, 2017)

So you have a silly price for the Kindle version and people who read on a Kindle don't usually buy hardcovers are more money. So of course sales are going to tank. Publishers are too stupid to realize that agency doesn't work. Sales are showing that agency is failing. So why not go back to real prices. I do think that End of Watch would sell better if the Kindle version was $9.99 and the hardcover $14.99. But the MMPB is also a stupid price. People are used to $7.99 to MMPB, not $9.99. The MMPB should be $7.99 and the Paperback $9.99. Then the eBook can drop to $7.99 on March 28, 2017.

I just looked over at BN.com and End of Watch is $14.99 there too for epub.

crich70 · 08-15-2016, 03:12 AM

I think part of the problem is that the publishers (as it has been pointed out in other threads here) tried to keep things in the 19th century model even though we are now in the 21st century. Back then a book could be priced high due to the cost of printing, storing and shipping them. With ebooks most of the old charges don't apply. There is no ink or paper to buy, no need to store thousands of copies, no need to pick books up and deliver them to a warehouse, etc. but publishers tried to stay in the past. Also it might be due to changing tastes in books as well. I mean I like Stephen King for example but I'm in the middle age group now (46 in December) while someone in their late teens or early twenties may not read his works as much. And there are cycles in popularity for genres as well. You see it in movies. In the 40's it was horror, 50's Sci Fi, 60's musicals and so forth.

Blossom · 08-15-2016, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I check the library for new eBooks quite often so I can get in line early enough. Besides, I get enough books from OD that I can afford to wait.

If you recommend the title using "additional titles to recommend" before it's on site you are auto in line when they do buy it. It's a good way to get a early number. I do this with big bestselling authors.

Sent from my XT1528

bgalbrecht · 08-15-2016, 01:33 PM

Books have not been priced on the cost of manufacturing since the introduction of paperbacks, if not before. The difference in printing a hardcover and a mass market paperback in today's prices is under two dollars. What you are paying extra for is the timeliness of the edition. You're paying more for the privilege of reading a book when it is first released, presumably so that nobody spoils it for you, or that the non-fiction information is timely, or that you're reading that book that is being hyped so everyone is talking about it. The ebook is priced comparable to the equivalent paper book so it doesn't cannibalize print sales too much.

Purple Lady · 08-15-2016, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

Books have not been priced on the cost of manufacturing since the introduction of paperbacks, if not before. The difference in printing a hardcover and a mass market paperback in today's prices is under two dollars. What you are paying extra for is the timeliness of the edition. You're paying more for the privilege of reading a book when it is first released, presumably so that nobody spoils it for you, or that the non-fiction information is timely, or that you're reading that book that is being hyped so everyone is talking about it. The ebook is priced comparable to the equivalent paper book so it doesn't cannibalize print sales too much.

If the ebook actually cost the same as the paper book I would buy them. The problem is that paper books can be discounted and ebooks can't for the big publishers. I looked recently for the book One Year After but the ebook is over $2 more than the paper version. I borrowed from the library instead.

Paperback is $7.73 and ebook is $9.99.
https://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Afte...dp/0765376717/

Josieb1 · 08-20-2016, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Here's what you do. You go to Kobo for a trip to India. You buy Sleepers Castle there. You use the code 20anniversary to get a discount. The the price is about £6.23 not including any out of country credit card charges which will still be cheaper than £9.99.

Thanks for the suggestion

Crowl · 08-22-2016, 12:07 AM

For me, I have such a backlog of books bought during sales that I have zero need to buy overpriced ebooks when they come out at a high price alongside the hardback edition, the only exception to that was Discworld books and sadly that is no longer an option for obvious reasons.

vsalvaggio · 09-01-2016, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crowl

For me, I have such a backlog of books bought during sales that I have zero need to buy overpriced ebooks when they come out at a high price alongside the hardback edition, ...

Agreed. I also have found and enjoyed many self published books that are way cheaper. Now I have to REALLY think hard before I pay more than $5 for an ebook. It invariably is in a long running series that I love and therefore must have right away.

crossi · 09-02-2016, 06:15 AM

I've dropped a lot of former "Must Buy's" from the big publishers that I feel are overpriced. I don't even check on new releases from them anymore. I might buy one of their backlists that show up on dailycheapreads or ereaderiq at a good price if I happen to see it but I don't go looking for them. Nora Roberts is a case in point. I'd buy her backlist at a lower price but for old Harlequins that I already have in paper those prices aren't worth it to me. After a few years of not reading their books they sort of drop out of mind.

Froide · 09-02-2016, 08:13 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf

I check the library for new eBooks quite often so I can get in line early enough. Besides, I get enough books from OD that I can afford to wait.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

If you recommend the title using "additional titles to recommend" before it's on site you are auto in line when they do buy it. It's a good way to get a early number. I do this with big bestselling authors.

Sent from my XT1528

I do this, too. Have done so for years, even before I began reading digital books.

One caution, though, that I came across this week and that surprised me: one of my library systems (I forget which - maybe Queens Library in NY, whose search engine searches all the library's platforms and catalogs at once) says recommending a book doesn't automatically place it on hold; the recommender must take the additional step to put the book on hold.

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08-15-2016, 03:12 AM	#17
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I think part of the problem is that the publishers (as it has been pointed out in other threads here) tried to keep things in the 19th century model even though we are now in the 21st century. Back then a book could be priced high due to the cost of printing, storing and shipping them. With ebooks most of the old charges don't apply. There is no ink or paper to buy, no need to store thousands of copies, no need to pick books up and deliver them to a warehouse, etc. but publishers tried to stay in the past. Also it might be due to changing tastes in books as well. I mean I like Stephen King for example but I'm in the middle age group now (46 in December) while someone in their late teens or early twenties may not read his works as much. And there are cycles in popularity for genres as well. You see it in movies. In the 40's it was horror, 50's Sci Fi, 60's musicals and so forth.

08-15-2016, 01:33 PM	#19
bgalbrecht Wizard Posts: 1,806 Karma: 13399999 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: US Device: Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle 4	Books have not been priced on the cost of manufacturing since the introduction of paperbacks, if not before. The difference in printing a hardcover and a mass market paperback in today's prices is under two dollars. What you are paying extra for is the timeliness of the edition. You're paying more for the privilege of reading a book when it is first released, presumably so that nobody spoils it for you, or that the non-fiction information is timely, or that you're reading that book that is being hyped so everyone is talking about it. The ebook is priced comparable to the equivalent paper book so it doesn't cannibalize print sales too much.

08-22-2016, 12:07 AM	#22
Crowl Wizard Posts: 1,340 Karma: 1160346 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Southport, GB Device: Kindle Voyage, PW Signature edition	For me, I have such a backlog of books bought during sales that I have zero need to buy overpriced ebooks when they come out at a high price alongside the hardback edition, the only exception to that was Discworld books and sadly that is no longer an option for obvious reasons.

09-02-2016, 06:15 AM	#24
crossi Guru Posts: 997 Karma: 12000001 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Seattle Wahington U.S. Device: kindle	I've dropped a lot of former "Must Buy's" from the big publishers that I feel are overpriced. I don't even check on new releases from them anymore. I might buy one of their backlists that show up on dailycheapreads or ereaderiq at a good price if I happen to see it but I don't go looking for them. Nora Roberts is a case in point. I'd buy her backlist at a lower price but for old Harlequins that I already have in paper those prices aren't worth it to me. After a few years of not reading their books they sort of drop out of mind.

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