The Battle of Kindle: A Call to Arms

[Bremen Cole]

I really don't care what their point of view is, as a customer I simply will not purchase their product. There are plenty of publishers to buy from, and I will give them my money. Ones that try to strong arm me into their business model, I will get their product from the dark side......Not what I like to do, but like I said before .... Hit the money flow, it is THE power we consumers have.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

I really don't care what their point of view is, as a customer I simply will not purchase their product. There are plenty of publishers to buy from, and I will give them my money. Ones that try to strong arm me into their business model, I will get their product from the dark side......Not what I like to do, but like I said before .... Hit the money flow, it is THE power we consumers have.

Bingo! Heck, I even keep finding great books on smashwords, no publisher needed. My only sympathy lies with the authors. If this is ongoing, I hope that they can come up with a creative way to keep readers.

[MaggieScratch]

It should be pointed out that the ebooks will not be $14.99 forever in the model outlined by Macmillan; $14.99 is the price for new hardback releases, and the price will eventually drop to $5.99, probably around the same time as the paperback release. If you don't want to pay $15, then wait a few months. Sort of like not buying the hardback, and waiting for the paperback.

A bit of logic and consistency in ebook pricing is welcome, IMO. And there certainly is nothing stopping smaller publishers from selling their books for less if they prefer.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by MaggieScratch

It should be pointed out that the ebooks will not be $14.99 forever in the model outlined by Macmillan; $14.99 is the price for new hardback releases, and the price will eventually drop to $5.99, probably around the same time as the paperback release. If you don't want to pay $15, then wait a few months. Sort of like not buying the hardback, and waiting for the paperback.

A bit of logic and consistency in ebook pricing is welcome, IMO. And there certainly is nothing stopping smaller publishers from selling their books for less if they prefer.

Like I said earlier in the thread, I wouldn't mind if an ebook was $14.99 for the first few weeks. Not longer though. What irritates me is they're likely going to charge $14.99 for a mass market paperback. They've done this before. That is inexcusable.

[MaggieScratch]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

What irritates me is they're likely going to charge $14.99 for a mass market paperback. They've done this before. That is inexcusable.

Well, it's not 100% clear if this is going to happen, but from the Macmillan CEO's comments on Publishers' Lunch:

Under the agency model, we will sell the digital editions of our books to consumers through our retailers. Our retailers will act as our agents and will take a 30% commission (the standard split today for many digital media businesses). The price will be set the price for each book individually. Our plan is to price the digital edition of most adult trade books in a price range from $14.99 to $5.99. At first release, concurrent with a hardcover, most titles will be priced between $14.99 and $12.99. E books will almost always appear day on date with the physical edition. Pricing will be dynamic over time.

Bolding mine; I don't think it is too much to infer from that MMPB originals will start out at a lesser price. I agree that to do otherwise is not a good idea.

[jes1]

Originally Posted by MaggieScratch

It should be pointed out that the ebooks will not be $14.99 forever in the model outlined by Macmillan; $14.99 is the price for new hardback releases, and the price will eventually drop to $5.99, probably around the same time as the paperback release. If you don't want to pay $15, then wait a few months. Sort of like not buying the hardback, and waiting for the paperback.

A bit of logic and consistency in ebook pricing is welcome, IMO. And there certainly is nothing stopping smaller publishers from selling their books for less if they prefer.

I have found many, many titles that have been out in paperback for $7.99 or less for more than a year that sell for over $15.00 in ebook form. I know some of them are Macmillan titles. If this is how they will be handling their dynamic pricing, I for one am not interested in buying their books.

[guyanonymous]

I think books, in general, cost far too much, and that ebooks should cost considerably less than paper copies due to savings in materials and shipping.

That being said, Macmillan should be able to sell their books to Amazon (and others) for whatever price they set. What Amazon and other companies choose to sell them for is up to them.

If Amazon says, "we will only pay this much" and Macmillan says it's not enough, then Macmillan doesn't need to sell to Amazon.

As consumers, as Bremen Cole said, we have the power to just not buy their products. And, of course, some will choose to find them elsewhere...just like with movies, music, games, programs, etc.

When it took 6 months to copy out a book and your distribution was limited to 0.01% of the population, I could understand high prices. Those decreased as printing came into play, and as distribution to larger markets became possible. As distribution to, well, the entire world is now possible while all associated costs have decreased (materials as well) dramatically, prices should be continuing to fall, not increase.

The publishers (and distributors) can keep there head in the sand about these things, but like it or not, legal or not, the market and the means of getting media has changed and won't be going back.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by MaggieScratch

Well, it's not 100% clear if this is going to happen, but from the Macmillan CEO's comments on Publishers' Lunch:



Bolding mine; I don't think it is too much to infer from that MMPB originals will start out at a lesser price. I agree that to do otherwise is not a good idea.

The ommission of how mass markets are going to be priced combined with their history makes me very worried. And individual pricing sounds an awful lot to me like "we're going to charge whatever we want for a book, and if we think it's going to be popular, we're going to jack up the price."

[rhadin]

What I'm still waiting for is logical, coherent reasoning that demonstrates that us ebookers are entitled to buy any book published in ebook form at a price that pleases us. It's always been my view that I am not entitled to buy a book at anything other than the price it is offered at and in the form it is offered in. Books that do not meet my buying criteria, I simply do not buy, which is my right.

I understand the desire to have every book available as a $5.99 or less ebook immediately, but desire and entitlement are distinctly different. So how about someone stepping up and demonstrating irrefutably their entitlement to low-priced, DRM-free ebooks simultaneously with the release of any p version.

[TallMomof2]

I would only consider paying $12.99 to $14.99 for a new release ebook if it comes without DRM and I have the right to give it away as I would with a pbook.

What really tees me off is that I can buy many new release pbooks for the same or less than the proposed pricing by simply walking into Costco or Target or WalMart or ordering online!

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by rhadin

What I'm still waiting for is logical, coherent reasoning that demonstrates that us ebookers are entitled to buy any book published in ebook form at a price that pleases us. It's always been my view that I am not entitled to buy a book at anything other than the price it is offered at and in the form it is offered in. Books that do not meet my buying criteria, I simply do not buy, which is my right.

I understand the desire to have every book available as a $5.99 or less ebook immediately, but desire and entitlement are distinctly different. So how about someone stepping up and demonstrating irrefutably their entitlement to low-priced, DRM-free ebooks simultaneously with the release of any p version.

Of course, we are not entitled to buy at any price. But as the buyer, I am entitled to not buy a book based on it's price.

I am entitled also to be irritated with the whole situation

[phenomshel]

Well.. here's a different point. Has anyone but me noticed that because we are choosy about our book delivery method (ebooks), that the publishing industry (and a few authors, think J.K. Rowling), are treating us basically like redheaded stepchildren? Because we choose to read our books electronically, we are not "good enough" to be considered legitimate customers, even though we pay for the ebooks. This is the message I'm getting, loud and clear.

[guyanonymous]

Yes, I've noticed that. Most of the media-world treats electronic-users as outcasts and presumes we're thieves. Rarely do they ask us what we actually would perceive as a suitable packaging mechanism, delivery mechanism, and pricing scheme. Instead it's "buy our old product repackaged horribly, via a painful-to-use delivery mechanism, for way more money than it's worth.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

Too long a post, but good anyway....

I for one will not buy any books from them. I will however read books from them, the dark side is your best revenge in these matters. Hit the money flow, it is THE power we consumers have.

Objection - buying second hand is more effective, because you're actually putting money into a distribution system which works directly against new book sales. (Oh, and it's legal )

And if eBooks started out 20% under hardback price and went down to 20% under paperback price, that'd be great. But they need to impose it on their back catalogue, and to make those their *publisher's* price - if retailers want to do something different, that's THEIR call.

[guyanonymous]

I'd much sooner pay a fair price that goes to the author, than to a 2nd-hand dealer who pays $0.50 for a book and then charges $7.00 (at least around here).