Are e-books too expensive?
In bed a few nights ago I found myself thrown into a panic.
I opened my Kindle to discover I’d finished my last book.
There ensued what in marketing jargon is called a "distress" purchase.
Next morning I woke to an email from Amazon informing me I’d spent £5.99 (roughly $8.50).
Later I discovered the paperback on sale for as little as £1.99 ($2.82), including delivery.
Now, I’ve been hearing that sales of e-books have peaked – and when I noticed ‘15th Affair’ by James Patterson for $14.39 (e-book) and $13.43 (paperback) – I began to think, “No wonder!”
The first ‘Jack Reacher’ I found for $7.14 (e-book) and $7.19 (paperback).
And the opening ‘Harry Potter’ on the UK site for £5.99 (e-book) versus £3.49 (paperback).
Sure, without Prime membership there could be some freight costs to add for the hard copies – but you probably get the gist.
Personally, I think digital reading has a long way to grow – but it looks to me that, as yet, the big publishers have not wholeheartedly embraced the free market.
I opened my Kindle to discover I’d finished my last book.
There ensued what in marketing jargon is called a "distress" purchase.
Next morning I woke to an email from Amazon informing me I’d spent £5.99 (roughly $8.50).
Later I discovered the paperback on sale for as little as £1.99 ($2.82), including delivery.
Now, I’ve been hearing that sales of e-books have peaked – and when I noticed ‘15th Affair’ by James Patterson for $14.39 (e-book) and $13.43 (paperback) – I began to think, “No wonder!”
The first ‘Jack Reacher’ I found for $7.14 (e-book) and $7.19 (paperback).
And the opening ‘Harry Potter’ on the UK site for £5.99 (e-book) versus £3.49 (paperback).
Sure, without Prime membership there could be some freight costs to add for the hard copies – but you probably get the gist.
Personally, I think digital reading has a long way to grow – but it looks to me that, as yet, the big publishers have not wholeheartedly embraced the free market.
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by
Beverlee
(new)
May 21, 2016 08:49AM
I agree. Amazon and the publishers made a deal, and Amazon has to sell eBooks at the agreed price set by the publishers. I think this is going to have to change. Right now I am "buying" a lot of free eBooks. Yeah, I know: they are poorly edited, for the most part, far too many are poorly written. However, I don't finish a lot of them, but now and then I find a true jewel, and put that author on MY APPROVED LIST, and when they start charging, I will buy their books. I'm setting $$ aside right now for an upcoming, non-serious surgery, so am not buying books. I have thousands of books on my Kindle, so I could read for years and not spend another cent...but, we all no that is not gonna happen...laughing.
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Why is it there are those of us so addicted to books? I have reduced the number of my Kindle books to right at 1,000. And most of them have been free. I have found some wonderful books and authors. When I look at the fact that some Kindle books are priced higher than an actual physical book, I get confused. I do understand authors deserve respect for their work. I do admire a well written story. But, does that author get as much from an e-book as from an physical book? Or is it simply a way for the publisher and the seller to add to their bottom line?
Hi - as things stand it is the publisher that sets the price of Kindle books (Amazon reserves the right to match lower prices on competitive platforms.)For a Kindle book, if the price is above $2.99, the publisher gets 70% of that. (If it's below $2.99, the figure is 35%.) Then it is a question of what deal the publisher has offered the author.
For hardbacks/paperbacks I would say a typical deal is that the publisher would give the author 15% - from which the author's agent would take 15% (so for a $10 book the author would receive about $1.27).
The costs of producing and distributing real books are high - and the publishers also have to bear the cost of marketing and returns. I imagine bookshop pricing levels reflect these costs and include a reasonable profit for the publisher. However the costs of producing incremental e-books are negligible - and this is clearly not reflected in the pricing.
I guess publishers are afraid of 'collapsing' e-book prices for fear of cannibalising their real book sales - and putting more power in the hands of the e-book publishers. (And are probably enjoying the excess profits at the moment.)
