Why do many e-books cost more than paperback?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem is too many formats. Mobi, LIT, LRF, PDB, FB2, IMP, WOLF, PDF just to name a few. Why do we have so many different ebook formats? Why do we need so many? Can't we just have one that isn't going to impose DRM on us?

That's why one overriding common format... XHTML, for instance... is best, as it is already the standard format that most other formats can convert from. IDPF supports packaged XHTML, and they've got the right idea.

Let people archive the XHTML, and use that to convert as desired. That's the way to do it for immediate use, and keep a lasting version of the document.

[JSWolf]

But the real problem is that all the formats I mentioned can contain DRM. So if you have say a Sony Reader and later on down the line was a reader from iRex and sell off your Sony, you lose the ability to read all the books you purchased from the Connect store. What I want is a DRM-less format that I can read on anyone's hardware. I might be willing to deal with DRM if it was transferable. It's one thing to archive in XTML but what we get to purchase is something chock full of restrictions.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

That's why I recommend XHTML as the format sold to customers by all booksellers.

The OEBPS or EPub format (what Adobe DE supports besides PDF) is essentially a package of very standardized XHTML and ASCII-based style sheets and descriptive files, all of which can be read and formatted as desired by simple conversion programs (like the free programs I use to convert my e-book formats). It's safe to say that any number of conversion programs will be able to read XHTML for the foreseeable future, and use it for conversion to the preferred format.

If you buy the EPub format, and your reader can convert it for its own display, you have a DRM-free original document. If you buy a new reader, simply feed it the EPub document, and it will convert it. If you want to buy the converted format, so be it, but the bookseller should send you the EPub package as well as the converted format. That's the way it should... and can... work.

I believe that, once booksellers finally give up on DRMed formats, that is exactly what will happen (maybe not immediately, but over time and through customer demand).

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by orcinus

Yeees, just look at the library of Alexandria

In those days until the advent of the printing press, manuscripts were done one at a time taking up to 3 months a copy. They'd make a run of 5 to 50 if the text was worth it. Alexandria was the proverbial egg basket.
I could give you the opposing example of Pompei where the only organic material to survive was what looked like a clump of charred fire wood. Upon closer examination, there was more than 1300 tightly rolled up papiri. There is a team working on those and they are making good progress on deciphering some known and unknown texts.

With printed text it's even easyer, you only need one example to survive a catastrophe and most books surface at some point. Just take the Twin Towers as an example although they were pulverised you could see sheets of paper floating about! Authorities had to set up special task forces to protect the privacy of information those papers carried. I don't recall their pulling out working hard drives there but I may be mistaken. Paper can survive violent phenomenons like the reed survives the proverbial mighty oak!

Hey! data is solid too! just take those flight black boxes. Labs almost always seem to recover what they need from them.

My point is clear enough... we need ALL the supports we can in their best utterances with the less fuss for deciphering. Choosing one over the other is a mistake.

[JSWolf]

I just found a BRAND NEW aperback book at simonsays.com for about $4.64 for a $7.99 paperback book. WOW! Not everyone is out to chat you on ebooks.

[cherdman]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I just found a BRAND NEW aperback book at simonsays.com for about $4.64 for a $7.99 paperback book. WOW! Not everyone is out to chat you on ebooks.

Right. I regularly purchase from www.booksonboard.com and www.paperbackdigital.com. These sites often offer ebooks for a cheaper price than the paperback counterpart.

The best discussion that I've found on this topic can be found at Charles Stross's website:

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog...ook_marke.html

Brace yourself though. This discussion is as long as some small novels.

[BooksForABuck]

As I commented over at Teleread, I think there are a couple of things going on here. First, publishers set list prices. If a retailer (say Mobipocket) lets publishers set their price, they'll normally pick the list price (or else what does it mean). eBook LIST prices don't tend to be higher than pBook LIST prices.

Second, many publishers set eBook list prices identical to their paper prices because they're concerned that bookstores will see them as undercutting the bookstore otherwise. (I will note that Harlequin, which is largely squeezed out of bookstores, offers a modest discount on their eBooks.) Obviously Amazon sometimes discounts from list price.

Third, when Amazon sells below list price, they do so by reducing their own margin--they still pay the publisher for the book based on their negotiated discount from list (generally 45-55%). For whatever reason, Amazon doesn't seem to feel it necessary to discount eBooks it sells through Mobipocket (an Amazon subsidiary), although I don't think publishers would complain as long as they still got their full payment. In contrast, if a publisher wants to offer special pricing at Mobipocket, it gets only 50% of the discounted price.

Some comparisons look at the lowest price offered on Amazon rather than the price of new books. Comparing eBooks to used books isn't exactly fair because publishers don't offer used books.

Just as an added thought, many publishers who focus on eBooks (including my own www.booksforabuck.com) offer significantly lower prices on eBooks than on paper versions of our works.

Rob Preece
Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com

[orcinus]

Originally Posted by cherdman

Right. I regularly purchase from www.booksonboard.com and www.paperbackdigital.com. These sites often offer ebooks for a cheaper price than the paperback counterpart.

How are the BooksOnBoard PDF's on the Sony Reader? Are they DRM'd or can i repack them in another format (i.e. .LRF)? Thanks!

[igorsk]

Originally Posted by orcinus

How are the BooksOnBoard PDF's on the Sony Reader? Are they DRM'd or can i repack them in another format (i.e. .LRF)? Thanks!

http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=help#mobi

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by cherdman

The best discussion that I've found on this topic can be found at Charles Stross's website:

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog...ook_marke.html

Brace yourself though. This discussion is as long as some small novels.

Yeah... like this one's short.

Originally Posted by BooksForABuck

As I commented over at Teleread, I think there are a couple of things going on here...

Most of what this boils down to is publishers setting prices, without necessarily being cognizant of the market value for e-books. Not that that's completely their fault... due to all the multiple formats, foot-dragging, and industry paranoia, no one's managed to set those values yet.

We'll need standardization to set in, before a reliable set of values can be set. The publishers need to be sharp, because the little guys (like me and Rob P) could set the price values first, leaving the big pubs to scramble to be able to meet it... or to prove that their product is so much better that it deserves to be more... or to find other ways to reduce costs or subsidize e-books (like through advertising, as mentioned in another thread).

[orcinus]

Originally Posted by igorsk

http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=help#mobi

So, no dice...
Or i'd have to wait for Sony to implement DE in the Reader. Blech... I hate DRM.