Irate kindlers 1star carpet bomb Michael Connelly's new book - Page 4

edbro · 04-06-2011, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joykins

I started going to goodreads in addition to Amazon for reviews.

I'm starting to think all reviews are worthless. Too much of the "eye of the beholder" going on.

Currently on Goodreads, Fahrenheit 451 is ranked #11 on the Best Books of the 20th Century list. At the same time, it is ranked #23 on the Worst Books of All Time list. Go figure!

CallOfCth'reader · 04-06-2011, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

This is Mr Connelly's response on his Facebook page regarding Amazon's reviews and pricing:

Quote:

Michael Connelly Books: The publisher won't be changing the price. But the price automatically goes down when the book becomes a Kindle bestseller. So, there will probably be a price change next week once the bestsellers lists comes out. That should make the complainers happier.
44 minutes ago

If they are that confident that the book is going to reach the best seller list in a week, why not price the ebook more realistically in the first place?

Hellmark · 04-06-2011, 05:33 PM

Local B&M stores often charge closer to list. Powells currently is selling at List.

Nyssa · 04-06-2011, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edbro

I'm starting to think all reviews are worthless. Too much of the "eye of the beholder" going on.

Currently on Goodreads, Fahrenheit 451 is ranked #11 on the Best Books of the 20th Century list. At the same time, it is ranked #23 on the Worst Books of All Time list. Go figure!

That seems pretty easy to explain, actually - its apparently one of those love it or hate it deals. I've never read it myself, so I do not have an opinion either way; but, what I would do, if I were interested, would be to sample a few reviews from both ends of the spectrum.

Barcey · 04-06-2011, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

Amazon, you clever devils. Playing customers like violins to force publishers to drop wholesale prices. I love how people accept Amazon's 50% discount as "the price." I think $14.99 for the ebook is too much, though. You pay more at initial release, that's just a fact of buying books, but $12.99 at first and then lowering it when the paperback came out would have been better imo.

Yes Amazon are so clever they're even setting Walmart's price for the hard cover book at US$14.27 as well.

Amazon is just selling the hard cover at the same competitive discounting they've always been doing. It's the anti competitive agency that's at fault here.

CallOfCth'reader · 04-06-2011, 05:40 PM

Just checked out his Facebook page (never heard of the guy before), and he has a follow-up comment in that thread:

Quote:

Michael Connelly Books: The book is selling very well in the Kindle store right now. The majority of ebook readers are not price focused. The people that are price focused will be happy to know that the price lowers to $12.99 once the book becomes a Kindle Bestseller. The agency pricing is not going away. In fact, more publishers are going in that direction.

I must fall into the 'minority' of readers of ebooks who are price focussed. I don't earn enough not to be.

OtterBooks · 04-06-2011, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CallOfCth'reader

If they are that confident that the book is going to reach the best seller list in a week, why not price the ebook more realistically in the first place?

Because they are confident that the book is going to reach the best seller list at that price. Question is, did they lose enough sales due to angry people objecting to the price that they would have made more if it were cheaper. That I don't know.

Worldwalker · 04-06-2011, 05:42 PM

If the cabal pricing is not going away, my money is. I have plenty to read without it.

Piper_ · 04-06-2011, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piper_

If they don't let them make at least close to the equivalent of what they make on the hardcover during that new release window, I'm afraid publishers will either stop putting out the ebook version until the window is passed, or they'll raise prices of mid and back list books, to make up for the difference.

Why do you believe (aside from certain publishers saying so) that an ebook costs a publisher more to produce than a hardcover of the same book?
-snip reasons they cost less-

I don't. I called that claim smarmy BS snake oil.

Lower in the post you quote, I pointed out that they make more even if they charge less for the pbook, so I would not support the price being equal, even during that window.

In the next, I said they should subtract from the price not only the savings over paper production etc, but also the extra royalty they get in ebooks over paper.

IOW, I completely agree with everything you wrote.

Always have.

issybird · 04-06-2011, 05:45 PM

Costs have nothing to do with it, of course. The publisher is charging what it thinks the market will bear. And within the ethermarket, where prices can be altered in a nanosecond, they can keep capturing those who will pay the top (current) price, and then ratchet it down, capturing top buck at each level.

My own reaction to all this? When Random House joined the evil five, it was a black day. I look at what must be at least 50 ebooks purchased at a (no longer possible) discount, add in the two hundred or so unread DTBs around the house, remember the elibrary option plus undiscovered public domain goodies, and I'm out. I can last for at least two years burning off my own inventory. This isn't a holy war, I'll cave on the odd purchase, but essentially I'm done, until sanity returns. eReading is convenient, more so than DTBs, but since I always have a few books going it's not a dealbreaker. I can read the DTBs at home and the ebooks on the move.

Because: it is insulting to charge less for an item with an inherent value (can be resold, lent, donated) for one with none. Do they think ereaders are idiots? Or that our convenience is worth such a premium to us that their reduced costs redound entirely to the seller? Buh-bye, guys. Ultimately books are fungible and there are a lot of them out there.

Nyssa · 04-06-2011, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Michael Connelly Books: The book is selling very well in the Kindle store right now. The majority of ebook readers are not price focused. The people that are price focused will be happy to know that the price lowers to $12.99 once the book becomes a Kindle Bestseller. The agency pricing is not going away. In fact, more publishers are going in that direction.

#1. He's wrong. Many Kindle users, like myself, are "price focused" as he put it.

#2. Even if I were not, I do not know him, therefore I would automatically wait for a lower price anyway before giving his work a try. If I "loved" his book, then and only then might I consider paying a higher price.

#3. The price still couldn't be too much higher as I have a cap. I will not pay more for an e-book than I would for a paperback. Right now paperbacks are $8.99; about $9.64 after taxes. So I will not pay more than $9.99 for an e-book. Period.

CallOfCth'reader · 04-06-2011, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

#3. The price still couldn't be too much higher as I have a cap. I will not pay more for an e-book than I would for a paperback. Right now paperbacks are $8.99; about $9.64 after taxes. So I will not pay more than $9.99 for an e-book. Period.

At the moment I'm toying with the idea of buying two of Stephen King's books in e-format, but the price is the blocker. They are both £8 ($13 at current exchange), which I think is a touch too high for me. I have both as pbooks, and I'm thinking that £16 for the convenience of having them on my ereader is a little too high. I may cave, or I may not.

DiapDealer · 04-06-2011, 06:05 PM

Quote:

#1. He's wrong. Many Kindle users, like myself, are "price focused" as he put it.

He said the majority... and I believe he's probably right. For better or for worse.

Nyssa · 04-06-2011, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

He said the majority... and I believe he's probably right. For better or for worse.

How do you figure? What about owning a Kindle suddenly makes one no longer price focused?

Edited to Add: All of the Kindle owner I know have all set limits on what they are personally willing to pay.

CallOfCth'reader · 04-06-2011, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

He said the majority... and I believe he's probably right. For better or for worse.

I don't believe him, because without concrete figures the statement is purely opinion. Even if Amazon (and all other ebook sellers) listed the number of ebooks sold, over a certain price point, that would still mean nothing: there is no way for them to know how many sales were lost due to pricing.

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04-06-2011, 05:33 PM	#48
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,590 Karma: 4290425 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2	Local B&M stores often charge closer to list. Powells currently is selling at List.

04-06-2011, 05:42 PM	#53
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	If the cabal pricing is not going away, my money is. I have plenty to read without it.

04-06-2011, 05:45 PM	#55
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,135 Karma: 234223171 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	Costs have nothing to do with it, of course. The publisher is charging what it thinks the market will bear. And within the ethermarket, where prices can be altered in a nanosecond, they can keep capturing those who will pay the top (current) price, and then ratchet it down, capturing top buck at each level. My own reaction to all this? When Random House joined the evil five, it was a black day. I look at what must be at least 50 ebooks purchased at a (no longer possible) discount, add in the two hundred or so unread DTBs around the house, remember the elibrary option plus undiscovered public domain goodies, and I'm out. I can last for at least two years burning off my own inventory. This isn't a holy war, I'll cave on the odd purchase, but essentially I'm done, until sanity returns. eReading is convenient, more so than DTBs, but since I always have a few books going it's not a dealbreaker. I can read the DTBs at home and the ebooks on the move. Because: it is insulting to charge less for an item with an inherent value (can be resold, lent, donated) for one with none. Do they think ereaders are idiots? Or that our convenience is worth such a premium to us that their reduced costs redound entirely to the seller? Buh-bye, guys. Ultimately books are fungible and there are a lot of them out there.

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