Isabella Rogge's Blog: The Redhead Writer, page 291
September 3, 2015
fireinthestars-book:
FITS Virtual Book Tour: Day 7
A week into...
FITS Virtual Book Tour: Day 7
A week into the book tour, and things are going lovely! A huge thank-you is in store to buhosbookreview, books-and-cookies, and casualbookreview for their participation and fantastic reviews, Tricia Zoelle for an excellent interview, and all the blogs who will be helping in the next week of the tour. While you’re waiting for Fire in the Stars to hit shelves, why not figure out which character you’re most like, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
wolfpratt:
hawkeseyes:
kylierosalina-10nnyson:
thedoormann:
strideofpride:
advmscott:
treecool:...
[chris traeger voice] literally
[jean-ralphio voice] the wo~orst
[tom haverford voice] Nooo
[ben wyatt voice] bobby newport
[ron swanson voice] son.
[leslie knope voice] ann you beautiful tropical fish
[everyone collectively] JERRY
[jerry sputtering]
[april ludgate voice] Ew.
[andy dwyer voice] Macklin, you son of a bitch.
Is Amazon Hurting Book Culture? Also, some get-real talk about eBook prices.
So, before I drop the bomb - let’s start with the first question:
Is Amazon hurting book culture?
It is, if you believe the far-fetched ramblings of the Author’s Guild’s (oh, I’m sorry - Authors United’s) latest attempts to get the Department of Justice to investigate Amazon’s business practices.
Seriously. That is their argument - that because Amazon offers eBooks at cheap prices, they are hurting book culture for the consumer.
Let me rephrase - Authors United is saying that saving the consumer money is hurting the consumer because it’s stunting “intellectual” book culture.
Yeah. They are upset because traditional publishing has changed.
They are upset because lower eBook prices means the book they slaved 4 years over (the next great American novel, they swear!) is only selling at 3.99, because, they say, Amazon has monopolized and corrupted the consumer experience - creating a consumer and book culture where consumers expect to pay less for an eBook than they do for a paperback.
Well. Duh.
There are two MAJOR issues with the argument put forth by the fossils and good ole chaps at Author’s Guild (I know, I know, Authors UNITED).
1) Amazon’s KDP program has encouraged book literacy and culture by allowing the CONSUMER to decide what books should be successful instead of some old fogy at a desk covered in slush-pile manuscripts.
Amazon will publish just about anything. If a person wants to read about a gay man falling in love with his step-brother, who turns out to be an alien who then impregnates him - they can! If a person wants to read a well-written self-published coming of age story about a transgender bi-racial teen in small-town America - *gasp* they can!
Amazon KDP has taken the slush-pile power away from publishing houses and given it back to authors and consumers - especially those who write diverse subjects, borderline topics and don’t like coloring in the mainstream lines.
Traditional publishing houses have said time and time again - they ONLY publish what will MAKE THEM MONEY. What they can SELL. What they can cram down mainstream’s throat, make popular, marketable, merchandise and screenplay into the next Hollywood regurgitation.
So, Amazon isn’t stifling Consumers’ access to diverse, intellectual (or trashy, or fun, or erotic, or scary, or ANYTHING) books. They are encouraging access to read what you want!
Okay, so what about those cheap, cheap prices ‘hurting’ book culture?
2) Amazon doesn’t set eBook prices - the Authors / Publishers do. YES, some publishers have signed deals to agree to only selling eBooks for under $14.00. But, COME ON - $14 for a digital book? Seriously? The majority of Amazon’s books are self and small press published, and they range (on average) from 2.99 - 7.99.
NEWSFLASH - Your self-published debut eBook novel is NOT going to sell for $9.99 (and your Grandma doesn’t count!)
I recently read an AMAZING debut eBook novel by a self-published author. It was $9.99. No, I didn’t buy it. I got it when the author put it on sale for $3. (Thank you, eReaderIQ Book Price Watcher Ap) I LOVED LOVED LOVED the book, but I would NEVER have read it/paid 10$ for it because I’d never even heard of the author before… and the book’s current horrible sales ranking at $9.99 shows I’m not alone in this.
It’s time authors got real about eBook prices. So, I’m going to tell you a secret. It may just blow your mind.
Here’s that bomb I mentioned earlier.
Are you ready?
> > > > AN EBOOK IS NOT A BOOK. < < < < <
There. I said it. I pointed to the huge-ass elephant in the room, so now you have to stare at it and accept that it’s there, too.
An eBook is NOT a book. Consumers will NEVER give an eBook the same value as a physical book. You can’t set an eBook on a shelf, admire the cover, lend it to a friend, gift it to someone with a handwritten note, pass it down if it becomes a classic or use it as a conversation starter when you run out of things to say at a party.
If you were in a bookstore and on the front table there was the NYT Bestseller thriller-of-the-week in Paperback for $12.99, and next to it, there was a QR code to purchase the eBook instead for $10.99… How many people do you think would buy the eBook over the physical book to save $2?
Some big names can certainly sell some eBooks at that price. But, these high eBook prices are actually HURTING consumer book culture. I can’t afford to spend $15 on the next Game of Thrones ebook. I will have to wait until it’s at the library. Mentally, I couldn’t justify spending that much on a digital book. I’d rather buy the physical book and get free Prime shipping. If it was 7.99, then Okay, I could justify that for a big-name like Martin in digital format.
For indie books, 5.99 is the top price I will pay, and only if I’ve read you before or heard tons of great recommendations. If you are a new-to-me author, then 3.99 is what I feel comfortable paying for your eBook. I’m sorry. You may have written the most amazing thing ever, but I read so many books that I can’t afford the habit if I start paying 7$ for every eBook. And, I’m not alone in my addiction or price justifications.
What many consumers do is use price-watch aps like eReaderIQ. Because, unlike Paperbacks, eBook prices fluctuate all the time and we know they will go on sale eventually (especially KU books). It’s so simple to mark it with an ap and wait for the notification of the sale to email us while we go consume cheaper reads.
Yes, there was a time when eBooks were new and shiny, and typically consumed only by either those who could afford the high-priced readers or by those who didn’t want their family to see a copy of “Taken By The Gang-Bang Vampires” on their bookshelf. That time has passed. eReaders are cheap. There are more books available. There are read-all-you-want subscription services. There are parental controls.
Look, I get it. I’m an author, too. I’d LOVE for my eBooks to sell for 8.99, but I also understand my market. I would rather sell 1000 eBooks at 3.99 than 10 at 8.99, and have 2 returns,
I also believe, and you can hate me for it, that digital books are not worth the same as physical books. There are no print, shipping or paper costs. No distribution fees. No pages to turn, to dog-ear, or bookmark, or rub between thumb and forefinger. No ink to smell. No cover to display or spine to crack.
The cold digital text may offer the same story, but it doesn’t offer the same experience.
So, what are your thoughts? Is Amazon’s low prices hurting consumers and reading culture? Are eBooks worth the same price as physical copies?
halleberiberi:
vulvapeople:
radfemale:
my nursing lecturer was saying how her daughter almost...
my nursing lecturer was saying how her daughter almost died at birth and the doctor said ‘you’re lucky she’s a girl because girls are more resilient, even from birth’ and she just thought he was comforting her but she researched it later and there had been studies literally done into it
Not even just from birth. Female fetuses are less likely to miscarry in adverse conditions, such as famine. It makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. If a sexual dimorphic species is to survive, it needs far more females than males. In nature, males are pretty expendable.
#natureisafeminist
