Traditional publishing continue to lose out on ebook sales to indie

[The Bluestocking]

I agree with your thoughts on pricing but I guess some publishers are still taking the same approach to hardback/paperback that they always have. ie. delaying publication of the paperback (at the lower price) to protect the sales of the hardback (at the higher price). Don't they make more profit from hardback sales or something? And I figure they can't justify delaying publication of the ebook so they price it high initially to protect the hardback sales.

I'm not trying to justify this behaviour (I've always considered the delay in publishing paperbacks to be morally questionable), just saying it is effectively a continuation of what they've always done to protect hardback sales. Although as you have observed some publishers are not doing this, many certainly are. I typically find myself having to wait until publication of the paperback before I can sensibly buy the ebook. It's annoying, but I can live with the delay when I have such a backlog of book on my wish list!

Jacqueline Carey's new book is just out and the e-book is priced the same as the hardback. I told Jacqueline that I have added her book to my wishlist and will get it once it's down to paperback price. She said no worries. It just sucks that I can't buy the new release straightaway to support my favourite authors (like Jacqueline) because of the ridiculous pricing...

 

[thaddeus6th]

I rarely spend more than £4, and usually spend much less, on e-books. The only exception that springs to mind is the Stormlight Archives (first two entries, haven't got the third yet), but those books are very large, about 1,000 pages in print.

If a price is just taking the piss, I won't buy it. I prefer a real book to an e-book, but the latter does have advantages of storage space, price, and delivery speed. If price is taken out of the equation, it doesn't make sense. And the contemptible practice of hiking the price to try and drive 'real' sales annoys me enough not to consider buying the real version*.

*In cases where I was going to get the real version anyway (mostly history) I still do, but the practice remains uncivilised.

 

[Parson]

I might be a rare exception, but perhaps not. I don't see any relevance with the price of a book and the quality of it's content. I see a high price as a mark of an author who has an established following and everyone is sure that ten of thousands of people will shell out $15-$30 to have a read. Since I got a Kindle, I have paid a high price exactly twice to get a hard cover version. If I have read nothing of the author or if I have and feel that theirs (like most) are no better than an indy novel, I feel it is a waste of money to pay for one book, what three or more should cost.

 

[Edward M. Grant]

I don't see any relevance with the price of a book and the quality of it's content.

Unfortunately, a lot of self-published writers do, and chuck out their book for $0.99 rather than whatever the prevailing price is for their market. As I touched on above, I think it hurts a lot of them, because low price says low quality to many readers.

I see a high price as a mark of an author who has an established following and everyone is sure that ten of thousands of people will shell out $15-$30 to have a read.

Generally speaking, trade publishers don't say 'this is a new writer that no-one's heard of, so we'll put their book out for $0.99'. They publish it for the same price as that new Cussler or Patterson novel, or maybe a buck or two less.

You're right, though, that those new writers usually won't get a hardcover release, and some don't even get paperbacks any more, just ebooks. So they don't expect readers to pay $30 for a hardcover from a writer they've never heard of, but still expect $10 for the ebook.

And they probably should be discounting new writers who don't have an established following, at least down into the $5 range.

 

[awesomesauce]

It does annoy me when I see new ebooks from authors such as Lee Child and Stephen King selling for US$13.50 (A$17.99), when my (small) publisher can make a profit selling ebooks for under US$4. And while none of us have the 'name' or pulling power of those writers, the many books I have read from my fellow authors have been just as satisfying.

Or novella pricing! (I'm looking at you, Tor!) I don't know what's going on with pricing, but nobody publishes anything I want to read bad enough to shell out 12-15 USD for less than 200 pages.

 

[Parson]

Unfortunately, a lot of self-published writers do, and chuck out their book for $0.99 rather than whatever the prevailing price is for their market. As I touched on above, I think it hurts a lot of them, because low price says low quality to many readers.

Of course I have no statistics, but speaking for myself if I were to publish a novel I would want to make the very best quality story I could, and I would want as many people as possible to read it, so I might just put it out a $.99 I cannot buy that "many" readers believe "low price says low quality." My suspicion is that more readers are like me. I look at a book at $.99 and say: "That sounds interesting and I can afford $.99 even if it's bad." On the other hand if I look at a book for $15.99 I am very, very likely to say. "That sounds interesting, but I don't think I'm going to shell out that kind of money on a whim."

Related to this discussion, I'd be willing to take a flyer on something up to about $5. A few years ago that figure was $3.

 

[The Bluestocking]

It really does look like the general consensus is that a fiver is about the right price for an e-book.

 

[awesomesauce]

My suspicion is that more readers are like me. I look at a book at $.99 and say: "That sounds interesting and I can afford $.99 even if it's bad." On the other hand if I look at a book for $15.99 I am very, very likely to say. "That sounds interesting, but I don't think I'm going to shell out that kind of money on a whim."

I'm way more likely to take a chance on something I've never heard of by someone I've never heard of if it's in the .99 range. If it's good, I'll happily buy more of their stuff at higher prices. If it's dire, I'm only out a buck, and now I know.

Related to this discussion, I'd be willing to take a flyer on something up to about $5. A few years ago that figure was $3.

Not me. My cap for "random book looks interesting" is $2. No matter how good something sounds, I'm not likely to spend much on an unknown quantity; there are some great self published writers, and there are some who put more effort into slick covers and blurbs and marketing than they do into the actual book, and you have no way of telling which is which until you've actually read one of their books.

Same goes for books by unknowns from publishing houses. They're less likely to have multitudes of egregious typos, but they can still be pretty bad and I've encountered some I'd have been sad if I'd spent good money on them; love my library card.

I guess what it comes down to is: there are enough books I haven't read by writers I already know I like, and an ever-growing list recommended by people whose taste I know and trust, if I'm spending money.

 

[thaddeus6th]

How many people download samples before buying? I do that quite a lot, especially for authors whose stuff I haven't read before. Seems a risk-free way of getting a reasonably good idea if said book is worth buying.

 

[HareBrain]

How many people download samples before buying?

I do, mostly by using "look inside" on Amazon.

 

[Vertigo]

I guess what it comes down to is: there are enough books I haven't read by writers I already know I like, and an ever-growing list recommended by people whose taste I know and trust, if I'm spending money.

This is me!

 

[awesomesauce]

How many people download samples before buying? I do that quite a lot, especially for authors whose stuff I haven't read before. Seems a risk-free way of getting a reasonably good idea if said book is worth buying.

That'll tell you if the book's been copy edited and the writer can string together coherent sentences. It doesn't tell you if they can manage a book length narrative and bring it together in a satisfying resolution.

I have a passionate hatred for the weasel endings, where the writer doesn't provide a good ending and, usually in comments somewhere or interviews, offers a pretentious, mealy-mouthed justification like "I wanted to leave it up to the reader's interpretation."

Motherf.... That is not how this is supposed to work.

If I wanted to make up my own ending, I'd have picked a choose-your-own-adventure. Or written my own damn story.

 

[Cathbad]

I sometimes use Amazon's "Look Inside" feature, but it's the blurb that sells the book to me. I've only rarely been disappointed - there is definitely a plethora of fine storytellers out there!

And because of that single fact, I'm not spending an outrageous amount for Trad-Ebooks. I have a few authors from whom I will continue buying paperbacks, but I will not stress my limited income on ridiculously priced Ebooks, nor reward those Trad Publishers by buying the paperbacks "instead"!

 

[HareBrain]

That'll tell you if the book's been copy edited and the writer can string together coherent sentences. It doesn't tell you if they can manage a book length narrative and bring it together in a satisfying resolution.

As well as basic prose skills, you should be able to tell in the first couple of pages whether the author has a feeling for character, setting, hook, pacing etc. It's by no means foolproof, and you're right that it can't save you from getting burned by a weasel ending, so I have a quick look at reviews too.

I have to confess, though, that I quite often go into "look inside" looking for faults, like an agent with a slush pile, and I might have done myself out of some good reads as a result.

 

[awesomesauce]

I have to confess, though, that I quite often go into "look inside" looking for faults, like an agent with a slush pile, and I might have done myself out of some good reads as a result.

Given how much there is to read out there, you have to select somehow. I think the worst isn't the waste of money on an unsatisfying book, it's the waste of time. There's no replacement for the time, and in the sum total of your life, the hours spent on a crappy book are a good book you never got to read.

(Wow I'm so maudlin today!)

 

[awesomesauce]

it's the blurb that sells the book to me.

My big turn off right now is the "blurbs" that are a thousand words long. I've been seeing these things on Amazon, they go on for pages, and I'm like, "What are you doing? Do you even know what a blurb is? Some of us have things to do today!"

 

[Cathbad]

My big turn off right now is the "blurbs" that are a thousand words long. I've been seeing these things on Amazon, they go on for pages, and I'm like, "What are you doing? Do you even know what a blurb is? Some of us have things to do today!"

I wouldn't even read one that long, and they would have no sale with me.

 

[Edward M. Grant]

Given how much there is to read out there, you have to select somehow. I think the worst isn't the waste of money on an unsatisfying book, it's the waste of time. There's no replacement for the time, and in the sum total of your life, the hours spent on a crappy book are a good book you never got to read.

Yeah, exactly. In the time I'd take to hunt through the $0.99 slush pile and find a book worth reading, I could have earned enough to pay for a $9.99 book that I know I'd want to read.

 

[Cathbad]

Yeah, exactly. In the time I'd take to hunt through the $0.99 slush pile and find a book worth reading, I could have earned enough to pay for a $9.99 book that I know I'd want to read.

Take a chance! On the risk of a dollar, you might find a rose!