PaulCornell.com: The Twelve Blogs of Christmas: Ten

PaulCornell.com: The Twelve Blogs of Christmas: Ten:

"1: Publishers have always thought that when you buy a hardback, what you're paying more for is the chance to own it on the day of publication. Paperbacks are cheaper because they come out a year later. The reading public, on the other hand, always thought what they were paying more for was the extra physical mass and quality. (Actually, a hardback costs, one publisher told me, only from 50p to a couple of pounds more to make.) So obviously publishers think an e-book, out on the day of publication, should cost the same as a hardback. And obviously the reading public think it should cost less than a paperback. From this difference in perception stem all subsequent horrors."

I don't believe this for one second. I believe you were told this, but there is no way that hardcovers are more expensive because they come out first.