For a little while now, I've been trying to up my game when it comes…
What’s Your eBook Price Point?
I’ll admit that I’ve gotten considerably choosier about the free downloads I take advantage of on Kindle these days. When I first got my Kindle, I grabbed anything that sounded remotely interesting, thinking I’d find some good new authors that way. And I did find a few new authors, but mostly what I found was that being able to self-publish isn’t always a bonus for the reader. In some ways, this is good, because it got me over my obsessive need to finish reading every book I start. I still try hard to persevere through each one, but I also understand that if I need to set it aside, there’s no shame in that.
The major downside of that is, obviously, that now I have to *pay* for the books that I want to read. And that’s started to get somewhat irritating, because it really does seem like publishers aren’t clear on the fact that consumers understand how little an ebook costs to produce.
For a physical book, I think we all understand that there are costs associated with production that drive the pricing of the thing. You’ve got printing and packaging and warehousing and fulfillment and the bookstore discount. Even if you go the print on demand route, you have to cover the printing costs and the mandatory bookstore discount. And I don’t dispute the fact that publishers need to make money – they need to be able to pay their employees and overhead costs, and there’s the back-end costs of editing and cover design and so forth. So those should be split between your editions when figuring out costs. But still…the majority of your costs go into the print versions – there’s just no reason beyond greed that I can see why an ebook would be priced above $5.
The way I see it, the ebook has become the “mass market paperback” of today. (Yes, I realize they still create the mass market paperback, but I’m guessing they sell fewer of them now that those prices have reached $8-10. I know that’s one reason I switched to a Kindle.) Until about…oh, 2005(? ish), the MMP was in the $5 range (sometimes $7, but rarely higher than that.) And that’s a pretty affordable price for a physical book that you’re going to read in under 3 hours and then, most likely, forget about. It’s not a major investment – not something you have to weigh against dinner out with the family at the end of the week if you want to buy more than 1. But if all you’re getting is an electronic file – one that you know costs basically nothing to produce once you factor in a portion of the editing and cover design and marketing costs – then $5 pretty much tops what I’m willing to spend.
What about you?
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Like you, I go for the more inexpensive e-books. But one thing we forget about is the price of the writer’s time. If authors worked for an hourly wage, no one could afford a book. So while the cost of e-books is far less because of the lack of printing costs, is $5-$10 or more worth the time it took an author to produce a work? For my favorite authors, my answer is yes. For an unknown, untried author? No.
I understand where you’re coming from, Mary – but the author doesn’t actually get very much of the proceeds. Typically speaking (esp. with the books from the Big 5, who are the ones charging $10 for an ebook), the author got an advance and that’s the bulk of what they’re going to get for their entire book. They may earn that out, and, if so, end up getting 7-10% of the net profit (depending on their contract). So I actually imagine that an author would earn more if the price was lower and they sold more of them than at the price gouging rate where fewer people buy it. Plus – and maybe this is weird with me being an author who would love to earn a living writing – from a reader perspective, I have to say I figure the author chose to write, they chose to accept their contract, they chose to take the risk in this profession. It’s not my problem as a reader whether or not they make a living. As an author, I’ll add that I don’t calculate out my hourly wage – that’s not something I care about (whereas it was when I was a teacher – I used to get very annoyed at my hour wage teaching). Maybe that’s the difference between doing something you love and hoping to make a living than trying to make a living and hoping it’ll be something you can love.
I agree with $5. The only reason I paid $9 for an ebook recently was that it was the next installment in a series by Robin Jones Gunn (my favorite author) and I couldn’t wait to find out what happens to Christy in her married years!
It’s cool that you’re willing to spend the money! I have 3 books I’m dying to read – as in I check them obsessively to see if they’re any cheaper – and I just can’t bring myself to pay $10 for an ebook. I just can’t! I’m going to have to see if the library has them or can order them for me (cause last time I checked they didn’t have them). Maybe I’ve crossed the line from thrifty to cheap. 🙂
I’m weird. I actually don’t like free books. I feel like –why are they free? Are they THAT bad? Of course, now I’m starting to realize that this is a promotional tactic. Quite honestly, I prefer paperbacks. Lately, however, I’ve been adjusting a bit to the Kindle (on my cell phone, mind you). I will read some things on my Kindle, but only if I really, really want to read them. It works well at night when my hubby’s asleep and I want to read (he can’t sleep with the light on). But I’ve paid as much as $9.99 for an ebook!
Ha – I hadn’t thought of it that way, Megan! (For some in my experience, sadly, that is the reason 😉 ) Ah, Kindle on the cell is harder than an actual kindle that, to me at least, feels like a real book to some degree.
I’m making a paradigm shift in my own thinking here. Technically, we don’t own an ebook – it’s licensed to us for our personal use (like songs on iTunes aren’t ‘ours’ even though we pay for them). So I’m now accepting the reality that electronic media, analogous to going to movies in a theater, are really one-time use products (because, seriously, I very very seldom read a book for a second time, and usually then, it’s a classic of some sort).
So, if reading a book is simply a one-use act of entertainment – like drinking a cup of Starbucks or renting a video (how antiquated!) or paying for a round of mini-golf, then I have to gauge the cost/benefit of that piece of entertainment or pleasure and the amount of time I receive that pleasure. Follow me here, lol.
For example, I’ve rationalized that a $1.85 cup of coffee at Starbucks (with a free refill since I’m a Gold Member, la ti da!) gives me 30 minutes of drinking pleasure. Reading a novella (my growing preference in length – say 100 pages) takes me a couple of hours. So logically, I should be willing to pay around $8 to $10 for a short novel since I pay that (rarely, I admit) at the movie theater for a 2 hour flick.
Thing is, I’ve been influenced by all the $2.99 deals right now, which seems to be the new minimum threshold for ebooks (as opposed to 99 cents). So, all the better! But I have a feeling the $3.95 to $5.95 ebook range provides more “perceived value” for many readers, so I’ll probably end up making that my purchase level eventually. For now, though, I have 200 books that I already own (have licensed!) that I haven’t read. So I don’t see myself paying for many more at this point. 🙂
I think I do something somewhat similar in terms of parceling out how much I enjoy it for how much I spent. It’s one of the reasons I hardly every go to the theater anymore (it’s hard to get $50 of joy out of 2 hours in an uncomfortable chair, and if I go on a date with the hubs, between admission, a drink, and babysitting, $50 is the minimum pricetag). I do re-read, but I re-read ebooks less than physical books (why? No idea.) But I’m right with you in the perceived value price point 🙂