Why is backlist so expensive?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cromag

Aside from any other argument that might be made, a backlist title is one that (presumably) has already made a profit for both the author and the publisher. A reasonable pricing strategy would reward fans for their loyalty, provide a lower cost introduction for potential new fans, and be a good way to encourage "completists" who might buy up available titles.

Actually, lowering the price is not rewarding fans for their loyalty at all. They've already paid the higher price. Rewarding them would have been to start off with the lower price.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I talked to a couple of authors about the pricing. One author was bringing back his list via his agent. The agent was bearing the upfront costs of scanning, new cover (because the rights to the old cover will have expired or not transfer), formatting and uploading. The covers run anywhere from 100 to 1000 depending on who is doing the work. The formatting runs about 100 if there is nothing special added, and the uploading can range from 60 to 100 or more. The "agent" as the publisher and the agent, gets a cut for being the agent/publisher (that runs 15 to 20 percent on average) of the cut. Amazon is going to take at least 30 percent.

In the case of the author above, the book was priced at 9.99 out the gate, mainly, I suspect, to recoup the costs of getting the book back out there. That same book a year later went to 4.99.

The problem is that a lot of backlist eBooks that had to be scanned/OCRed usually have a lot of errors in them because nobody bothered to read the resulting OCRed output. Now why should we be forced to pay a similar cost to new eBooks, where no OCRing in involved, and chances are there are going to be errors.

So if the backlist eBooks are actually proofed, let the buyer know before it's bought so the buyer can then decide if that higher price is worth it or not. But if the buyer doesn't know if it's proofed or not, then the buyer will think it's not prooofed and because of this, it won't be wroth as much and it won't sell so well at the higher price.


The last backlist eBook I read even had some errors in character names. So yes, the expectation is for there to be errors and because of that, paying so much is inexcusable. Now if backlist eBooks were proofed to fix OCR errors, then sure, it would be OK to pay a little more. But if they are not proofed, paying more is a no sale.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by cromag

Aside from any other argument that might be made, a backlist title is one that (presumably) has already made a profit for both the author and the publisher. A reasonable pricing strategy would reward fans for their loyalty, provide a lower cost introduction for potential new fans, and be a good way to encourage "completists" who might buy up available titles.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, lowering the price is not rewarding fans for their loyalty at all. They've already paid the higher price. Rewarding them would have been to start off with the lower price.

Well, actually, no.

I'm a big fan of a number science fiction authors, going back to the late 1950s. Writers like Keith Laumer, Poul Anderson, A. Bertram Chandler, etc., etc. I could never read all of the stories they were releasing back then, let alone buy them. But I still consider myself a big fan.

Baen has been reissuing Laumer, Anderson, Chandler, and others, as moderately priced, DRM-free ebooks and I've been buying quite a few of them -- the ones I'd never had a chance to read, and some that I want to read again.

[thewitt]

Backlist is often distributed by a different publisher than when it was a current release. Rights are bought and sold as a separate business process, meaning the author and publisher often have a new relationship. Profit made in the early years likely does not play a major role in setting prices.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by cromag

Well, actually, no.

I'm a big fan of a number science fiction authors, going back to the late 1950s. Writers like Keith Laumer, Poul Anderson, A. Bertram Chandler, etc., etc. I could never read all of the stories they were releasing back then, let alone buy them. But I still consider myself a big fan.

Baen has been reissuing Laumer, Anderson, Chandler, and others, as moderately priced, DRM-free ebooks and I've been buying quite a few of them -- the ones I'd never had a chance to read, and some that I want to read again.

Me too.
Apache