Rising cost of ebooks - Page 3

MrPLD · 09-21-2010, 07:27 AM

Robins777,

I'm wondering about samples - we've put a 20 chapter sample up as ePub and PDF for the latest book, however I'm actually starting to wonder if that's in fact too much (it's a 41 chapter Part-I book) if only because maybe it will take too long to reach 20 chapters and get distracted before considering buying the book. Of course, it depends a lot on the reader I guess. Don't want to give them only 2 or 3 chapters because they might not really get a good feel for it at that point.

Paul.

kennyc · 09-21-2010, 07:36 AM

I think that's too much. Use Amazon samples as a guide. A couple of chapters at most should give the feel/tone/style (unless of course it varies wildly throughout the book).

in fact the first paragraph better be representative of the rest of the book.

MrPLD · 09-21-2010, 07:43 AM

It was a dark stormy night...

It's a bit of a tough call as well because this is the debut novel, so the strategy at the moment is to lay down some foundations on which the successive books will follow. In our case Part II will be shared around a little less liberally.

Paul.

avantman42 · 09-21-2010, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrPLD

Robins777,

I'm wondering about samples - we've put a 20 chapter sample up as ePub and PDF for the latest book, however I'm actually starting to wonder if that's in fact too much (it's a 41 chapter Part-I book) if only because maybe it will take too long to reach 20 chapters and get distracted before considering buying the book. Of course, it depends a lot on the reader I guess. Don't want to give them only 2 or 3 chapters because they might not really get a good feel for it at that point.

Paul.

If I were you, I'd start a new thread in Writers' Corner to ask about samples - see what works for other authors.

I've bought e-books where the first 20%, 25% and 50% was offered as a sample. I didn't get anywhere near the end of the sample before buying the books. I probably didn't read more than the first 10% before deciding to buy them.

I wouldn't have thought offering 20 chapters of a 41 chapter book would be a problem, though. Surely if the reader gets distracted, they weren't really that interested and wouldn't have bought it anyway?

MrPLD · 09-21-2010, 07:54 AM

Russ,

I suppose it depends on how you envisage someone's life-schedule. For some people, knowing they've got 20-chapters and they've only read 5, they can think "It's okay, got 15 more left... I don't need to get it yet..." (then something happens).

There's a lot of scenarios that could come up, the above was what I was thinking of as opposed to the reader losing interest (in which case that's something else to worry about

).

I'll go over to the writer's corner - thanks for the tip.

Regards,
Paul.

Bikeridr · 09-21-2010, 07:57 AM

I wrote this in a thread in the "News" section . I feel like quote it in it's full here (incl spelling errors):

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bikeridr

Actually, I do not see why you even should have the slightes possible reasons to complain.
A standard fiction book via (US International +$2) Amazon costs ~8 - ~12 U.S $.
UK Amazon prices ~3 - ~7 UK £.

Here's (the so far only) Norwegian eBook store: Digital Bok
I know it's all in Norwegian, with Norwegian prices, but here's a quick conversion:
£ - devide by 9
$ - devide by 6
€ - devide by 8

And, on top of it, the books ar DRM'ed beyond recognition and barely allows CyBook.
Prices here

As y'all see, the reades come out US$ ~500 the cheapest one and the books ("bestsellers" and new) starts at US$ ~13 and averages (on front page) US$ ~34

[Ahmed] · 09-21-2010, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacina

You'll have to admit that pirated copies can have some serious variations in quality. There's some that are nice to read, and others that are unreadable. (not that I'd know... *cough*)

This is mostly due to how much time the pirate actually took to fix and layout his scan

So she has a point, however, once you have a digitized book that has all the text problems fixed, its easy to convert it to different formats.

Same is true for legally acquired e-books. I've had some horrible typos and even layout problems in amazon ebooks.

She really doesn't have a point. At least for new books. They all are available digitally; and typesetting systems (I only know some TeX-derivates) make it fairly easy to convert a book into any form you want. Making an e-book is infact easier than making a print. As long as you have the source material with properly marked indents, paragraphs and other formatting. That's a problem for older books which have to be scanned and proof-read first. But really, that's it.

MrPLD · 09-21-2010, 10:25 AM

[Ahmed],

We converted ours from a LaTeX system, though it had to be exported as HTML first. Sadly (as I've moaned about in the past around here) the on-fly formatting tends to still lose a lot

A shame to many of us who really appreciate the finer details of typesetting and why it matters.

Paul.

tubemonkey · 09-21-2010, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Oh, and they should be written in pig latin.

Ethay ellhay ouyay aysay!

JSWolf · 09-21-2010, 10:28 AM

Does anyone know how much DRM adds to the cost of an eBook?

karthwyne · 09-21-2010, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Does anyone know how much DRM adds to the cost of an eBook?

100% ? I think it costs MANY lost sales, including mine.

JSWolf · 09-21-2010, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by karthwyne

100% ? I think it costs MANY lost sales, including mine.

I'm asking how much does it cost per eBook to add DRM.

HarryT · 09-21-2010, 01:08 PM

It probably doesn't cost anything. Amazon own their own DRM technology, so it's not costing any more for them to deliver a book to a customer via a DRM server than not.

kennyc · 09-21-2010, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It probably doesn't cost anything. Amazon own their own DRM technology, so it's not costing any more for them to deliver a book to a customer via a DRM server than not.

Other than the time to apply, process, track, etc.

karthwyne · 09-21-2010, 02:25 PM

I agree with HarryT - the only real cost is the development of the DRM in the first place. The implementation of it would be fractions of a penny in CPU time and electricity. It may add a few clock cycles when the file is added to the serving library and delivered to the purchaser, but these costs are already accounted for in the hosting anyway.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
ANOTHER "Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?" ARTICLE	SameOldStory	General Discussions	113	09-23-2010 09:40 AM
Understanding the Cost of eBooks	Randolphlalonde	Writers' Corner	15	02-18-2010 06:54 AM
Future of Ebook Sales - Cost of Ebooks to Amazon	poohbear_nc	News	32	11-07-2009 12:08 PM
Amazon states sometimes ebooks will cost more than pbooks.	GatorDeb	Amazon Kindle	32	03-22-2009 10:30 PM
Cost of ebooks	Amanda	iRex	1	12-19-2007 03:12 AM

09-21-2010, 07:27 AM	#31
MrPLD Author's pet-geek Posts: 933 Karma: 1040670 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: North Queensland, Australia Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96	Robins777, I'm wondering about samples - we've put a 20 chapter sample up as ePub and PDF for the latest book, however I'm actually starting to wonder if that's in fact too much (it's a 41 chapter Part-I book) if only because maybe it will take too long to reach 20 chapters and get distracted before considering buying the book. Of course, it depends a lot on the reader I guess. Don't want to give them only 2 or 3 chapters because they might not really get a good feel for it at that point. Paul.

09-21-2010, 07:36 AM	#32
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	I think that's too much. Use Amazon samples as a guide. A couple of chapters at most should give the feel/tone/style (unless of course it varies wildly throughout the book). in fact the first paragraph better be representative of the rest of the book.

09-21-2010, 07:43 AM	#33
MrPLD Author's pet-geek Posts: 933 Karma: 1040670 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: North Queensland, Australia Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96	It was a dark stormy night... It's a bit of a tough call as well because this is the debut novel, so the strategy at the moment is to lay down some foundations on which the successive books will follow. In our case Part II will be shared around a little less liberally. Paul.

09-21-2010, 07:54 AM	#35
MrPLD Author's pet-geek Posts: 933 Karma: 1040670 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: North Queensland, Australia Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96	Russ, I suppose it depends on how you envisage someone's life-schedule. For some people, knowing they've got 20-chapters and they've only read 5, they can think "It's okay, got 15 more left... I don't need to get it yet..." (then something happens). There's a lot of scenarios that could come up, the above was what I was thinking of as opposed to the reader losing interest (in which case that's something else to worry about ). I'll go over to the writer's corner - thanks for the tip. Regards, Paul.

09-21-2010, 10:25 AM	#38
MrPLD Author's pet-geek Posts: 933 Karma: 1040670 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: North Queensland, Australia Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96	[Ahmed], We converted ours from a LaTeX system, though it had to be exported as HTML first. Sadly (as I've moaned about in the past around here) the on-fly formatting tends to still lose a lot A shame to many of us who really appreciate the finer details of typesetting and why it matters. Paul.

09-21-2010, 10:28 AM	#40
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,866 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Does anyone know how much DRM adds to the cost of an eBook?

09-21-2010, 01:08 PM	#43
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	It probably doesn't cost anything. Amazon own their own DRM technology, so it's not costing any more for them to deliver a book to a customer via a DRM server than not.

09-21-2010, 02:25 PM	#45
karthwyne Connoisseur Posts: 59 Karma: 480 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: Kindle Wifi, Kindle US	I agree with HarryT - the only real cost is the development of the DRM in the first place. The implementation of it would be fractions of a penny in CPU time and electricity. It may add a few clock cycles when the file is added to the serving library and delivered to the purchaser, but these costs are already accounted for in the hosting anyway.

Advert

Advert