12-17-2009, 12:27 PM | #16 |
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12-17-2009, 12:30 PM | #17 |
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No - you can sell paperbacks at a profit because the hardback sales have already paid the up-front costs of producing the book. What people seem to want are eBooks released simultaneously with the hardback, but at paperback prices. That's a pricing model that just doesn't work.
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12-17-2009, 12:32 PM | #18 |
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Has anyone done the math to figure out the cost of printing a single book? I know that Print on Demand exists because they were able to bring that price down. And if they can print a vanity book for me? It must be alot cheaper for a publishing company.
I'm looking at the price of paperbacks and saying, "Why are they charging so much?" There's many entries on Amazon where the paperback is actually cheaper. That doesn't make any sense at all to the consumer (not to mention the environment). |
12-17-2009, 12:39 PM | #19 |
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I'm glad someone buys hardcovers because of the thousands of books I bought over the years maybe five were hardcover. I hate 'em.
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12-17-2009, 12:40 PM | #20 | |
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The real issue is that for every industry, going digital is requiring a complete rethinking of "business as usual".Trying to fit it into the existing models is what is causing all the friction for creators, producers, and consumers. |
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12-17-2009, 12:42 PM | #21 | |
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Costs for a run of 5000 paperbacks on the cheapest paper without any cover finishing is £7000. |
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12-17-2009, 12:43 PM | #22 |
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It all depends on the size of the print run.
There're certain fixed costs (editorial, design, typesetting, plates, paper, ink, &c.) for getting a book ready to print --- then how much each copy costs depends on how long one keeps the presses running. Print 1,000 copies of a gallery catalogue? Say $6,000 for the fixed costs, so $6 per copy. Print 10,000 copies of it? Your fixed costs are pretty much the same, tack on a pittance for the 10-fold increase in paper and ink usage (even polyester plates will hold up for a print run of ~20,000 or so) and you're at something like $0.65 per copy. People at publishing houses get paid big bucks to determine what size print run will yield the greatest possible profit --- it's an art and black magic and very risky. William |
12-17-2009, 12:45 PM | #23 |
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True. The problem is that there's no great big switch to change the market over from paper to bits. In some way--and for some time--the old and new are going to have to coexist. That means finding a way for everyone to meet in the middle somewhere to exchange money for goods.
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12-17-2009, 12:52 PM | #24 |
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I won't even buy the bestsellers at $9.99. I'd rather wait a couple of months and borrow it for free from the library. Most of the new ebooks are coming out in DRMed ePub which makes it a snap to liberate and convert for my Kindle. Sure the library pays some kind of licensing fee but there is no additional cost to me.
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12-17-2009, 01:01 PM | #25 | |
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12-17-2009, 01:02 PM | #26 |
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12-17-2009, 01:03 PM | #27 | |
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My statement is more geared toward those entitles whoms primary focus is about payment. There are those who write for money and those that write for literature. A person who writes for lit would rather give their work away for fee and have a million readers. A person writting for money would rather sell one book and make a million. Now you tell me who is most likely going to write a better book |
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12-17-2009, 01:04 PM | #28 |
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12-17-2009, 01:07 PM | #29 |
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There are a lot more additional costs to a paper book than just the printing. Shipping, storing, returning/destroying unsold stock... basically any of the costs due to it being a physical product.
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12-17-2009, 01:14 PM | #30 | |
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I, obviously, define 'better' as 'more popular' rather than as 'satisfying esoteric critics'. |
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