Comments on: Ebooks, Prices, Consumers, Choices. Again.

By: R Davis

R Davis — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 03:49:17 +0000

Every discussion I have seen on this topic totally ignores an important factor. I buy a TON of older books in second hand stores and yard sales, and almost never buy books in a bookstore, but would be interested in having them on a reader, and so revenue that was formerly going elsewhere would be going to the people who actually produced the books. Keep charging new book prices for books I bought a decade ago for a quarter? No way. 1/2 price & I’d consider it to get books on a reader. & many of the ‘benefits’ of the reader don’t apply to folks like me…saving trees…nope, somebody else already bought the book…convenience? Sure, if I’m not on a boat, at the beach, camping, or by the pool. I know a lot of people who buy books as I do. So do ya want our money, or should we keep giving it to others?
Oh, as a side note, my mother buys a huge # of new books, & I have noticed the quality of the printing, design, cover art, and binding has been awful in the last 10 years. I still have books from my childhood in perfect condition, while books she got last month can’t survive 1 or 2 readings. Score 1 for the ebook.

By: Kendra

Kendra — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:21:50 +0000

I got my first ebook reader, a Franklin, in 1999. I bought several books at only a few dollars each. A couple of years later, I upgraded to a higher Franklin product and found that I could not read the books I had purchased for the earlier version on the newer version. They were both Franklin eBookmans, but I had to repurchase my ebooks to read them on the new device. Soon after, Franklin discontinued the product. When I upgraded to a Pocket PC, I lost access to all of the books I had purchased for the eBookman. I have now been using Mobipocket for several years now. Last year, I lost several ebooks because the publisher pulled the books from the ebook market and I didn’t read the email in time to save the books to my computer. Now, I save all my books to my computer, and when I have enough, I transfer them to CD. My point being, is that I have spent a lot of money over the years for ebooks that I can’t access now. When I went to purchase a book that was recently published, I was shocked that the ebook price was $25. That is way too much money to pay for a “limited license” to digital content. I am perfectly willing to wait for the ebook to come out at the same time as the paperback instead of when the book is first published. However, I am unwilling to pay 1st edition prices for a book that I may not have access to in a year. A thought that has occured to me, if publishers believe that ebooks are cutting into their profit margins, is it possible that they believe that if they price the ebooks high enough, ebook readers will be forced to buy “real” books instead. I agree with the points raised in this article and believe that publishers need to move with the times or end up like the newspapers, outmoded, outdated and out of business.

By: Is Book Sharing Really a Threat to Publishing? | Medialoper

Is Book Sharing Really a Threat to Publishing? | Medialoper — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:27:49 +0000

[...] a battle raging over ebook pricing. Publishers believe that ebooks should be priced similarly to print books. Consumers, meanwhile, [...]

By: Mari

Mari — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:40:48 +0000

What is not commented on here is the fact that publishers like Macmillan are asking ebook readers to pay $14.99 retail for a paperback that costs $7.99. It’s appalling. Are we consumers really buying these ebooks at almost double? I hope not. We should be boycotting and send mass emails to publishers like Macmillan. I got my reader because I read a lot and it’s incredibly convenient for me. Now, I’m being punished for not killing trees and wanting to carry 20 books around with me wherever I go. Since I’ve purchased my reader (2 years ago) I actually buy more books then I used to and now the insult that they expect me to pay almost double.

By: Book News and Views « Books Worth Reading

Book News and Views « Books Worth Reading — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:35:45 +0000

[...] the e-book saga continues. Here’s another insightful essay from Booksquare on e-book pricing. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Book News and ViewsThe Sunday Salon: Reading in [...]

By: Hoots Balloon! — Speakeasy

Hoots Balloon! — Speakeasy — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:22:45 +0000

[...] market yet. Anyway this great article from Kasia over at BookSquare once again highlights the discrepancies in e-book pricing. With the GFC and all that biz, you’d think that publishers would want people to spend money [...]

By: Stacy Whitman’s Grimoire » On e-books, the distribution chain, the Amazonian monster, and all that other fun stuff

Tue, 26 May 2009 06:48:19 +0000

[...] at Booksquare last week Kassia had an excellent post on what consumers are looking for in the pricing of ebooks, in which she took a devil’s advocate role in saying that perhaps it’s good that Amazon [...]

By: Nazlah

Nazlah — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:13:41 +0000

some thoughts on e book pricing….

http://blog.ipublishcentral.com/2009/05/22/some-thoughts-on-ebook-pricing-models/

By: Biblibio

Biblibio — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:46:18 +0000

“What a consumer is buying is the content, not necessarily the format.” Oh really? Well then, in that case, I’d like the paperback format in addition to my hardcover. And the Kindle version as well, please. If I buy the content in one form, shouldn’t I get it in another form as well?

Ignoring my over-analyses of stupid statements, this is a very interesting roundup and really made me think of a lot of points. For instance, I hadn’t encountered the idea that publishers will need to fire editors or lower author advances. That one really seems like a no-brainer to me. In general, this post and many others on the matter (including my own poor attempts at understanding the issues) only support the idea that the publishing industry may need a complete redo. Until then, I guess there will continue to be these battles between the publishers, the consumers, and the guys in between – the book-sellers (Amazon, in this case). How exhausting.

By: Peter Murray

Peter Murray — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:19:20 +0000

While publishers are all scrambling to work out how they will survive, I have developed a new product that will keep everyone employed and the industry on a level playing-field. I am approaching the problem from a publishers point of view (I have been in the industry for over 30 years), the consumer, the author, the editors and everyone associated with our beautiful industry. I am also considering the environment. My new GREEN BOOK will be launched in October saving 500 million trees from being cut down each year, selling at bookstores at a slightly higer price than normal, but it is an ereader, packaged as a book and it will keep all book lovers happy – including me!