eBook pricing - 2009 edition

As a bookseller eBook pricing is pivotally important to me. It impacts my daily business life and is often a source of frustration. I am bound to pricing as set by the publisher, evidently Amazon is not. 

Over the last few years a pricing structure has evolved where the list eBook price was the same or slightly lower than the trade paper.

And then  -- along came Amazon loudly touting that every Kindle eBook is priced at only $9.99.

Evidently, Amazon intended to use the Kindle in the same way Gillette used the razor.  People might pay for the Kindle but Amazon saw the real money in on going book sales. 

Or maybe Amazon was trying to emulate the Apple iTunes model and inject a little conformity into eBook pricing. 

Either way one thing was clear:  this was a clear attempt to muscle in on the pricing of eBooks.  Amazon was putting the world on notice that they have the clout and the resources to set eBook pricing at any level they want.

You have to admit, that for the average book buyer the pitch is great.  Buy any book for only $9.99. 

A year later, it turns out that the $9.99 price per title is (depending on your point of view) disingenuous or a downright lie. According to Knipfty on the Amazon blog, a more accurate statement is that only  33,000 of their 240,000 titles are listed to sell in the $9.01-10.00 range.  That is only 13.75%; a long way from 100%!

A close look at Amazon pricing shows that:

• 79,250 or 33% sell for between $0.01 and $10.00
• 105,000 or 43.75% sell for between $10.01 and 19.99
• 55,750 or 23% sell for over $20.00
• 80% of all the new books added by Amazon since Jan 20 have been priced above $9.99

Should all eBooks should be priced at $9.99 or lower?  Maybe.  But that isn't really the point.  The point is that when Amazon arbitrarily sets prices, everyone suffers.

Authors are the biggest losers in this scheme since they are usually paid a percentage on the actual revenue derived from each sale.  Publishers,book reps and booksellers also take a hit.

But ultimately it is the consumer who suffers when decisions about what can be read, in what format and how much can be charged are made by any one large company. That is a monopoly we can't afford.

del.icio.us Tags: ebook,e-book,ebook pricing,Amazon,Kindle

Penguin and eBooks (one step forward and one step back)

Penguin Publishers is in the news this week. For all of us eBook readers it basically amounts to one step forward and one step back.

Step Forward

Back in June I complained about Publisher’s and eBook pricing. One of the publishers I sited as having eBook pricing that made no sense was Penguin. At that time Angel Falls by Nora Roberts was selling in hardback for $25.95 and in paperback for $ 7.99. But the real disconnect came from the fact that the publishers suggested retail price for the eBook is $25.95!

I mean, really!! eBooks essentially cost the publisher nothing to produce – no paper, binding, printing or returns. Admittedly there as costs associated with distribution and marketing but the distribution costs are far less and the marketing costs generally fall to the eBook sellers.

Evidently, Penguin got at least part of the message. They put out an announcement to booksellers last week that they are planning to discount eBooks by 20% from the printed editions. Of course, they did not bother to specify which kind of printed editions – hardback or trade paper. If they follow through, however, you will see the eBook edition of Angel Falls retailing at $6.39. BTW there is not sign (yet) of them lowering our cost for the eBook.

Step Back

Penguin Audio, one of the five original publishers participating in eMusic's audiobook downloading program, begun last month, has withdrawn its 150 available titles, according to the New York Times. The reason: "concerns about digital piracy."

Evidently, even though Random House says they have not seen any piracy, Penguin executives are too nervous to even give non-DRMed books a chance.

You would think that the Publishing industry could look at the Music industry and see the future. Digital downloads, ultimately, change everything! Mega publishers should realize that they probably won't thier clout from piracy. The real danger is that best selling authors will do what Madonna has done to Warner and go directly to a promoter for a better deal. They can artifically inflate the price of a digital file, but for how long?

Last time I checked, one step forward and one step back, pretty much leaves you in the same old place. But I am trying to stay positive (making lemonade and all that).

Perhaps it is more like two steps forward and one back. DRM is a nuisance but one I have learned to live with. A cut in price has a much more immediate and practical benefit to me as a reader; one I am eager to take advantage of.

Does this make sense??

Over the last couple of months I have studied publisher book pricing. Typically there are three distinct prices: Hardback, Paperback (trade or mass market) and eBooks. Logically as the cost of production decreases, the list price will too. eBooks are the least expensive to produce with paperback next and hardbacks the most expensive. Well, as with many things in the book business; logic need not apply. Here is a sample of current books: Title and Author -- Hardback / Paperback/ eBooks (Publisher):

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy-- 24.95 / 14.95 / 9.95 (Vintage/Random House)
• The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls -- 25.00 / 14.00 / 9.99 (Scribner/Simon & Schuster)
• The 6th Target by James Patterson-- 27.00 / 14.99 / 9.99 (Grand Central Publishing/ Hachettte Book Group USA)
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini -- 24.95 / 16.00 / 14.00 (Riverhead Hardcover/ Penguin)
• The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards -- 24.95 / 4.00 / 14.00 (Penguin)
• Angel Falls by Nora Roberts -- 25.95 / 7.99 / 24.95 (G. P. Putnam's Sons / Penguin)
• Swapping Lives by Jane Green -- 24.95/ 14.00 / 24.95 (Plume/ Penguin)The Land of Mango
• Sunsets by Dorthea Benton Frank -- 24.95 / 7.99 / 19.95 (Harper Collins)

Now, you tell me, who does this make ANY sense?

As a bookseller I am frustrated because the publishers set the pricing and I am forced to comply if I want to stay in busines. Yes, I discount but there is only so much I can do and still stay in business.

As a consumer I am offended.

I would love to hear your comments on this.