Welcome! Another week of GREAT books! Post by NOON every Sunday!
This week's discussion is about the price of ebooks and an article I happened upon which I thought you might find interesting and very educational. The article is just a little over a year old, prior to the lawsuit you'll read about, but it talks about the prices/pricing of ebooks being fixed when the Ipad came out by Apple and most of the big publishers also price fixing the ebooks. You can find that article "HERE".
When the Ipad came out, Apple was accused of the price fixing of ebooks, as well as some of the big publishers. A judge agreed that Apple in particular, DID price fix the cost of ebooks along with some of the big publishers. There were two separate lawsuits about it, including the big publishers, but they ended up settling OUT of court. This next article is more current because the lawsuit went to court for Apple in June 2013, so this article is from July 10th, 2013. You can find that article "HERE".
VICTORY FOR US, as some of the prices were inching up to $14.99 for new releases.
Consensus was: the ebooks WERE price-fixed. That judge DID side for us, the consumer, but supposedly only for a period of two years, and you can read that in the 2nd article.
You really should read the first article is it is very informative. It really breaks down the price of publishing books and ebooks. Even if you are not interested in the specifics of what the lawsuit was about or the price fixing, you really learn a lot about what it takes money-wise to get a book out to the public, either printed or an ebook for a publisher. It explains what the publishers have to pay, what books cost to accept and pay an author, the cost of Editors, (generally 5 editors for ONE book!), and the many other people involved, plus the general cost to make a book/ebook. It is very educational.
They brought up the point that publishers have not yet embraced the ebook as of yet and I have to agree with that article, even if it was written in 2012.
Although, after this court case, and settling out of court, STILL recently, J K Rowling's The Casual Vacancy ebook when first released was priced at $19.99! OW! Was the super high price because of her name? That was the speculation. It has since dropped to $7.99 NOW! Wow! The book did not do well, either, but now her NEW book, The Cuckoo's Calling, written under the pen name of Robert Galbraith, (it DID work for her to use the pen name) did extremely well. People eventually found out about the pen name, and now you will see it associated with the book. That ebook's price dropped within the week and is now at $5.99! I allowed myself to buy that book at $10.99! I feel cheated now! LOL!
I know many of you who have been reading this post since I first began writing it about 1-1/2 years ago you have heard me complain quite a bit over time about increasing prices of ebooks, especially as the prices were climbing and climbing every few months when new releases came out. I still think some books are priced way too high, especially when they dare to ask $14.99, which thankfully it is not often at all.
I do think the publishers are catching on now, though, because a lot of the books are priced at $10.99, which is very affordable, and most people can afford to spend that on an ebook. I wonder if the $10.99 price is another drop because of the lawsuit? I don't know. Many ebooks were priced at $12.99, and are now releasing at the $10.99 price . . . yet in the same breath, some release at $11.99, so . . . I don't know?
Many people felt there is not much to an ebook cost-wise. Yes, you have the editors, but no production costs anywhere NEAR the cost for a hardcover or paperback, especially when you read that article, don't you think publishers possibly need to 'streamline'? I do.
Independent authors also have to pay fees like these outlined in the article, but they are generally able to pay much less than what a publisher does, hence the ability of the abundance of Independent Authors. We LOVE them, don't we! There are MANY established authors who publish ebooks on their own now, too. They have ditched the publicist and publishers and are doing it on their own. Then we had the 'diamonds' that publishers never gave two-cents worth, now published on their own and the publisher's have gobbled them up! I love to see that, especially when
My opinion about the price of ebooks is it IS much less expensive to make an ebook, AND is also environmentally friendly than printing thousands or millions of books, as so many people much prefer to use an ereader to read, myself included. Also, we can take ebooks with us anywhere without the weight! Plus for people with vision problems like myself, I can read much easier with the Pearl Ink than I can from a book, and better than I can from a white background, but even then, if you want that white background, you can have it! It's limitless!
Talking about prices for myself, I don't know about you, but I put a price limit on what I am willing to pay for an ebook which is generally $10, and even with that price limit, I only allow myself ONE book a month at that price. The rest of the ebooks I buy I generally keep at about $3.99 or less, unless I have an awesome author whom I LOVE, and even then, their book generally sells for a little under $8.00, which falls a little close to that $10 mark. It depends on how badly I want to read that book, which is usually pretty bad!
One other thing I want to point out which NEITHER article did. Notice 'who' prices the ebook. You will see Amazon state if it is an Amazon digital price, or that the Publisher set the price. So even though there was that lawsuit, publishers ARE STILL price setting ebooks. I prefer the Amazon prices, as generally they fall over time. Take for instance that one book in the second article which they stated sold for $12.99, now it is down to $8.00, and the publisher set that price! So 'maybe' publishers are finally understanding that ebook MUST be reasonable in order for the public to purchase them! Let's hope so!
On to the books!
FICTION: COMBINED PRINT AND EBOOK
1. The Hero (Thunder Point) by Robyn Carr
Print book: $7.19
ebook: $5.99
2. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Print book: $15.57
ebook: $ 5.99
3. How the Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny
Print book: $14.47
ebook: $10.99
4. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
Print book: $15.19
ebook: $ 5.99 - Grab this one at this price!
5. Bones of the Lost: A Temperance Brennan Novel by Kathy Reichs
Print book: $16.63
ebook: $10.99
6. Deception Cove (A Rainshadow Novel) by Jayne Castle
Print book: $7.19
ebook: $5.99
7. Big Sky Wedding by Linda Lael Miller
Print book: $7.19
ebook: $6.15
8. Mistress by James Patterson and David Ellis
Print book: $16.24
ebook: $11.99
9. The Whole Enchilada: A Novel of Suspense (Goldy Schulz) by Diane Mott Davidson
Print book: $16.95
ebook: $11.99
10.High Heat: A Jack Reacher Novella (Kindle Single) by Lee Child
ebook format only: $1.99
11. Inferno by Dan Brown
- on this Amazon page, they have some real life photos of places in Europe and a statue (funny story about the statue) that are in the book! Plus, quite an Interview with this author! It's worth seeing! This seems to be quite a book as it's been on this list in the top 15 since it came out!Print book: $14.09
ebook: $10.99
12. Envy by Sandra Brown
- Originally from 2001Print book: $7.19
ebook: $1.99
13. Exclusive by Sandra Brown
- Originally from 1996Print book: $7.19
ebook: $4.74
14. The Silent Wife: A Novel
Print book: $9.60
ebook: $7.99
15. The Racketeer: A Novel by John Grisham
Print book: $8.48
ebook: $5.69
And, 16-25
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