Angry Robot Books Want Your Opinion on Ebook Pricing

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Certainly eBooks do have production costs.

Yes, there are ebook-specific costs, just as there are pbook-specific costs, but the point is there are still substantial costs that must be borne by both versions.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

If Lee H is still around:

I've just been on your site looking at the offerings... I noticed a severe disparity in pricing on the pbook editions:

UK/Australia
£7.99 UK

US/Canada
$7.99 US

We're not going to see this same kind of geographical inequality in the pricing of the ebooks are we?

Good question.

The pricing of pBooks is usually set at these sort of rates - economies of scale mean that publishers are generally able to sell at a lower price in larger territories, and we anticipate our readers in the US and Canada to buy far more copies than their UK counterparts, hence we (and our authors) can afford to accept much lower margins per unit sale.

Now, different pricing structures for different geographical regions don't work when you're selling electronic versions, unless you artificially impose them as there is only region - eg pay $0.79 for a music download in the US, and £0.79 for the same download in the UK. I can't speak for our retailers, but our intention for our own store is to have a single selling price for the eVersions (with possible minor uplifts to take regional tax variations into account - something we'll be looking into). ie. Ideally we'd like to price everything in a single currency, and let your bank charge you according to the current exchange rates. We may find (for various reasons) it makes more sense for us to have multiple currency pricing, in which case there may be some minor disparity in pricing between territories, but only due to the relative strengths of the currencies concerned on the day you buy your book.

No firm decision has yet been made on any of this, but we're getting there...

[Sparrow]

On the topic of geographic variation - wouldn't it be relatively easy to provide the etext in a variety of English flavours (or do I mean flavors )?

I'd prefer my ebook in UK English if possible.
Or maybe we should reconcile ourselves that ebooks in English are inevitably going to be US English in the end (as the US will be the dominant market of English language ebooks) - and that may actually be no bad thing.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

On the topic of geographic variation - wouldn't it be relatively easy to provide the etext in a variety of English flavours (or do I mean flavors )?

I'd prefer my ebook in UK English if possible.
Or maybe we should reconcile ourselves that ebooks in English are inevitably going to be US English in the end (as the US will be the dominant market of English language ebooks) - and that may actually be no bad thing.

To do this, the publisher would need to double the costs of copy-editor and proofreader fees, which would have an impact on the price of the book.

Our approach is to allow US English for US authors, and UK English for UK authors, etc... I feel the flavour of a novel is often determined by the nationality of the author. Style, grammar and spelling preferences all combine to provide a particular "feel" to an author's work.

Can you imagine reading Trainspotting, if it were to be Americanised, or Catch 22 if it were to be Anglicised? *shudder*

[tompe]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

maintaining multiple sources with source control tools to manage it.

It would not surprise me if introducing source control tools for the current paper book production will reduced the cost to produce paper books a lot. And changing the workflow to suit ebooks also will also probably reduce the cost since you will avoid costly mistakes.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by tompe

It would not surprise me if introducing source control tools for the current paper book production will reduced the cost to produce paper books a lot. And changing the workflow to suit ebooks also will also probably reduce the cost since you will avoid costly mistakes.

I would agree. But there are some front end costs to this and the staff which may not be computer software savy would need retraining. However, the long term benefits would reduce mistakes and these associated costs. It would also make corrections easier to make should an error be found.

Dale

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Yes, there are ebook-specific costs, just as there are pbook-specific costs, but the point is there are still substantial costs that must be borne by both versions.

Exactly, I decided that some of them needed to be itemized for the benefit of the group of people that claim the costs are zero. Some people believe the eBook production is zero and the hardcopy production is huge. Neither is true.

Dale

[basschick]

the bottom line for me is this - in less than one year i've spent over a thousand on ebooks, 100% of them in mobi format. all of them were ebooks that cost less than the paper versions. it's highly likely that none of that will change for me in the future. i don't require $3 books - i actually chose $5, but to me the length of the ebook, popularity of the author and newness of the ebook could lead to $5.99 or more depending on the situation. i don't expect to pay $5 for a nice long, brand-new book by a popular author.

btw, not only will sales and giving away some free ebooks bring other sales - they'll get the sales/free ebooks listed on blogs and reading sites everywhere, meaning more people will read your company's name and check you out.

and remember, if you do decide to give out a few free ebooks, please please please make them the FIRST books in the series. i've several times downloaded a company's free first books in series and within only a few hours bought all the rest, and i'm definitely not alone there.

[Nate the great]

Also, if you give out free ebooks, make sure to have the rest of a series out already as ebooks.

[sirbruce]

Also, if you give out free ebooks, please don't make it *only* series... some stand-alones by popular authors would be nice, too.

[Andurian]

I think the posts here pretty well sum up my opinion on the matter.

Copy Baen.

Seriously, Baen is as close to perfect as I can imagine. And they have, as you can see here, an insane amount of support from the ebook community. I don't think I know anyone here who would put forward serious criticism of Baen other than "Baen doesn't sell the genre I like."

Pretty much I don't buy ebooks. I buy a paper copy (usually a used hardback) and then get the book via the darknets. The legality is questionable, perhaps, but I'm not bothered by the ethical side, which (aside from the possibility of serious legal penalties) is the basis for my decisions.

Why the "pretty much" in the above? Because I *do* buy Baen. Their combination of no DRM, great prices and fabulous customer support and communication is enough to get me to shell out a few bucks in their direction on a regular basis.

If you can do what Baen does, some of that money will be sent your direction as well.

So, go to Baen's website. Make a thorough list of everything they do - from prices to availability to communication. Then do that.

You'll make money and we'll love you.

[ahammer]

Originally Posted by Andurian

I think the posts here pretty well sum up my opinion on the matter.

Copy Baen.

Seriously, Baen is as close to perfect as I can imagine. And they have, as you can see here, an insane amount of support from the ebook community. I don't think I know anyone here who would put forward serious criticism of Baen other than "Baen doesn't sell the genre I like."

Pretty much I don't buy ebooks. I buy a paper copy (usually a used hardback) and then get the book via the darknets. The legality is questionable, perhaps, but I'm not bothered by the ethical side, which (aside from the possibility of serious legal penalties) is the basis for my decisions.

Why the "pretty much" in the above? Because I *do* buy Baen. Their combination of no DRM, great prices and fabulous customer support and communication is enough to get me to shell out a few bucks in their direction on a regular basis.

If you can do what Baen does, some of that money will be sent your direction as well.

So, go to Baen's website. Make a thorough list of everything they do - from prices to availability to communication. Then do that.

You'll make money and we'll love you.

I wonder why some compays dont sell the ebooks with a pbook for like a 1 or 2 more bucks or our there I not realy that up on things yet as I dont have a reader yet. may not net you anymore money per item but would get items sold I think .

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by ahammer

I wonder why some compays dont sell the ebooks with a pbook for like a 1 or 2 more bucks or our there I not realy that up on things yet as I dont have a reader yet. may not net you anymore money per item but would get items sold I think .

Baen has bound CDs with ebooks on them into hardcovers something like 18 times in the past few years. Those CDs typically include:

• The complete set of eBooks of all prior books in that series.
• Other books by the same author.
• Books by other Baen authors that are likely to interest purchasers of the hardcover in question.
• (Sometimes) The eBook of the hardcover containing the CD. It's a "sometimes" because of the interaction of publishing schedules and CD pressing schedules -- the final text of the book may not be ready early enough to include on the CD.

You can find the CDs on line if you look around a bit. And those aren't "pirate" copies either -- they're up with the publisher's blessing!

Xenophon

P.S. The presence online of free, no-DRM copies of many Baen books does not appear to interfere with sales of either dead-tree or electronic copies of those books! People who like a series have a strong tendency to support the author (and publisher!) by actually purchasing copies/bits of the previous entries in the series, even though they've got free copies/bits -- yes, they really do buy copies of bits they've already gotten for free. The key is the combination of a product people want with pricing that is perceived as being fair!

[ahammer]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

Baen has bound CDs with ebooks on them into hardcovers something like 18 times in the past few years. Those CDs typically include:

• The complete set of eBooks of all prior books in that series.
• Other books by the same author.
• Books by other Baen authors that are likely to interest purchasers of the hardcover in question.
• (Sometimes) The eBook of the hardcover containing the CD. It's a "sometimes" because of the interaction of publishing schedules and CD pressing schedules -- the final text of the book may not be ready early enough to include on the CD.

You can find the CDs on line if you look around a bit. And those aren't "pirate" copies either -- they're up with the publisher's blessing!

Xenophon

P.S. The presence online of free, no-DRM copies of many Baen books does not appear to interfere with sales of either dead-tree or electronic copies of those books! People who like a series have a strong tendency to support the author (and publisher!) by actually purchasing copies/bits of the previous entries in the series, even though they've got free copies/bits -- yes, they really do buy copies of bits they've already gotten for free. The key is the combination of a product people want with pricing that is perceived as being fair!

that cool that goes to me not knowing. I would still think downloading the book is better then a cd with the book as you could read it till it gets to you for people that want it now. the one thing I do know now thou when I get a reader I will be buying from baen.

[Fledchen]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

P.S. The presence online of free, no-DRM copies of many Baen books does not appear to interfere with sales of either dead-tree or electronic copies of those books! People who like a series have a strong tendency to support the author (and publisher!) by actually purchasing copies/bits of the previous entries in the series, even though they've got free copies/bits -- yes, they really do buy copies of bits they've already gotten for free. The key is the combination of a product people want with pricing that is perceived as being fair!

I have a Baen VIP pass, but I plan on making a donation to the Free Library and to Read Assist.