E-books released after paper books - thoughts?

[FizzyWater]

A one-day delay...okay. (Although I agree with the person who suggested just "hard-coding" the release time for the later time zones).

There have been a number of books I've been waiting for (released in dead-tree hardback orpaperback) where the publisher delayed release for two or three weeks so as not to hurt the author's sales in the first weeks.

I find this...annoyingly amusing. On one hand, I keep hearing that ebooks purchases really are just a drop in the bucket compared to print. If that's true, how do our "meager" purchases hurt the release numbers? On the other hand, if ebook purchases are significant enough to affect release numbers, why don't they count?!

[nekokami]

I agree that the publisher is kidding themselves to think that this is going to delay distribution of the ebook version by much-- and will possibly prompt "pirates" to get the rest of the book out on the darknet even earlier, just for the added "gift economy prestige points." (You'd think the publishers would have taken note after the Deathly Hallows fiasco.)

If they've got the ebook version ready to go at the same time as the hardcover-- and I see no good reason why they should not-- it should go out at the same time. Or earlier-- why wait to start letting the book earn money and generate buzz? Premium-priced eARCs (Advance Reader Copies) are fine, but the regular ebook price should reflect the lower production cost, though they could try to keep the profit margin similar to hardcovers for the first year if they're really worried about hardcover customers going with the ebook version instead (I wish we actually had that problem to worry about ), with a suitably discounted price once the paperback version becomes available.

[CommanderROR]

Well, this is really weird...

In a perfect world, ebooks would be released a few days before the hardcovers (they are easier and quicker to produce after all) and would go for less than the paperback version from Day 1. Paperbacks would always appear on the same day as the hardcovers so that people can choose which version they prefer and would not be "forced" to buy the ultra-overpriced hardcovers just because they don't want to wait another 6-12 months for the next book in a series that they have already been expecting for 2-4 years...

In a realistic, profit-driven world, ebooks should either appear on the day of the hardcover release for a signficantly lower price or together with the paperback, again significantly cheaper than the pbook...but I guess even that is a dream that won't come true in the near future...

The interesting thing is, that publishers really seem to be worried about ebooks...although they always say they are insignificant...strange world eh...
There is still a lot of silliness going on in this market, and I guess it is up to us customers, in cooperation with etailers like BooksOnBoard to make the publishers and authors see where the market is headed.

A little story to round things off:

I read a book-sample by Joanne Harris a while ago and wanted to get the whole book, so I checked and found it listed as "available as ebook" on her publisher's website. However, no etailer had it listed, release date was months in the past. I went over to Joanne Harris' Blog and asked her about it. She promised me she'd ask her publisher why the book was listed but not available. She also congratulated me on proving her wrong in the belief that nobody reads ebooks...that shocked me a tiny little bit because if authors think that way, how are we ever supposed to get ebooks into mainstream???
The end of the story was that the book finally became available as ebook a few wekks later, considerably later than was listed in the publishers' website...but better late than never?

[haridasi]

I don't see any point in delaying the release of an ebook one day. I can't really see why that's an issue at all, time delay or not.

Pricing of ebooks are a huge concern though and I agree with JSWolf on that subject. Publishers needs to revise their pricing (and copyright) strategy. They are going in the same direction as the music industry and their loosing. Why? Because consumers is where the sellers get their money, and why piss off their customers?

[acidzebra]

As long as Book Publishers behave in much the same way as the Music & Movie industry, they are fighting a losing battle.

Treating customers like your enemy:
- encrypting your books (which we all know is a joke, after all, to READ the book you need to give out the decryption key, so it is the electronic equivalent of locking your bike but leaving the key in the lock)
- charging exorbitant prices for the electronic version (what are the costs for electronic distribution vs paper distribution?)
- holding out on releasing the electronic version (giving people more incentive to go find a pirated copy)

These are all VERY BAD IDEAS.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see next-generation authors bypassing the whole ordeal and selling e-texts directly from their own site, especially if electronic readers gain mass-acceptance. And then where will the publishing houses be?

[rheostaticsfan]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

I would not quibble about a day or two, but why wait for the paperback release?

This is the Way It Should Be (tm)

* eBook should be released when the hardcover is, and at a lower price (but higher than the eventual paperback release)

* When the paperback is released, the ebook should be repriced lower than the paperback price.

This is the Way It Should Be (TM)

(TM) Donnageddon Enterprises 2008

Hear, hear!

I see the slight annoyance/difficulty in delaying ebook shipment to ensure that someone taking delivery in EDT doesn't get it at 9pm PDT...but if the release is only in North America, why not hold all release until midnight PDT then release all deliveries.

Whatever. I've ordered the ebook (for higher than hardcover prices at some retailer). It goes against the grain, but I got caught up in the moment. I just found and read the rest of the series a few weeks ago and am too eager to wait for a drop in price. A one day delay (on a more expensive version of the book) sticks in my craw a little bit...but I can deal.

[Daithi]

I emailed the publisher three days ago asking if they were going to release the Kindle version on the Aug. 2nd, and they assured me that they would. So now hearing that they are going to wait a day really ticks me off. I can understand the timezone thing, but then they should release the Kindle version at midnight PST. I'd stay up until 3:00 in the morning so that I could start reading it.

I finished all the books in this series about a month and half ago, and I have been counting the days until this book is released. It is like waiting for Christmas when I was a little kid. How is Bella going to handle turning into a vampire? What is going to happen with Jake? What else does Meyer's have in store for us? Arghhh! I can't wait.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by BooksOnBoard

The hard copy release will still go forward August 2nd. This lag in release time has to do with concerns about eBooks getting to eBook customers in certain time zones before the hard copy book is available.

So. Why should the hard cover be the priority? The majority of people who buy the ebook aren't going to buy the hard cover anyway, so why should they (we) have to wait.

I don't like it.

[JSWolf]

I can think of one reason to delay this particular eBook release. So that people won't be able to download the eBook version from the Darknet the same day as the hardcover release. Might mean people who cannot get it on the day of HC release might just be willing to buy the HC.

But the major issue I have is that I can walk into Borders today and purchase the HC for LESS then I can get the eBook.

[VillageReader]

Since an insomniac can get the book at 3 AM regardless of time zone, I'm not sure what the publisher's concern is about the ebook being available before the pbook. One assumes those are generally two different customer types (ie, it is unlikely that most people would buy both, although I could imagine people wanting to replace older pbooks with lighter, easier to carry ebooks). Is this author popular enough to have people banging on bookstore doors to let them purchase? I think not.

[JSWolf]

Given what I've seen on TV today, it is possible she may very well be that popular.

[CommanderROR]

@JSWolf

The Piracy issue is not an issue since the Harry Potter Fiasco showed that releasing something as pbook exclusively is not at all an effective way of preventing piracy...quite the opposite actually...

To give a positive example: I bought the ebook version of "Wintersmith" by Terry Pratchett on the day of it's release and looked for the pirated version, just for fun...it actually took several weeks until it appeard in the usual places.
Maybe the whole pre-release photo-and OCR job ob the last Harry Potter could have been prevented by a synchronos pbook and ebook release...don't you think so?
Instead, loads of "innocent" people were temped to get the illegal ebook days before the official version and it was a lose-lose situation for Rowling and her publisher...

[VillageReader]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Given what I've seen on TV today, it is possible she may very well be that popular.

Curious, because I've don't recall anyone at a bookstore with one of her books at a check out counter. Or reading one on a flight I'm on, for that matter.

Maybe the booksonboard person can give a hint as to the popularity.

I would still argue that the markets are different so the timing issue is probably just a marketing person hand wringing. After all, I'm guessing that whatever the 'official' date is on the deliveries to bookstores a) someone, somewhere, will screw up and get the book on the shelves early and b) some bookstore, somewhere, will get them on the shelves later than the shotgun start.

And everyone will survive the horror of it all

[Scythe]

Originally Posted by VillageReader

Curious, because I've don't recall anyone at a bookstore with one of her books at a check out counter. Or reading one on a flight I'm on, for that matter.

Maybe the booksonboard person can give a hint as to the popularity.

I would still argue that the markets are different so the timing issue is probably just a marketing person hand wringing. After all, I'm guessing that whatever the 'official' date is on the deliveries to bookstores a) someone, somewhere, will screw up and get the book on the shelves early and b) some bookstore, somewhere, will get them on the shelves later than the shotgun start.

And everyone will survive the horror of it all

It's hugely popular with younger readers (under 25). It's heavily promoted by Social Networks like Facebook, and apparently is growing in popularity amongst the kids that followed Harry Potter closely.

Based on what I hear from my soon-to-be-wife (we're getting married on Saturday), this is a huge release. She's not going to be happy if I can't get this book on her PR505 before the Honeymoon, lol.

EDIT (for my opinion):
As far as I'm concerned, being that I run a huge P2P news site and fully understand file sharing technology -- this book will be leaked regardless of whether or not it was originally in eBook form. Pirates will do anything to get their "crew" recognized as first-time releasers of software/ebooks/mp3s/etc, including by scanning massive amounts of pages over night into a PDF or whatever other format. My advice to the publisher, release it with the book. If you don't, you open yourself up to losing profits and also certain groups will go so far as to try and leak it earlier.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Scythe

Based on what I hear from my Soon-to-be-wife (We're getting married on Saturday); This is a huge release. She's not going to be happy if I can't get this book on her PR505 before the Honeymoon, lol.

Congratulations! Is she really going to have time to read on the honeymoon?.. don't answer that.