Comments on: Are We Having the Wrong Conversation About EBook Pricing? http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/ the 26th Story Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:13:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Josh Loy http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-4264 Josh Loy Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:15:31 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-4264 You're on the right track for sure. Ebooks are an entirely new medium, geared toward people with time to burn on train, plane, or bus commutes, or simply lunch breaks, boring office meetings, etc. The real price of reading a book is the time needed to do so. Make that price "cheap" by making books easier to read with electronic devices that go where customers go easily, and you CREATE a new market for books where little to no market existed before. Pricing should be commensurate of the author's struggle to create the content, the content distribution price (in the case of ebooks it's quite negligible), and the desirability of the work in question. Ebook prices HAVE to be lower by at least half of normal hardcopy prices or people will be angry that they're being ripped off.<br>Authors should not worry: ebook sales will guarantee higher royalties and more importantly, much more IMMEDIATE royalty payment than traditional publishing offers. Authors typically make only 1-2 dollars per hardcopy sold, but have been making up to 50% on ebooks, a gain of about 400% in royalty fees/copy sold. <br>Not only that, but as the trend escalates, we may see big authors moving away from traditional publishing to offer ebooks on their own websites and only selling print rights to publishers so that they can keep the money generated by their intellectual product. <br>Adding music and graphics back to books is exciting . . . and inevitable. It costs very little more to add these things to a published ebook, whereas adding them to a published print book can involve much more expenditure. You're on the right track for sure. Ebooks are an entirely new medium, geared toward people with time to burn on train, plane, or bus commutes, or simply lunch breaks, boring office meetings, etc. The real price of reading a book is the time needed to do so. Make that price “cheap” by making books easier to read with electronic devices that go where customers go easily, and you CREATE a new market for books where little to no market existed before. Pricing should be commensurate of the author's struggle to create the content, the content distribution price (in the case of ebooks it's quite negligible), and the desirability of the work in question. Ebook prices HAVE to be lower by at least half of normal hardcopy prices or people will be angry that they're being ripped off.
Authors should not worry: ebook sales will guarantee higher royalties and more importantly, much more IMMEDIATE royalty payment than traditional publishing offers. Authors typically make only 1-2 dollars per hardcopy sold, but have been making up to 50% on ebooks, a gain of about 400% in royalty fees/copy sold.
Not only that, but as the trend escalates, we may see big authors moving away from traditional publishing to offer ebooks on their own websites and only selling print rights to publishers so that they can keep the money generated by their intellectual product.
Adding music and graphics back to books is exciting . . . and inevitable. It costs very little more to add these things to a published ebook, whereas adding them to a published print book can involve much more expenditure.

]]> By: arson http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-4008 arson Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:42:11 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-4008 Who wouldn't like to save money when they go grocery shopping? The good news is, it's not as hard as you may think. It's heard some people say that clipping coupons takes time. Personally, I think it's worth my time to save the amount of money I do. Also, keep in mind that like everything, the more you do it the easier it becomes. After a while you'll work out a system that is right for you and it will become less and less time consuming. Who wouldn't like to save money when they go grocery shopping? The good news is, it's not as hard as you may think. It's heard some people say that clipping coupons takes time. Personally, I think it's worth my time to save the amount of money I do. Also, keep in mind that like everything, the more you do it the easier it becomes. After a while you'll work out a system that is right for you and it will become less and less time consuming.

]]> By: arson http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-3983 arson Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:42:11 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-3983 Who wouldn't like to save money when they go grocery shopping? The good news is, it's not as hard as you may think. It's heard some people say that clipping coupons takes time. Personally, I think it's worth my time to save the amount of money I do. Also, keep in mind that like everything, the more you do it the easier it becomes. After a while you'll work out a system that is right for you and it will become less and less time consuming. Who wouldn't like to save money when they go grocery shopping? The good news is, it's not as hard as you may think. It's heard some people say that clipping coupons takes time. Personally, I think it's worth my time to save the amount of money I do. Also, keep in mind that like everything, the more you do it the easier it becomes. After a while you'll work out a system that is right for you and it will become less and less time consuming.

]]> By: Scielaycync http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-3064 Scielaycync Thu, 28 May 2009 01:44:12 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-3064 My friend just tell me and I can't believe it, Mike's daughter are dead so tragedy and so sad. I am a big fan of him, he is a great guy, best boxer - crazy little bet but <a href="http://clifornia-primier-repairs.info/ca/" rel="nofollow"> every </a> body know him and like him. My friend just tell me and I can’t believe it, Mike’s daughter are dead so tragedy and so sad. I am a big fan of him, he is a great guy, best boxer – crazy little bet but every body know him and like him.

]]> By: sebastian mary http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-2312 sebastian mary Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:25:54 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-2312 Great discussion. I just wrote an article arguing that long-form writing is intrinsic to the constraints of print publishing - and that if eBooks take off, they'll work for a radically different type of content. There's some suggestions there that I won't revisit here but are relevant to this conversation - I'd be interested in your comments! http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/archives/2009/03/will_the_real_ipod_for_reading.html Great discussion. I just wrote an article arguing that long-form writing is intrinsic to the constraints of print publishing – and that if eBooks take off, they’ll work for a radically different type of content. There’s some suggestions there that I won’t revisit here but are relevant to this conversation – I’d be interested in your comments!

http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/archives/2009/03/will_the_real_ipod_for_reading.html

]]> By: http://rich-niche.info/cookie/img/smilies/happy.gif http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-2280 http://rich-niche.info/cookie/img/smilies/happy.gif Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:06:40 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-2280 nice! [IMG]http://rich-niche.info/cookie/img/smilies/happy.gif[/IMG] nice! [IMG]http://rich-niche.info/cookie/img/smilies/happy.gif[/IMG]

]]> By: Jaya Kumar http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-2155 Jaya Kumar Sat, 07 Mar 2009 11:15:30 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-2155 Debbie, newer e-book formats (HTML5 can be considered an e-book format too) are already multimedia enabled. The devices are capable of handling this too. Debbie, newer e-book formats (HTML5 can be considered an e-book format too) are already multimedia enabled. The devices are capable of handling this too.

]]> By: The Abbeville Manual of Style | Abbeville Press Blog » Blog Archive » Books Are Radio, E-Books Are TV? http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-2120 The Abbeville Manual of Style | Abbeville Press Blog » Blog Archive » Books Are Radio, E-Books Are TV? Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:34:13 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-2120 [...] at HarperStudio, Debbie Stier has also enthusiastically echoed this idea, and elaborated on [...] [...] at HarperStudio, Debbie Stier has also enthusiastically echoed this idea, and elaborated on [...]

]]> By: Please don’t add multimedia to eBooks. … « Paul M. Watson http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-2087 Please don’t add multimedia to eBooks. … « Paul M. Watson Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:58:28 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-2087 [...] pm on March 3, 2009 | # | Tags: books, gadgets Please don’t add multimedia to eBooks. I want to read them on low-power eInk devices with batteries that last weeks. Please don’t [...] [...] pm on March 3, 2009 | # | Tags: books, gadgets Please don’t add multimedia to eBooks. I want to read them on low-power eInk devices with batteries that last weeks. Please don’t [...]

]]> By: Times Emit: Apt’s links for March 1st http://theharperstudio.com/2009/02/are-we-having-the-wrong-conversation-about-ebook-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-2052 Times Emit: Apt’s links for March 1st Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:30:31 +0000 http://theharperstudio.com/?p=2481#comment-2052 [...] Are We Having the Wrong Conversation About EBook Pricing? | HarperStudio - Duly noted the comments. [...] [...] Are We Having the Wrong Conversation About EBook Pricing? | HarperStudio – Duly noted the comments. [...]

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