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Old 10-28-2016, 01:28 PM   #1
ZodWallop
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E-book prices: Are they set by monkeys?
Since it's Halloween I was looking for scary books to read. Specifically, Joe Schrieber's first two books: Chasing the Dead and Eat the Dark.

Chasing the Dead is published by Ballantine, is 208 pages or 622kb and is $2.99

Eat the Dark is published by Del Rey (a branch of Ballantine) is 210 pages or 241kb and is $9.99

Chasing the Dead was published as a mass market paperback (I have a copy, but I haven't read it yet). Eat the Dark was published as a trade paperback (never picked it up. Too expensive). In paper, I understand that the format justifies the price. But why carry it over to the e-book world?

Eat the Dark was published in 2007, so it's not like they can justify it as a new release.

His newer book: No Doors, No Windows was published by Del Rey in 2009 and is $7.99. So what makes that second novel so different?
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Old 10-28-2016, 02:04 PM   #2
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No, the prices are not set by monkeys. Monkeys would do i a better job. The prices are set by something even worse. It's set by publishers.
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Old 10-28-2016, 02:18 PM   #3
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Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with ebook pricing
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Old 10-28-2016, 02:25 PM   #4
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The $2.99 book might be a promotional price by the publisher. In my experience, if there's a mass market paperback, the ebook is usually priced to match it, if there's only a trade paperback, the ebook may be priced to match it or discounted to $9.99, (probably with thanks to Amazon's pricing model), and if there's only a hardcover, the ebook is usually in the $12-$17 range, more or less to match retailers discounting of the hardcover.

Book pricing is all about trying to convince readers that brand new books are more valuable than the backlist, with higher prices and more durable editions for new books, which is why you see hardcover and trade paperbacks for new books, and cheaper mass market paperbacks for books that have been out for a while. Ebook pricing is all about trying to preserve the paper book market. Sometimes you'll get lucky and there will be a promotional price.
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Old 10-28-2016, 02:43 PM   #5
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The $2.99 book might be a promotional price by the publisher... Book pricing is all about trying to convince readers that brand new books are more valuable than the backlist, with higher prices and more durable editions for new books, which is why you see hardcover and trade paperbacks for new books, and cheaper mass market paperbacks for books that have been out for a while.
Oh yeah. The book was on sale. I believe the usual price is $6.99/7.99. I've looked at it before.

It's just odd that his first book is... let's call it $8. His third book is $8. But his second book is $10. These are three stand-alone books by a midlist (or lower) author. All roughly the same length with no crazy formatting or anything. All about ten years old. All published by the same publisher.
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Old 10-28-2016, 02:43 PM   #6
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No, the prices are not set by monkeys. Monkeys would do i a better job. The prices are set by something even worse. It's set by publishers.
I agree Monkey's would do a much better job. Plus you pay in bananas, a pretty good deal !
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Old 10-28-2016, 03:01 PM   #7
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His newer book: No Doors, No Windows was published by Del Rey in 2009 and is $7.99. So what makes that second novel so different?
It could be that someone at the publisher messed up back in 2013 and didn't raise the price back up after a sale like they were supposed to. It could be some marketing strategy that only the publisher is privy to. Sometimes pubs have been know to lower the price on one or two of an authors works and leave them there on what seems like a permanent basis for whatever reason. Maybe that book is considered by the publisher to be the best introduction to the authors work and they hope that if people buy it and like it they'll buy further volumes. It could be some behind the scenes thing like that book has earned out and so they're more comfortable lowering the price for bookkeeping purposes. Maybe that one won when they threw darts at a dartboard during a meeting?



Quote:
Originally Posted by bgalbrecht View Post
The $2.99 book might be a promotional price by the publisher.
Looking at price tracking for the book in question it was $6.99 from when the data starts (April 4, 2011) until it went on sale for $0.99 (April 22, 2013) when that sale ended (May 7, 2013) it went to $2.99 and has been that price ever since. So it could be one of those semi-permanent promotional price drops they sometimes do on books.
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Old 10-28-2016, 04:19 PM   #8
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It could be all those things. But I strongly suspect the difference in book prices in this case has to do with its paper book origins. That one book was published as a trade and they set the e-book pricing accordingly. I would guess that the publisher has never given it any thought beyond that.

As Bill Maher says, "I don't know it for a fact, I just know that it's true."
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Old 10-28-2016, 05:16 PM   #9
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It could be all those things. But I strongly suspect the difference in book prices in this case has to do with its paper book origins. That one book was published as a trade and they set the e-book pricing accordingly. I would guess that the publisher has never given it any thought beyond that.

As Bill Maher says, "I don't know it for a fact, I just know that it's true."
I suspect it is try the first book cheap then pay full price for the rest.

I know some authors that have different prices for their different series. Depends on what they have found is the best price point for their books.

My question is who is the publisher of the e-books?
It may not be the same as the paperback.

Chasing the dark is published by Random House.
Eat the dark is also Random House.
So yes, it is the buy the first cheaper then pay full price for the rest.
Last edited by Cinisajoy; 10-28-2016 at 05:21 PM.
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Old 10-28-2016, 06:11 PM   #10
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I suspect it is try the first book cheap then pay full price for the rest.

I know some authors that have different prices for their different series. Depends on what they have found is the best price point for their books.

My question is who is the publisher of the e-books?
It may not be the same as the paperback.

Chasing the dark is published by Random House.
Eat the dark is also Random House.
So yes, it is the buy the first cheaper then pay full price for the rest.
Could be. But this isn't a series. Each book is stand alone and unrelated. I'm just labeling them as 'first book', 'second book' to clarify publication order. It would be like just randomly deciding that Pet Sematary is going to cost more than 'Salem's Lot.

Plus, his third book (also published by Random House) is also cheaper than his second book.
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Old 10-28-2016, 06:32 PM   #11
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Could be. But this isn't a series. Each book is stand alone and unrelated. I'm just labeling them as 'first book', 'second book' to clarify publication order. It would be like just randomly deciding that Pet Sematary is going to cost more than 'Salem's Lot.

Plus, his third book (also published by Random House) is also cheaper than his second book.
In that case, who knows.
Book prices make no sense anyway.
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Old 10-28-2016, 06:58 PM   #12
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Book prices make no sense anyway.
Hence my starting this thread
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Old 10-28-2016, 07:02 PM   #13
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Hence my starting this thread
But then again, groceries are priced differently by stores.
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Old 10-28-2016, 07:05 PM   #14
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But then again, groceries are priced differently by stores.
Yet strawberry yogurt and blueberry yogurt (from the same company) tend to cost the same.

Honestly, I'm not expecting us to find an answer. Just sort of a General Discussion, you might say.
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Old 10-29-2016, 12:55 PM   #15
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Harper Collins sells two different kindle editions of the Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis at amazon.ca for different prices.

The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950 - 1963 is CDN $29.99 https://www.amazon.ca/Collected-Lett...tters+cs+lewis

and the Collected Letters Volume Three: Narnia, Cambridge and Joy 1950–1963: Narnia, Cambridge and Joy 1950-1963 is CDN $14.99 https://www.amazon.ca/Collected-Lett...tters+cs+lewis

All checks short of actually buying both books indicate that the editions are essentially the same work

There are two editions of volumes 1 and 2 as well but the price differences are smaller.
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