Samhain Publishing is winding down and will close

[Fbone]

Authorearnings averaged the prices of 157,000 Big5 titles. That's certainly enough data to show a trend from the previous report.

[AnemicOak]

I've noticed more sale pricing from the Big 5, but no difference in the actual list prices of things.

[Atunah]

Probably genre dependent in a way. Yes there have been more sales, yay.

But I have also noticed for new releases in romance for some publishers its a bit lower. For a while they were all 7.99. Right after the agency stuff came about. Penguin still seems to hold on to that. Sourcebooks seems to be down to 6.15 for new releases, HarperCollins to 6.99. And those where 7.99 some time back. I also see a lot of random/penguin ones coming out at 4.99. New releases again. I am looking mostly at romance/HR.


Hatchette, also seeing 6.99 for new releases.

Kensington/Zebra going via Random Penguin are going for 5.99.

And again, most of those new releases in HR used to be 7.99 after agency came in again. Its inching a bit closer to what the prices were before agency, when was that, 2011?

I did notice that the very big names in the genre can still be a buck or so higher than the rest. So Elizabeth Hoyt is 7.99 while the rest is 6.99.

Other genres like big names in urban fantasy and historical mysteries stay on the higher side.

[JSWolf]

The price on new eBooks from the BPHs can be ridiculously high. And because they don't want to lower the prices by much if at all, they bring out these trade paper back editions at a stupidly high price which either keeps the eBooks at the same price or drops the price by not much. Even MMPBs are going up to $8.99 and that means that the BPHs can keep eBook prices higher then they should be. So because of eBooks, people who buy pBooks are also getting screwed.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The price on new eBooks from the BPHs can be ridiculously high. And because they don't want to lower the prices by much if at all, they bring out these trade paper back editions at a stupidly high price which either keeps the eBooks at the same price or drops the price by not much. Even MMPBs are going up to $8.99 and that means that the BPHs can keep eBook prices higher then they should be. So because of eBooks, people who buy pBooks are also getting screwed.

They are only screwed if they think they are being screwed and still say screw it and buy it.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Thats a lot of info and you clearly know a lot of what happened. Other than Samhain, have other small publishers closed recently, or is it a single case? Judging from the data on authorearnings showing a drop in indie sales since May 2016, I would expect to see other closures, or at least problems. Is it only Romance publishers that have suffered?

Oh yes Brian knows his stuff about the Romance book industry. I believe he use to work in it.

Diversion Books may be having trouble. An author on Facebook says her royalty check is very late. They use to do alot of freebies but now they do one or two now and then. They are a very small press but have alot of good back list titles.

Sent from my XT1528

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

It certainly seems to allude to a non-arbitrary ranking system in the Amazon book-display system, and that Samhain feels it has suffered because of it.

I wonder if there is evidence for this. How are books ranked on Amazon?

I don't remember seeing this in the last AE report I read (it has been a while), but does AE have a method to account for this if it is happening? I know their original methods required enough people reporting their own ranks and how many of their books sold/etc. in order to be accurate. If the BPHs are paying to get books ranked wouldn't that really skew things? Or is the pay to show up list only for what gets shown on the front pages/book pages, not for the actual top ### lists?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

They are only screwed if they think they are being screwed and still say screw it and buy it.

Just because you don't know you are being screwed doesn't mean you aren't being screwed.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Just because you don't know you are being screwed doesn't mean you aren't being screwed.

One persons "getting screwed" is another persons reasonable price.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Just because you don't know you are being screwed doesn't mean you aren't being screwed.

No one is forcing you to buy the book, if you think the price is too high, don't buy it. If enough people feel the same way, the price will drop.

[Dusky Rose]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Just because you don't know you are being screwed doesn't mean you aren't being screwed.

I have to agree with the others. No one needs an ebook to live. They're not commodities like food, water, shelter, ect. that we need to survive.

So, unless they're required to buy one for school or work, where they have no choice, then any purchase people make shows that they've agreed that the product at the offered price is reasonable for them.

I've purchased thousands of ebooks. For the majority, the purchase price was zero. For a very few others, it was $13.00 or more. Most were a lot lower, down to less than a dollar.

Was I ripped off by the higher prices? No. I chose to spend that much money at that time, for THAT particular book because some authors go straight to my Read It Now list. I want to read it now, so will pay the higher price in order to be able to do so. If I felt the price was too high, I wouldn't have bought it.

Just like some movies are worth going to the VIP deluxe theater with plush seats and dinner brought in to you during the movie. Some are only worth the AMC lower ticket seats, some a rental from iTunes, and others not even worth flipping the channel on the tv for when it's free.

People may 'wish' something was cheaper. But that doesn't mean they're being ripped off when they WILLINGLY spend their money on a product they can live without.

If they do feel that they're doing so, they need to look in the mirror and figure out what their own problem is. As addictions can come in all forms. But that's not a publisher's problem.