Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

Things about eBook pricing that should be pretty obvious to anyone thinking clearly -

1. There’s no reason to price an ebook higher than a physical book. Virtual books should be cheaper than physical books. 
2. If entire movies can be stored, distributed and played for free (or very cheap) there’s no reason to pretend eBook storage and distribution is expensive.
3. Converting an eBook into different formats shouldn’t cost $1,000 per format.
4. Publishers don’t benefit from cheap eBook prices. They benefit from expensive physical books – That’s why Publishers would rather kill eBooks and save physical books. 
5. eBooks are priced to prop up physical books and publishers’ business models.

Publishers are least qualified to cut eBook prices and even if they could they wouldn’t pass on the savings

Publishers don’t understand technology, aren’t particularly good at logistics (after all they destroy a lot of their product), are lost when it comes to price vs volume, and have a history of being barely profitable. They are the people least likely to be able to cut eBook prices. In addition - they probably don’t even understand the value of reasonably priced eBooks.

If Publishers did figure out a way to cut eBook costs they would be very unlikely to pass on the savings to readers. Publishers have lived with a sense of entitlement all their lives – they have been the gatekeepers, the taste makers, the intelligentsia. That naturally makes them feel they deserve most of the profits and that it’s ok to treat authors and readers rather poorly.

We are at the cusp of a golden age of reading and Publishers are the main barrier. If we manage to create a New Publishing Model that is very efficient and where the platform is the only enabler then all the middle-men, including Publishers, get kicked out. It’s great for Authors and Readers and even for the Platform – However, it’s terrible for Publishers.

Publishers are understandably reluctant to let themselves become irrelevant.

Myths about eBook prices Publishers propagate

1. Printing and shipping and storage of physical books is just 10% of the costs.
2. This 10% is matched or exceeded by the costs of digital printing, shipping, and storage.
3. It costs a lot to maintain eBook stores and to store and distribute eBooks.
4. It costs a lot to do ebook specific tasks i.e. format conversions.
5. Most of the value of a book comes from the editing and polishing.
6. Publishers’ role is very critical.
7. eBook Prices have to factor in a lot of risk.
8. eBooks have to sustain physical books.
9. Publishers don’t make any money and they publish books just for the love of it.
10. There’s no tangible benefit from the elimination of the used book market and the reduction of sharing due to ebooks.
11. DRM costs a lot to implement and DRM is necessary.

Publishers distort facts and paint a picture of eBooks being almost as expensive as physical books – Nothing could be further from the truth.

Real reasons Publishers are anti-eBooks and anti-eReaders

Here are the main reasons Publishers are trying to kill eBooks and eReaders -

1. They are no longer gatekeepers.
2. Profit margins go down as eBooks and eReaders become better and more prevalent.
3. Since it’s more efficient people will eventually figure out costs should be lower.
4. They don’t have customer information and power over customers.
5. Their core competency is in physical books.
6. There’s very little risk so they can’t charge a premium for ‘taking on the risk’. 
7. Someone else controls distribution and shelf space.

Let’s not fool ourselves about Publishers wanting to ‘sustain’ books. They just want to kill a threat to their cash cow – the physical book.

Why are people willing to believe the nonsense about eBooks needing to be priced higher?

Lots of reasons – they want to take the easy way out, some don’t care much about money, some trust Publishers, others don’t want to believe Publishers would actually lie to them.

Most of all – it’s really hard to believe that lower priced eBooks are a reality. We are so used to a vague, unexplained notion that books cost a lot to create and publish that we find it hard to believe that books could be priced reasonably.

What’s going to happen with eBook pricing?

Publishers will fight back against $10 and hike up prices unrealistically. This will drive readers into the arms of $1 indie authors and $0 pirated books.

Instead of a world with $10 books and a sustainable model for the future of Publishing we’ll have readers trained to expect $1 and free which are both very unsustainable price points.

In their desire to save their ancient business models Publishers are ensuring their own deaths and the death of a sustainable ebook future. Perhaps that’s what they really want – If they can’t have their cozy lifestyles they want to make sure they kill books and publishing and teach readers a lesson.

Filed under: publishing Tagged: | book prices, fight for $9.99