Monday, August 29, 2011

Mike Shatzkin thinks all authors should support agency pricing | TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics

Mike Shatzkin thinks all authors should support agency pricing | TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics:
But instead, publishers seem to be desperately putting the cart before the horse. “Because our e-books cost this much, then this is how much e-books are supposed to cost. See? We wouldn’t be pricing them like that if they weren’t supposed to be that expensive! Now pay up and be happy.” They’re not pricing to maximize profit, they’re pricing to try to keep their ailing business model alive. Meanwhile, more progressive publishers like Baen have been happily selling e-books at $6 each, and even bundling Internet-sharable CD-ROMs full of them into printed books, for years without apparent detriment to their business.

The longer e-book pricing subsidizes the luxury-print-book industry the longer authours and readers will be mired in a limbo of overpriced/underpriced books.

No comments:

Post a Comment