Seriously, Barnes & Noble and Little, Brown? You don't see anything wrong with pricing an e-book at $18 when the real thing sells, brand, spanking new for $21?
Sam, How disgusting! On my Nook wishlist, which I watch everyday for pricing... I have noticed in the last month or so, some of the e-books have actually gone up in price. Numerous ones that have stayed up. In the past, they may go up for a week or so, and then back down. I have been so mad about it, I have made a pact to myself to not buy ANY ebooks until I see them go down. HA like that will happen. I can't figure it out, you'd think they would like to sell something!
eBook pricing is one of biggest peeves about the publishing industry. I've seen it in cases where the eBook is as much as the hardcover, more than the paperback edition!
According to publishers, if they lower the price of e-books, they devalue them in the minds of buyers. Never mind that publishers already devalue them when they slap DRM on them and/or put out a product riddled with errors.
Are books even selling well in this economy? I know I use the library a bit more, and I dont buy as much, I wonder what others are doing. You would think that these companies would take this into effect.
Interesting comments on e-book pricing, guys. I really think that publishers are guilty of price-gouging on e-books because they understand that anyone already having shelled out a hundred or so dollars for a reader is going to feel compelled to feed it.
And they add insult to injury by insisting that DRM book files are the only way to go. Buyers are being fooled into thinking they own the equivalent of a physical books, maybe even something better. What they DO own is inferior in every way except for portability. And I don't buy books based on their ease of handling and moving...otherwise, I would never buy a book longer than 150 pages.
Greed is an ugly thing and, in this case, it is causing publishers to kill off all their golden geese book buyers...already a dying breed in a society whose members are more interested in illiterately texting the world all day long. Shame on 'em all.
I truly don't mind letting my Nook sit on the shelf. I would rather read a real life book than that anyway. I just think they are shooting themselves in the foot!
Kayo, that makes you smarter than the average bear. Recognizing that throwing good money after bad is not a wise thing seems to be beyond the reckoning of lots of people. They feel that the only way to justify (rationalize, really) the purchase of an expensive reader is to keep feeding it fresh books. Publishers know that, believe me.
I wonder if this is Ms. Rowling's doing. She is the 900 pound gorilla, you know. She can dictate her own terms.
At a local book shop this weekend I saw a little sign posted next to the poster for this book which said that only a limited number of copies were going to be printed and that there'd be no second printing.
Maybe she's doing something to get people motivated to buy print books.
As a lover of print books, I'm all for anything that keeps them around a little while longer. I'm realist enough to know that their days are probably numbered.
James, it would not surprise me to learn that Rowling is dictating that e-book price. She seems to have that kind of clout with the reading public...can't believe there are long lines in bookstores for this one. She has turned into a marketing machine, looks like, but this is an adult novel that is said to be very different from the Potter books. She has become a Brand Name...god help us all.
You know, even if new print books end up being sold at premium prices, that's still what I will be buying. E-books are such a different experience that I don't really want to "own" them.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteHow disgusting! On my Nook wishlist, which I watch everyday for pricing... I have noticed in the last month or so, some of the e-books have actually gone up in price. Numerous ones that have stayed up. In the past, they may go up for a week or so, and then back down. I have been so mad about it, I have made a pact to myself to not buy ANY ebooks until I see them go down. HA like that will happen. I can't figure it out, you'd think they would like to sell something!
eBook pricing is one of biggest peeves about the publishing industry. I've seen it in cases where the eBook is as much as the hardcover, more than the paperback edition!
ReplyDeleteAccording to publishers, if they lower the price of e-books, they devalue them in the minds of buyers. Never mind that publishers already devalue them when they slap DRM on them and/or put out a product riddled with errors.
ReplyDeleteAre books even selling well in this economy? I know I use the library a bit more, and I dont buy as much, I wonder what others are doing. You would think that these companies would take this into effect.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments on e-book pricing, guys. I really think that publishers are guilty of price-gouging on e-books because they understand that anyone already having shelled out a hundred or so dollars for a reader is going to feel compelled to feed it.
ReplyDeleteAnd they add insult to injury by insisting that DRM book files are the only way to go. Buyers are being fooled into thinking they own the equivalent of a physical books, maybe even something better. What they DO own is inferior in every way except for portability. And I don't buy books based on their ease of handling and moving...otherwise, I would never buy a book longer than 150 pages.
Greed is an ugly thing and, in this case, it is causing publishers to kill off all their golden geese book buyers...already a dying breed in a society whose members are more interested in illiterately texting the world all day long. Shame on 'em all.
I truly don't mind letting my Nook sit on the shelf. I would rather read a real life book than that anyway. I just think they are shooting themselves in the foot!
ReplyDeleteKayo, that makes you smarter than the average bear. Recognizing that throwing good money after bad is not a wise thing seems to be beyond the reckoning of lots of people. They feel that the only way to justify (rationalize, really) the purchase of an expensive reader is to keep feeding it fresh books. Publishers know that, believe me.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this is Ms. Rowling's doing. She is the 900 pound gorilla, you know. She can dictate her own terms.
ReplyDeleteAt a local book shop this weekend I saw a little sign posted next to the poster for this book which said that only a limited number of copies were going to be printed and that there'd be no second printing.
Maybe she's doing something to get people motivated to buy print books.
As a lover of print books, I'm all for anything that keeps them around a little while longer. I'm realist enough to know that their days are probably numbered.
James, it would not surprise me to learn that Rowling is dictating that e-book price. She seems to have that kind of clout with the reading public...can't believe there are long lines in bookstores for this one. She has turned into a marketing machine, looks like, but this is an adult novel that is said to be very different from the Potter books. She has become a Brand Name...god help us all.
ReplyDeleteYou know, even if new print books end up being sold at premium prices, that's still what I will be buying. E-books are such a different experience that I don't really want to "own" them.