David Baldacci, the best-selling thriller author, learned what some of his fans think when “First Family,” his latest novel, went on sale last month. Amazon initially charged a little over $15 for a version for its Kindle reading device, and readers revolted.
Several posted reviews objecting that the electronic edition of the book wasn’t selling for $9.99, the price Amazon has promoted as its target for the majority of e-books in the Kindle store. Hundreds more have joined an informal boycott of digital books priced at more than $9.99.
Full piece in the New York Times.
Contrasted with this story: Amazon losing money on $9.99 e-books and this one: Amazon Enters Publishing with AmazonEncore it will interesting to see how things shake out.
The Paperback Revolution
Excerpt from article:
Another possibility is that the cheaper prices for e-books entice consumers to buy more titles. “If prices come down but the overall market is bigger, then we should be O.K.,” said Brian Murray, chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers. “But if prices come down and the market doesn’t grow, then we can’t make money.”
There is some precedent for that theory. When the smaller-format mass-market paperbacks that now populate airport bookstores and grocery checkout racks were introduced, publishers expressed fears that the lower-priced books might destroy the market for hardcovers. They didn’t. Instead, they expanded demand for books beyond elite readers.
For more info in this topic see this great website: The Paperback Revolution
Related books:
Two-Bit Culture:The Paperbacking of America
The Popular Book: a History of America’s Literary Taste
Hardboiled America: Lurid Years of Paperbacks
The Blockbuster Complex: Conglomerates, Show Business, and Book Publishing
In Cold Type: Overcoming the Book Crisis
Entitlement issues continue
“How quickly the world owes you something that you just knew existed.” Louis C.K. on Conan O’Brien Show.
Fleshing out The Times’s ebook story of May 17
Comments by Mike Shatzkin on this article. Shatzkin is a publishing consultant.