AAR

[Kristie(J)]

I’m a total convert to eBooks – so much so that it’s been ages since I read a print book. I have discovered so many new authors through either free or greatly reduced prices at Amazon. I figure that’s a huge win. But I’m here to rant about the fail. It’s a MAJOR fail. I’m talking (sound of echo of doom) AGENCY PRICING. I just read the new review of Wedded in Scandal by Jade Lee. I’ve read some of her other books and enjoyed them tremendously and I didn’t know she had a new one coming out so soon. So right after reading the review, I clicked the link (being the good AAR fan I am and wanting to give them the bonus) and much to my dismay, they are charging $7.99 for the print version and $10.41 for the eversion. This is $10.41 fellow readers. By what right or what justification can the publishers have the nerve to charging almost $2.50 MORE for an eBook??? It punishes both the author, as there is no way I’m going to pay that much money and I’m sure I’m not the only one, so the author loses sales and punishes us readers as those publishing bastards – yes I call them that – are too greedy and too damn self-serving as to charge so much. It makes zero sense as the expenses can only be much less expensive. Three is no cost for shipping, for paper and I’m sure for many other costs to put out a book in print that isn’t there electronically.

This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this discrepancy and every time it makes me livid. Someone posted on another board here that there is a law suit pending and while I don’t normally cuss though sometimes it’s called for, I hope they sue the ass of those greedy a$$hat publishers. I would resent, but probably pay the same price for print and eBooks, but there is no way in HELL I will pay more. I want to take my eReader, throw it out the window and yell at the top of my lungs, I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE

[Danielle D]

I just checked over at Amazon the Kindle version of this book is $7.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Wedded-in-Scandal-ebook/dp/B005GSZ042/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1331580564&sr=1-1

I agree I think ebooks should be cheaper than print books.
_________________
Ciao,

So many books, so little time

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Now a Lady of Leisure

[Moriah Jovan]

I feel your pain. I've simply stopped buying agency books altogether. There are plenty of other things to read and if it's something I HAVE to have, I'll go to the library and read it in print. I prefer ebooks, but I'm not that particular.

Aside: $5.99 is my cutoff point for ebooks, no matter what they are.
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The Proviso .:. Stay .:. Magdalene

[Kristie(J)]

[MEK]

I feel your pain. I'm embarrassed to say I paid $12.99 for Patricia Briggs latest as an ebook, because I'm basically spoiled (at least about book buying!) and I wanted it. However, even I felt guilty about doing it. I do think it coincided with a hardback release, though, which at least makes some sense.

[MissRubyJones]

The silver lining here is that change may be coming soon - evidently readers like us are not the only people who think that there's something fishy about overpriced e-books. http://sweetrocket.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/justice-department-possibly-suing-apple-publishers-regarding-agency-pricing/

I personally refuse to pay more for an e-book than I would a paperback, period, because I know that the cost to produce an e-book is, quite obviously, much lower than that to produce a hardback, trade paperback, or mass market paperback. The only reason I'm willing to pay as much for an e-book as I would a paperback is the fact that I consider the e-book to be the equivalent of the modern day paperback. Damaged reasoning, probably, lol, but that's just me.

As for authors losing out on revenue when we buy paperbacks instead of ridiculously priced e-books, I'm not so sure that's the case. I have the feeling that the extra profits are going directly to the publishers. I'd love to see an agency author or someone familiar with the situation weigh in on this, because I've not been able to ascertain myself whether or not this is the case.



[/b]

[Elizabeth Rolls]

MissRubyJones - I can only speak to my own contract, but authors generally get a percentage of the cover price. So, on that model, yes an author should be getting more if the price of the e-book is higher. However, I think the hike in e-book prices stinks and there are a number of books I have refused to buy recently on my Kindle. I'll get them at the library in print, or wait until I spot a used copy if I can't be a print version at a reasonable price. I think if enough of us publicise this issue and boycott over-priced books, the publishers will get the message. I hope. Higher prices mean dropping sales all round. Sure you might buy one expensive book, but at the price of not buying the other two you might have bought.

Elizabeth

[Mark]

I refuse to pay more than mass-market paperback price for any ebook, so I simply won't buy an ebook priced at $10 or more. I set my $9.99 maximum based on the pricing of the too-tall mass-market paperbacks [another bad idea from publishers] that started showing up about the time I started switching to ebooks.
I recently counted ebook titles still sitting in my tbb list after release because they are overpriced, and there were 45. That is 45 purchases by one reader that these publishers are missing because of their bad policies. I wonder what the numbers are multiplied by the full community of ebook readers.

[MissRubyJones]

Elizabeth,
Thanks for the info. When researching the issue, I hadn't been able to find anything across the board that spoke to whether authors were benefitting from the agency pricing scheme or not.

I am never one who believes in shortchanging authors -- they work hard! -- so I'm glad to hear an author voice the same frustrations that we as readers have.

And while I can see some logic in the argument that e-book readers are subsidizing bookstores -[url] http://blog.authorsguild.org/2012/03/09/letter-from-scott-turow-grim-news/[/url] - the fact still remains that we as readers know it is loads cheaper to produce an e-book than it is to print a traditional book. Which brings me to this link, lol: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120310/19034718067/authors-guild-boss-e-book-price-fixing-allegations-but-brick-and-mortar.shtml....

[jaime]

That is outrageous. Last week I saw an e-book for like $10 and the print version was 6.99 and I went wtf indeed. And those darn publishers won't even buy me dinner first before they try to have their way with me.

I love e-books in addition to print books - I haven't gone totally e-books - but there is no way I am shelling out more for an e-book than a print book. Especially since you can't even truly own an e-book or re-sell it like a print book.

So when it comes to e-books I am sticking to bargains, sale items and freebies.

[Kristie(J)]

To Elizabeth and any other authors who may be reading this, I think in the long run authors lose out in lost sales. The publishers may pay a few cents more if the eBook is priced higher, but I dare say they lose in the matter of lost sales with readers refusing to purchase a higher priced eBook.

And hopefully I've made it clear that in no way do I hold authors responsible for this state of affairs. As Elizabeth has pointed out, as readers themselves, they have the same frustration with these inflated prices.

[lorif]

[Moriah Jovan]

[MissRubyJones]

[/b][/quote]
I agree, there is a limit to what I will pay for an e-version of a book, I kind of consider it a long term rental (good for as long as this tech is supported). A paperback or hardcover, can last on my shelves forever or I can give/loan/sell it if I am done with it.
[/quote]

Lorif, I totally agree with what you're saying about viewing e-books as long term rentals. Amazon has already proven that they can snatch away books we've already purchased -- something I still have a problem with, even though I use Amazon and the Kindle -- and I really worry about some of the other formats going the way of the dinosaur, especially those that have DRM codecs.

Here's a for instance: when Napster first went legit, under a name I can't recall, someone gave me a gift card to purchase songs from that version of Napster. Fast-forward several years (probably closer to ten, if I'm being realistic, lol), and the DRM codecs on those songs is obsolete, meaning that I can no longer open the files. But because I'm a digital packrat, they're still on my external HD, waiting for their prince to come.

I see the same thing happening for some of the DRM ePub, Mobi-pocket and other various e-book files. Should B&N go the way of WaldenBooks and Borders, I wonder what will become of their DRM ebooks. Even more prescient, I've noticed that a few of the newer e-readers (including some of the Kindles, if I'm not mistaken), have already dropped support for Mobi-pocket files. Should Adobe ever have a falling out with major publishers, most of the DRM ePub files we have could face the same fate as my DRM Napster files.

The worst part is this: while I had just enough archivist in me even ten years ago to make a "hard copy" -- i.e., a CD -- of my Napster DRM files, there's no way to do so with most of the DRM e-book files.

The best that we can hope for is that publishers will learn from the music business' mistakes and abandon the DRM model.

[MissRubyJones]