What price is too high for an ebook?

[Al "Tank"]

Interesting quote from an article by Erik Sherman, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_16...

"The big costs in book publishing are writing, editing, production and marketing. Printing and warehousing typically represent between $1 to $2.50 per copy of book. From a publisher's view, e-books should be nearly the same price of paper copies."

Doesn't bode well for low-cost eBooks from the big NY outfits.

[Elaine]

Al, I am seeing a lot of ebooks that are MORE expensive than the paperback. I'm assuming that is because of the global shortage in electrons.

Regardless, I won't pay more than $9.99 for almost anything (books for work can be an exception), and I don't recall every paying more for the ebook than for the cheapest paper edition -- although, I might have.

Elaine
Norman, OK

[Al "Tank"]

Elaine wrote: "Al, I am seeing a lot of ebooks that are MORE expensive than the paperback. I'm assuming that is because of the global shortage in electrons.

Regardless, I won't pay more than $9.99 for almost an..."

I feel the same way, Elaine. Amazon has made it expensive for the NY publishers who want to go beyond $10. Hoist on their own petard?

[Michael]

This is always a heated topic. When I was self-publishing my books I had the first four at $4.95 and the fifth in the seires at $6.95. Now that I'm publihsed with Orbit they are pricing at $9.99 BUT they have 2 books in each volume so the price is still just about the same $4.99 each.

For me personally...I wait on purchases that are $12.99 or $14.99. There are other things to read. Anything $7.99 or less is an authomatic read. I rarely read a $0.99 or $2.99 book though I sometimes will pick one up when I see it go "on sale" but for the most part they sit on my kindle unread...really just me price hedging because I do have interest in the book and want to get it while it's cheap.

[Janet]

I've paid as much as $10 for a bestselling eBook. But like most people I like bargains so anything under 10 bucks is fine with me. I have seen some eBooks prices at $18, but that was by a big name author.

I published an eBook back in August 2011 and priced it a $3.99. I figured it was a fair price for the amount of work I put into it and it is still under $5 for any who are looking for a good read, but don't want to pay a lot of money.

The hardest part is getting my name out there so my novel sell. Since I am an unknown, I figured most people won't want to pay more that five bucks. I also published an eBook in he nonfiction category and priced it at 99 cents because it was short and I am not well-known yet.

The name of my novel is Legends Lost Amborese for any who are interested.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Over $8 I always sample first. I'm still reeling that the New York Times Bestsellers on the Kindle are no longer under $10 and with ebook versions of mass market new release hardcovers seeming to average $13 -- I buy the hardcover or wait for paperback ebook price.

[Sharon]

Rule of thumb for me (and I'm a newish Kindle owner) is that I will pay the same price for a Kindle book as I would if I were buying it (as I have for 60 years of reading) in new paperback or hardback. However, that said, I only buy books in that price range if I expect to keep it indefinitely and re-read it.

Otherwise, I use the Kindle free/cheap book like I did the library, inter-library loan department and online used book websites, for the books whose authors I don't know or authors who are 'off and on' for me.

[Steph]

I've been thinking about ebook pricing from the point of view of a musician who's previously published through iTunes, etc. With music downloads, prices are not so variable, but the time and effort in putting together a properly-recorded song is comparable to what it takes to create a book. I'm just getting into self publishing and I'm considering pricing fiction accordingly: short story = music single; novel = music album. Of course, this would mean that all those $0.99 novels are vastly underpriced, but that's another argument entirely...

[Sharon]

I price by size, first publication date and quality. Blink blink, quality? Absolutely. I have 44 books published under 26 titles (I bundle all series). Some are better than others. Authors who doesn't know what books are their best work have only written one book.

I dislike the people who take it upon themselves to explain to every indie author they're nobodies and should price their books at $.99, or they won't sell. The reverse is true. Price your work too low and you're assumed to be desperate for someone to read what you wrote. There's no respect for a book under a buck. That's a sad truth of this culture.

Read some of a book before you buy it. Do the same thing with books on promotion, for free. Spend your entertainment dollars wisely and be selective. That's what we want. What we don't want is our books being trashed in reviews because the book wasn't what the reader expected from the blurb. And it happens a lot.

[David]

Valuable discussion--much appreciated--especially for a first-time author like me trying to figure out how to price a military sci-fi novel. I started at $8.88 and sold some but I recently reset at $3.99 and the sales rate has improved substantially.

[Helen]

Interesting discussion! My first rule is that I won't pay more for an ebook than the price that's being charged for its cheapest (new) paper version. My second rule is that if a book fails my first rule, I won't buy it at all, in any format. There's so many great authors out there that I don't need to buy from a publisher that is trying to gouge the ebook market.

A couple of less stringent rules:
- don't buy from publishers/authors who have expressed political or personal views I find repugnant
- do buy from publishers/authors who make an effort to engage with fans and understand that 'free' is a useful component of a business model

I like cheap books, but if something looks really good and meets my criteria I'm willing to pay more, especially if I like the author or the publisher.

[Erika]

I think I am worried more about prices being to low. I am not a writer but sometimes i find an Indi author I like and I see their stuff is only going for .99 and I know it's worth more than that. I feel like people will see it for that cheap and think it's crap. I find this especially true with short story authors.

[Sharon]

Thank you, Marybeth. I tell authors they're underpricing a book I know is good, fairly often.

[Sharon]

Valerie wrote: "Back to topic - if you see a new e-book for less than two dollars, that may be a sign that (a) the publisher/author doesn't want to make money from it or (b) doesn't really expect a lot of sales. Which in turn may reflect on the willingness to invest in quality, i.e. editing.
So if you want cheap, you'll get cheap. What do you think? "

Actually, this isn't my take, but then I'm not an author, I'm a reader ... plus I've had some limited exposure to marketing in other fields, which has changed incredibly thanks to the Internet. My take on the freebie/low price thing is that it's giving new or not-mainstream authors an opportunity to establish a reader base without a big investment.

Look at it like the drug dealers do (which incidentally was NOT one of the fields I was referring to except through the law enforcement side of things). But dealers do this ... first hit or two free, then several more cheap. You get your customer hooked on the product and then you can start raising the price. Obviously, it works. I now have two authors with series on my 'auto-buy" list, one still priced at under $5 and the other at $7.99 I think. But I buy them as they come out and I would not have found them except through Kindle/free list.

It's also interesting that I have added two new 'must buy' authors in just the 3 months I've had the Kindle and access to the free/cheap downloads. Pre-Kindle I had added just one new author to my must buy list in three years.

As a reader, I don't find a downside. I don't know the percentages, but for authors, if you are reaching people (and *addicting* them) you are establishing an ongoing buyer base and I'm not sure I really see a downside to that. Are there really a big percentage of potential readers out there that will not try a free book or buy a new-to-them author for $2.99 because they think low prices=low quality?

[Liz]

Deborah wrote: "Over $8 I always sample first. I'm still reeling that the New York Times Bestsellers on the Kindle are no longer under $10 and with ebook versions of mass market new release hardcovers seeming to ..."

One thing to remember here is that typically, Amazon (or Barnes & Noble) no longer has control over ebook prices. Next time you're looking at a NYT best seller, look below the Kindle price. It will more than likely state "Price set by publisher".

Before the launch of the iPad, Apple sat down with the big publishers and allegedly discussed pricing. Then the publishers went to Amazon and changed the policy. Amazon resisted as long as they could. For a brief time period, no MacMillian titles were sold. Penguin was the last to join the new pricing scheme. There is at least one lawsuit pending around this "price fixing".

I rarely purchased a NYT bestseller then, they're usually not my cup of tea, so my average was $6.99 or less. Now, those same books I got at $6.99 are almost twice that. I have a huge backlog of to-be-read books that I got for free, and have been introduced to some fantastic authors I wouldn't have discovered otherwise. Had a few stinkers in there too, but not enough to stop me from checking someone out.

Will I pay $12.99 that many are asking for? I don't like to but I have. MZB's Mists of Avalon is $13.99 but I didn't want to lug my dtb around for my bookclub. GRRM's A Dance with Dragons I paid $12.99 for. I waited long enough for the book, I wasn't waiting any longer! :)

[Sharon]

Somewhat of a 'sidestep' here into another thought ... I'm wondering what the eBook rush has done to the book clubs like the Science Fiction/Fantasy book club and Mystery Guild?

Will they find some way of getting into this market? I'd think, if they're going to survive, they will have to.

[Flipreads]

Sharon wrote: "Somewhat of a 'sidestep' here into another thought ... I'm wondering what the eBook rush has done to the book clubs like the Science Fiction/Fantasy book club and Mystery Guild?

Not necessarily. I think they're occupying a printing niche where some books are only released through them, or at the very least, produce a different kind of print edition. There is also the gatekeeping they offer, so there's value there.

(The point is, if I wanted to buy eBooks, I'd shop elsewhere, but if I wanted to shop for genre print books, they're a viable option.)

Of similar note are Amazon's exclusive Hardcover limited edition set of A Song of Ice and Fire: http://www.amazon.com/George-Hardcove... I don't think the eBooks will be cannibalizing into these sales.

[Flipreads]

Liz wrote: One thing to remember here is that typically, Amazon (or Barnes & Noble) no longer has control over ebook prices. Next time you're looking at a NYT best seller, look below the Kindle price. It will more than likely state "Price set by publisher".

True but retailers like Amazon have certain price incentives. Publishers get 70% royalties for example if an eBook is priced between $2.99 ~ $9.99, assuming the buyer is from 6 designated countries.

Amazon also charges $2.00 for eBooks in certain parts of the world, which the publisher didn't set and no one else aside from Amazon is getting.

[Robert]

Honestly I'm perfectly ok with paying the paper book value for an electronic book as long as the author is seeing a larger cut from it. Also I enjoy the ability instantly look up the defenition of words on the spot while I'm reading.

[Celeste]

I think 8 dollars is too high but I will buy a higher one if I really really love the author!

[Robert]

Now I agree that for new authors selling books super low like the 99 cent range is a great way to get your name out there. For authors I know are great I have no problem spending the cash.

[Sharon]

Robert wrote: "Now I agree that for new authors selling books super low like the 99 cent range is a great way to get your name out there. For authors I know are great I have no problem spending the cash."

I just found my newest new-to-me author from the $.99 list. Review sounded good on the first one, got half-way through that and ordered the second (still at $.99) and have already read that and am waiting for the third, which is due out this spring.

Will I be happy if it is still priced, like the others, at $.99? Certainly. Will I buy it if it's priced higher? Certainly!

[Paul]

Personally I think that much more than $6 is a little high when you're not getting a physical object, but length and quality are factors too.

For my own books I'm going to try out the model of pricing the first book in the series at 99c and then charging a "proper" price for the others. My second book should be out later this month so I'll finally find out if that model works (or not!).

[Sharon]

I suspect authors almost universally feel this is the reality of the old Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times" ...

[Darren]

Sharon wrote: "I suspect authors almost universally feel this is the reality of the old Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times" ..."

But for many it's their own practicable way of getting their stuff out there and so these are exciting times as well. Even if you don't become a multi-millionaire out of it, the fact that a few others have read and enjoyed books that would otherwise never see the light of day is a real boost.

[Al "Tank"]

Actually, eBooks are in danger. At least the good ones (the trash will always be available).

With the death of the SOPA bill because of all the misinformation that was bandied about, many authors and publishers are considering going strictly paper. The problem is that for every eBook sold, 20 or more are pirated. The "something for nothing" crowd is going to kill a market that is bringing top-notch book prices down to Earth. We'll be left with paper and unedited self-published stuff that the authors want to give away anyway.

The SOPA bill was something that could have made a serious dent in the rampant theft of intellectual property (taking the food out of the mouths of authors and their families) and would have been economically feasible for small publishers and independent authors. Current laws are too expensive for anyone but the big boys to enforce, especially when the perpetrators hide in foreign countries.

[[deleted user]]

I'm not going to get all political about SOPA but I don't see any indications that publishers are thinking of going back to just paper.

Besides, that won't solve anything as I can find pirated versions of Harry Potter books on the interwebs and they've only ever been paper.

[Al "Tank"]

I work for a publisher that is considering throwing in the towel on eBooks. The theft rate is killing us.

Rawlings recently gave the go-ahead for eBooks. Don't know if they're out and being stolen in that form or not.

Where did you find the pirated copies? I'm sure her publisher would be happy to sue them into obscurity (they have the resources we lack to do such a thing).

[Helen]

Al wrote: "I work for a publisher that is considering throwing in the towel on eBooks. The theft rate is killing us.

Rawlings recently gave the go-ahead for eBooks. Don't know if they're out and being stolen..."

Your publisher should take a look at Baen Books for an example of how to adapt to a changing market. Baen offers a free library of books and regularly releases CDs with free content. They also have electronic ARCs as well as regular ebooks and physical books all for purchase.

There will always be a certain segment of the population that would rather get something for nothing - you can't change that, whether you're looking at physical or digital goods. What you can change is the availability of goods and ease of purchase. If you've got both of those then people who want to buy will buy. And those others who won't would never have been a paying customer to begin with.

If we use Rowling's books as an example; all of the Harry Potter books (except for the first one - it took longer because it wasn't populate to start) were available for digital download within hours of the physical books being released to the public. That shows you that there was unmet demand...if there had been an official digital release at the same time at as the physical release, then a certain quantity of those that downloaded it would have purchased it electronically. I would have, certainly!

The point is, publishers don't have to make an electronic version available - if there isn't one already, someone will make one.

At the end of the day, customers don't care *why* they can't purchase a particular digital good. They only care that they can't purchase and will find another way of getting what they want - publishers need to start listening to their customers.

[Greig]

Helen is right - publishers need to listen to their customers... and the market. I think publishers still lack a lot of information on the the pirating process: Why do people download - is it just beating the system, or purely financial, or can't get their fav book due to geographical constraints? If it is financial, is it because, they buy so many they need better group discounting. or maybe they're not sure they'll like it, so decide to reduce their risk.

Also, each publisher swears its not their production equality eBooks being pirated - if thats the case, where exactly are the eFormats coming from?

The eProduct is different. For paperbacks if you wanted a book but didn't like the price or weren't sure, you could wait for the second hand market to get a lower cost copy. You can't do that with eBooks - your choices are: Get it a RRP, Don't get it, or Download it free. Marketing 101 - if someone has bucks to spend, get them to spend them with you!

[Al "Tank"]

Greig wrote: "Helen is right - publishers need to listen to their customers... and the market. I think publishers still lack a lot of information on the the pirating process: Why do people download - is it just ..."

We only produce eBooks. Period. That's our bread and butter and that of our authors. We keep our prices down to discourage pirating, but that doesn't seem to make any difference to the slimes of the world who can justify anything in their minds as long as they get something for nothing.

None of your arguments applies in this case. We've tried 99 cent books to give people a break and to see if the cheapskate crowd will come aboard in sufficient numbers to make it worthwhile -- nothing. We did better at a higher price. So the cheapskates will settle for nothing less than "free" and I'm here to tell you that we can't make a living at that price (can you?).

The publishing world is also aware of these facts of life (granted they're coming into the world of eBooks kicking and screaming -- partially because of the theft problem). They have more inertia than a small outfit like us, but they also have deeper pockets and legal staffs to go after the torrent sites and make their lives a living hell.

The movie industry just put one of the largest "sharing" sites out of business because the operators refused to remove copyrighted material. Shortsighted, since the site also served a legitimate function that many people, even in the industry, approved of. But they just couldn't break away from the idea of "shafting the big guys".

They and their customers conveniently forget that most of the people who get shafted by them are "little guys" just trying to break into print/film/song/whatever. They hold down "day" jobs while pursuing a dream in their spare time; a dream that they torrents destroy without any feelings of guilt.

[[deleted user]]

Sorry if your company is having issues but do you really think those who pirated copies of your books would have been paying customers if the pirate copy wasn't available?

The Baen example above is a perfect example of success with shook publishing. If you assume there will always be x amount of pirating and instead of worrying about that, you focus on making your paying customers happy, then you're on the right path. I spend $50 to $60 a month on ebooks - which is more than I spent on pbooks before my first kindle. People like most of us here are the ones the industry should be chasing and trying to please.

[Sharon]

Geoffrey wrote: "I spend $50 to $60 a month on ebooks - which is more than I spent on pbooks before my first kindle. People like most of us here are the ones the industry should be chasing and trying to please. "

This seems to be my experience as well. I have been spending at least twice as much a month on books now that I have a Kindle that I did before eBooks were available, maybe more.

[Al "Tank"]

Interesting point, Geoffrey and Sharon. I'll have to mull it over.

My problem is that I have a visceral hatred of thieves, even when they're not stealing from me or anyone I know. Just don't like the breed at all.

[Greig]

Al wrote: "Interesting point, Geoffrey and Sharon. I'll have to mull it over.

My problem is that I have a visceral hatred of thieves, even when they're not stealing from me or anyone I know. Just don't like ..."

The pirates (manuscript thieves, file sharers) should be put out of business, but the individual readers should be attracted back into the fold. There is evidence now, that people are reading more than ever - its not uncommon for readers to download 50 books a month - for that volume people start to become price sensitive.

I have also seen exit interviews where people try and get the book they want legitimately first, then admit to downloading an illegal if it is blocked for geographical reasons.

I don't think pirating will ever go away, but as long as we can make access to the books easier, and offer a good product at a sensible price, then the industry can reduce the attractiveness of the pirated product.

[Helen]

Al, in order to counteract the 'just-want-it-for-free' mentality, the publishing industry needs to go further than just pricing books cheaply; these days authors need to build an online presence so that fans feel like they know the person. This creates loyalty, builds their brand and encourages people to buy. Because, after all, they know the author and s/he's a really great person and they like the idea of supporting someone they know. It leads to recommendations to others which grows the audience. Take a look at Patrick Rothfuss' blog (he's just passed the $170,000 mark on a fundraiser which gives you an idea of his reach) or John Scalzi's blog (the Big Idea sections are a great source of new authors) for an example of someone who is doing it right.

I will add, the first John Scalzi book I read was pirated. It blew my mind and I went straight out and bought a copy. I'm now the proud owner of all of his books and I have recommended him to a number of people, most of whom have also purchased his work.

[Terra]

I think the price is too high when they charge the same amount for an ebook as they would for a hard back copy of the book.

[Sharon]

Terra wrote: "I think the price is too high when they charge the same amount for an ebook as they would for a hard back copy of the book."

Personally, I don't feel this way but then I'm looking at a 50-year history of buying hardback (or paperback) books and only 3 months of buying eBooks.

But for 10 years now, I've bought the books on my 'auto buy' ... buy because I like the authors/series and know I will want to keep the book to re-read ... through Amazon mostly because I do not have access to a local bookstore. This means I've paid the price of the book, plus the postage. So even if I'm paying 'hardback price' for an eBook now, I'm still paying $4 less per book because there's no shipping.

I know it isn't a tangible 'thing' but I can read it and save it to be re-read ... which is basically the same thing I'm paying for if I buy a hardback.

[Al "Tank"]

I have to agree with Terra. eBooks still have an economic advantage over hardbacks -- even paperbacks, because the cost of distribution is lower and there is no risk of returns. Not only that, it never goes out of print until the copyright expires.

There is the increased risk of theft (as we've discussed) that honest people will have to make up by not enjoying as low a price as could be possible with an increase in legal sales.

The cost of production up to the printing press is the same, however, a 99-cent price just isn't high enough to keep legitimate publishers in business (they have to pay the editors that elevate a good book into a superb book).

However, I can easily see a $13 paperback selling for $8 in eBook form. The most expensive eBook we publish goes for $9.50; it's 1/2 the size of War and Peace, and more fun to read. The rest of our current offerings hover around $5 +/- $2.

[Terra]

Please don't confuse us with too much math. But your right.

[Sunny]

If it costs the same or more than the paper copy, it is too high for me. The overhead is less for e-books so it shouldn't cost more. I will not pay over $10 for an e-book. If it's a book I really want, I prefer the paper version.

[J.R.]

I think it largely depends on the type/ length of the book. Of course cheap is always good. But I'm willing to pay a bit more for something that sounds extraordinary. Having said that I think my price limit for a book is about £10.00 ($15) but I would have to know and love the author to pieces, or know (somehow) that the book would be fantastic. So for an ebook my price limit probably falls around the £5-6 ($8-9) mark.

[Ann]

I think I'm more interested in quality than in price. I've been disappointed by many ebooks because poor editing ruins the reading experience. It's a little disconcerting that the reading public seems willing to plop down ninety-nine cents for junk, delete it because it was trash and buy another cheapie. Better to check out pro quality reviews and pick reading material based on that rather than on price.

[Kat]

This will cost you two cents. How much I pay for a book depends on how much I want it, print or electronic. A lot depends on how wealthy I'm feeling too. As for piracy, so many ebooks are not available to Australia because of copyright restrictions that I am not above "borrowing" from friends. Or lending for that matter.

Another thought is that authors, publishers don't make anything from second hand books. One paperback can pass through a multitude of hands with no one paying the piper.

[Jeffery]

Kat wrote: "This will cost you two cents. How much I pay for a book depends on how much I want it, print or electronic. A lot depends on how wealthy I'm feeling too. As for piracy, so many ebooks are not avail..."

The copyright restrictions are an issue for people in a lot of countries.

Personally, as an author, I don't have a problem with people sharing my book, to a certain extent. Sometimes it results in good word of mouth and recommendations that lead to more sales. There are some more vicious forms of piracy out there though that completely undercut an author getting well deserved revenue for their hard work.

[Jeffery]

I agree with Ann that a lot of the 99 cent stuff can be garbage. In that case, you get what you pay for.

But I think self published and commercially published books need to work within the market and realize that there is a price limit that is excessive. They aren't hardbound books after all and I don't think charging the same rate is reasonable.

There seem to be a lot of really well done books in the 3-5 dollar range (like mine:)

I think in this range (primarily with self published authors) you have a lot of authors who realize they can't expect to charge 8 dollars, like a major publisher, but also stand by the quality of their work and the time put in it, so won't price down to 99cents. It's not a hard and fast rule, but there seems to be a correlation there.

[Liz]

Just a quick post regarding Harry Potter. Those books still have not been released from the publisher in ebook form. I joined Pottermore last summer and the public was told the books would be available in October. Now they say that because the site is buggy, (its really just a crappy flash game that has nothing to do with obtaining the books) the beta period is extended and the books won't be available until early 2012.

So, unless someone from Scholastic leaked the electronic versions years ago, any copies you see are pirated copies. I saw ebook copies of the books back when I got my 1st gen Kindle, which is what 4-5 years ago?

R.S., that's the hook that always grabs me. :) If you have quality work, and I obtain it free or at a bargain price, I'm likely to pay more for the rest of the series and/or your other works.
As for Kindle Prime lending...I'm not sure how popular it really is. I have a hard time finding anything interesting in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. Plus with users being limited to 1 book a month, it doesn't really seem worth it (for me at least).

[Terra]

@ liz: I love your avi. Seeing that tardis reminds me to ask my husband to download the whole new Dr. Who shows.

NO BODY TOPS TOM BAKER!!!....except for the sexy David Tenent!!!!

[Liz]

@Terra, Thanks! You never forget your first Doctor, and Tom Baker was mine as well. Although Tenent and Smith are high on my list as well. But that's another topic.

[Terra]

I am not a big fan of Matt smith, although he makes a good Doctor Who, he looks a little too emo for my taste.