eBook prices?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by darryl

I'm not planning to re-ignite the old price argument in this thread,

Oh sure. That's why:

There is no need to be tempted by the ease of obtaining a pirate copy.

Seems pretty transparent to me.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by GlennD

I'd love to know what goes into ebook pricing. I get frustrated when I see a 50 year old, 200-250 page Heinlein juvenile novel selling for the same price as a 500 page novel published in the last 5 years. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is currently selling for $12.99.

...and just to give another slap in the face, it's apparently just a badly scanned copy. This is a review from June of this year:

This is my favorite Heinlein work. I’ve read it many times and just finished the Kindle version.

Must have been scanned and published without proofreading as it has many typos that would confuse a reader unfamiliar with this great book.

Five stars for the paperback or hard cover. Just two for the Kindle version.

How about proofreading/editing before you sell this any more.

I did check the "Look inside", though, and didn't see any glaring errors, and I am not "unfamiliar with this great book". Maybe the errors happen further in? Or maybe there has been an update since June?

Shari

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by shalym

...and just to give another slap in the face, it's apparently just a badly scanned copy. This is a review from June of this year:

I did check the "Look inside", though, and didn't see any glaring errors, and I am not "unfamiliar with this great book". Maybe the errors happen further in? Or maybe there has been an update since June?

Shari

The UK edition of it is absolutely fine. That's a different publisher, of course.

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Would you expect book sellers to drastically discount the price of new physical books (of old titles) merely because you already own a copy? What if someone stole some of the books you've got sitting on your shelf? Would your $1.99 - $2.99 price-ceiling for the ebook versions increase to be able to replace your lost books? I'm not being a smart-aleck--I'm genuinely curious.

I wouldn't expect that at all. The big difference I see with the physical and ebook markets is that there is a used market for physical books. I don't think the book companies see their (backlist) product as competing with the used physical book market, but for someone that is fine with reading either electronic or physical media it is a consideration. If some of my physical books went missing for whatever reason a used physical copy would be an option, although I'd lean towards an electronic one - and yes, I'd probably be more willing to pay a higher price.

I do think there is a segment of the market, specifically for backlist titles, that would jump on lower prices. Sticking with the Heinlein theme, if his entire catalog went on sale for $1.99 each, I'd probably buy the whole lot at once. As it is, I'm happy to be patient and read my physical copies while I wait for notes from ereaderiq.

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by shalym

...and just to give another slap in the face, it's apparently just a badly scanned copy.

I'm fairly certain that at least some publishers have figured out that there are already scanned copies floating around on the Interwebz. Katherine Kurtz mentioned in her forward of the updated editions of the Deryni books that a fan had provided her with electronic copies to do her edits. That fan may have scanned them herself....or might not have. I'm aware of at least one other author who used pirated copies to get an electronic copy that they then fixed up for republication.

It seems somehow appropriate...

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Very true, and many of us consider them to be worth paying considerably more for. Those who do not can of course buy their books elsewhere, but the healthy profits made by the publishers indicates that they do not lack customers willing to pay their prices which many (myself included) consider reasonable.

The prices are very reasonable when they have promotions. I bought about 20 ebooks in the last year all trad published and all less than $5.00 with the average price of $2.07.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I think if people understood what goes into the price of a book, they would kvetch a little bit less (at least some would). It's all a mystery.

I personally have no issue with the ebook price being the same as the hardcover when it first goes public. My assumption is that the author is receiving the same royalties with either that first year. When it goes to paperback, the ebook price should not be more than the paperback.

They would just keep ignoring the information and keep kvetching how no book should be more than a buck.

The basic cost for publishing a book have been posted here a number of times.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by GlennD

I'm fairly certain that at least some publishers have figured out that there are already scanned copies floating around on the Interwebz. Katherine Kurtz mentioned in her forward of the updated editions of the Deryni books that a fan had provided her with electronic copies to do her edits. That fan may have scanned them herself....or might not have. I'm aware of at least one other author who used pirated copies to get an electronic copy that they then fixed up for republication.

It seems somehow appropriate...

Here is what Katherine Kurtz says in the foreward for Deryni Rising -

"Finally, I owe a special debt of thanks to Melissa Houle, one of the Web mistresses from www.rhemuthcastle.com, who scanned me the text from her beloved copy of Deryni Rising and probably broke its spine in the process. These first three books, and the three books of the Camber Trilogy, were all written on a typewriter, with carbon copies, in the dark ages before personal computers and word processing. Her kindness has saved me many hours of retyping the manuscript, so that preparing this edition took far less time out of my work on the next new Deryni novel. Another fan has already scanned Deryni Checkmate for me, and I have no doubt that a digital copy of High Deryni will be ready by the time I need to crank it through my machine."

[darryl]

Originally Posted by issybird

Oh sure. That's why:



Seems pretty transparent to me.

That somewhat snarky post doesn't do you any credit.

I neither condone nor promote ebook piracy. But I also don't pretend that it doesn't exist. Quoting my comment above out of context the way you have is misleading. I expect better from you in the future. You are a moderator after all.

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Here is what Katherine Kurtz says in the foreward for Deryni Rising -

"Finally, I owe a special debt of thanks to Melissa Houle, one of the Web mistresses from www.rhemuthcastle.com, who scanned me the text from her beloved copy of Deryni Rising and probably broke its spine in the process. These first three books, and the three books of the Camber Trilogy, were all written on a typewriter, with carbon copies, in the dark ages before personal computers and word processing. Her kindness has saved me many hours of retyping the manuscript, so that preparing this edition took far less time out of my work on the next new Deryni novel. Another fan has already scanned Deryni Checkmate for me, and I have no doubt that a digital copy of High Deryni will be ready by the time I need to crank it through my machine."

Yep. It's up to you whether you believe Melissa or not. I probably wouldn't tell an author that I downloaded their book even if it was in a good cause. (Not that it matters in the slightest to me.)

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by GlennD

Yep. It's up to you whether you believe Melissa or not. I probably wouldn't tell an author that I downloaded their book even if it was in a good cause. (Not that it matters in the slightest to me.)

I have to admit, you said what I was thinking.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by GlennD

Yep. It's up to you whether you believe Melissa or not. I probably wouldn't tell an author that I downloaded their book even if it was in a good cause. (Not that it matters in the slightest to me.)

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I have to admit, you said what I was thinking.

I was thinking the author should have offered the volunteer scanner a replacement paper copy.

[Apache]

I was thinking giving her the authors complete library for free in the electronic format of her choice.
Apache

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by GlennD

Yep. It's up to you whether you believe Melissa or not. I probably wouldn't tell an author that I downloaded their book even if it was in a good cause. (Not that it matters in the slightest to me.)

Generally speaking, I prefer to take people at their word. My personal guess is that someone who puts the time and effort into running Kurtz's web site is much more likely to scan the book herself than download a pirated version, especially if she already has a scanner and software.

[DiapDealer]

She'd have to have some awfully good ocr software for the scans to be very useful at all.