"If you can afford an ebook reader, you can afford ebook prices"

[BeccaAnn]

I got my original device (PRS-500) in Sept. 2007 when I was still getting school loans. When I upgraded to the 505 in Feb. 2009, it was a birthday present from my parents. I'm now graduated with no career. I work at a hotel front desk for $8.50/hr and avg. 26hrs per week during the winter. That doesn't give me enought money to pay my bills, forget extras such as books. My parents have to send me money every month to make ends meet. I can't afford $15 books. If publishers keep the price up on ebooks, even after the mm pback is released, I'lll just read new books from my library and get to know new authors (to me) from public domain books.

[charleski]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

Charleski - Well, no. not "all Publishers need to do". They need to engage me as a customer. Baen score very heavily on that. And they're not going to get me to pay $15 for everything, just the stuff I want most.

Well, engaging the customers is certainly something that publishers need to keep working on, but most put a lot of time into doing just that (organising promotions, book signings, getting their authors to book fairs, etc). Baen might have a slightly more integrated approach, but it's slanted towards getting people to spend more buying books as part of a package (with the hopes that they'll spend even more on other books in the different series).

In terms of engaging the customer I'd say Tor's website is about the best out there - they give away free stories, have a very active community and are always adding content. I'd say Macmillan is doing a pretty good job there.

The entire "if you've paid for the device..." argument is nonsense...

What's nonsense is the argument that paying for the device entitles you to a massive discount on the content. The notes made by Mike Shatzkin are a far better representation of what Cader was saying than the gobbledegook from the Consumerist.

Publishers need to move ebooks to the same windowing and discount structure that's used for physical books and they need to apply consistently the ~30% discount that's reasonable given the efficiencies involved. But I don't think they should pander to unreasonable expectations fostered by one retailer.

Cader's actual argument was that all the debate about pricing has been completely hypothetical, and as such it's worthless. Those who have $300 of disposable income to spend on a reader aren't living hand-to-mouth and certainly do have the ability to spend $15 (or far more) on an ebook. That doesn't mean they will, however. The actual sale is dependent on the value perceived by the individual customer. The price only makes sense when put in the context of the market conditions when the book is offered for sale.

In the long term, the more publishers are allowed to react to market conditions and the greater flexibility they have in pricing, the less they'll be charging at the low-end. You need only look at the past 20 years of publishing in the UK to see that.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by charleski

Publishers need to move ebooks to the same windowing and discount structure that's used for physical books and they need to apply consistently the ~30% discount that's reasonable given the efficiencies involved. But I don't think they should pander to unreasonable expectations fostered by one retailer.

For the same pricing structure that works for pbooks to be reasonable for ebooks, we need to be able to transfer ownership of the ebooks at will. Need to be able to legally sell them or give them away.

Until we've got that ability, ebooks, regardless of their nifty digital features, are inherently less valuable than pbooks, because they're one-owner purchases. Part of many people's willingness to pay for pbooks hinges on their ability to give it to someone else when they're done.

I might pay $25 for a new hardcover book, which I can share with as many friends as I like, allow my kids to take to school, and if I tire of it, can sell it or give it away. I'm not paying $15 for personal-ownership-only of a few thousand words.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

For the same pricing structure that works for pbooks to be reasonable for ebooks, we need to be able to transfer ownership of the ebooks at will. Need to be able to legally sell them or give them away.

Until we've got that ability, ebooks, regardless of their nifty digital features, are inherently less valuable than pbooks, because they're one-owner purchases. Part of many people's willingness to pay for pbooks hinges on their ability to give it to someone else when they're done.

I might pay $25 for a new hardcover book, which I can share with as many friends as I like, allow my kids to take to school, and if I tire of it, can sell it or give it away. I'm not paying $15 for personal-ownership-only of a few thousand words.

and even to some extent their collectibility. no one is going to gush over(or insure) an e-book collection

[jamesbeat]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

Where did you come from? Rare insight and wisdom and it's the first time I recall seeing you.... anyway you have hit upon the raw truth.... most here refuse to see it, and cling to tradition, but you are right...... karma coming your way, and a big

Thanks, I haven't posted a great deal here, but often stop by to read.

I don't think it's rocket science though, I think if the whole publishing industry came crashing down, authors would still write and teaders would still read. There will be a way for authors to monetize it too, just without the current publishers business model.

When a technology comes along that turns an industry on its head, new businesses spring up to repkace the old ones that refuse to keep up.
Look at what happened to the camera companies when digital photography matured- either they climbed into bed with the electronics companies or they went under.
The publishing industry needs to learn from the music industry.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by wayrad

And let's not forget those who bought (or were given) dedicated devices because of age and failing vision. Little did they know that this would make publishers feel entitled to a share of their possibly meager savings.

You're absolutely right! This is often overlooked.

[Jellby]

If you can afford an ebook reader, you can afford ebook prices

If the publisher's can afford complimentary copies for the author, they can afford giving ebooks away

[asjogren]

I also have a DVD player - and of course I can afford to BUY DVDs. But, I generally don't. I rent them. I seldom watch a movie twice. And because rental is so attractive, I don't wait for the Public Library.

I have a dedicated eReader - and of course I can afford to BUY fiction eBooks. But, I generally don't. I borrow from the Public Library and download public domain and buy Indie authors from Smashwords.

I think the analogy between DVD players and eBook readers is good for my patterns. If hot, new eBook titles were available for rental at an attractive price, like Netflix and BlockBuster, the industry would get MORE of my money. If my Public Library had a queue of 12 or did not have it, then I would likely rent the book for a couple dollars.

At $10 - $15 (for fiction) I will wait for the Public Library or buy used paperbacks.

Yes, I can afford it. No, I will not buy it. There is not enough value. The value proposition changes with the ability of lend and sell eBooks and with the ability to format shift.

If the Industry wants more of my money, they need to change.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by asjogren

If hot, new eBook titles were available for rental at an attractive price, like Netflix and BlockBuster, the industry would get MORE of my money.

[Hellmark]

Or conversely, it could be said that once you bought an ebook reader, you no longer can afford ebook prices because your money went to the reader.

[=X=]

Interesting, but one point not made/understood. I bought my eReader because I realized in 1/2-1yr I would be at my break even point and from their it would be all savings when I compared buying eBooks to paper books.

It ends up the savings was made in 4mo thanks to fictionwise and BooksOnBoard

=X=

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

It's the same thing to me.

As we move to digital products in certain industries, the definition of theft has to change.

No, the legal system has to change to acknowledge a different economic circumstance: the end of scarcity in certain cultural areas. No need to proceed with an Orwellian subversion of the English (and other) languages. Authors will simply have to find another way to get paid, perhaps via a patronage system (which is already working with digital artists who work via commission), perhaps via direct subsidies (why shouldn't novelists and short story writers get grants and fellowships like their academic peers?). Marx made an insightful point about how when the means of production progress to a certain point, they burst asunder the legal bonds that legitimated the preceeding relationships of production. I think we are seeing that happen again with the digital revolution.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Or conversely, it could be said that once you bought an ebook reader, you no longer can afford ebook prices because your money went to the reader.

Touché

[dickon25]

Yes, I can afford to pay $15 for an ebook. But I don't re-read them and I get through 2 or 3 books a week. No way am I going to pay up to $180 a month for my reading fix!
Before I got my Sony I was a big library user but that is now denied me (no good ebook library where I am and I don't do pbooks any more) so I have to be really careful about what I buy so I don't get carried away. If the publishers think people like me are going to pay top dollar for every book they have another think coming!

[Krystian Galaj]

"Science advances one funeral at a time" -- Max Planck

I'm starting to think digital information business model will need to as well...