Pricing Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and other ebooks
The growing popularity of e-books has complicated some major decisions for publishers: setting a book's price and release date. The first big test was the upcoming release of Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol." Read Streeter and author Gail Farrelly, wrote this guest post on the topic:
Communications guru Marshall McLuhan died in 1980, but his mantra, "The medium is the message," discussed in Understanding Media (1964) lives on. That phrase popped into my head recently when I read that publishers were thinking that perhaps the lower price tag for an ebook warranted a delayed release date.
What? No way. Don't publishers know that "the medium is still the message"? The medium of ebooks is one that emphasizes the immediate. Instant gratification is the name of the ebook game. Do publishers really think that ebook owners, having shelled out quite a few dollars for an electronic device, will now be eager to buy expensive hardcovers because the ebooks are not available in a timely fashion?
I don't think so. Nor will these customers wait passively for dated ebooks to be released. More likely, they will simply move on to the wares of publishers who make ebooks available at the same time as the printed ones.
In July, The New York Times reported, "No topic is more hotly debated in book circles at the moment than the timing, pricing and ultimate impact of e-books on the financial health of publishers and retailers." When that article was published, the release date for the "The Lost Symbol" ebook had not yet been announced. Security as well as pricing concerns were at issue, according to Suzanne Herz, a spokeswoman for Knopf Doubleday, the book's publisher.
By August 13, Knopf Doubleday had made it's decision, announcing that "The Lost Symbol" ebook will be released on Sept. 15, the same day as the hardcover. The Amazon Kindle price will be $9.99, the standard Kindle price for a bestseller. Whew! Score one for ebook readers.
This issue shows that publishers and a bookseller like Amazon are dependent on each other. Who wants a Kindle if it doesn't give you immediate access to the latest books? To choose to buy a print book is one thing. To be pressured into it because the ebook simply isn't available is another. By the same token, if most bestsellers are available "instantly" on the Kindle, who needs to buy the works of a publisher withholding such books until they are yesterday's news?
Comments
I recommend that you take a look at Baen Publishing to see their ebooks policies and compare it to the rest of the industry. Baen for many years now have released Electronic Advanced Reader Copies (eARC) before the books go into print. The eARC is more expensive and it doesn't have the final gloss of the Hardcover, however you get it months ahead of the publish date. An example is that Baen has David Weber's newest Honor book Torch of Freedom up for sale in eARC format and the Hardcover doesn't come out unitl late October/early November. When the time comes for the Paperback version they release the final ebook version at or below paperback price.
Posted by: Boballab | September 2, 2009 4:53 AM
Gail Farrelly's thoughts are timely and thought provoking. The eBook debate wages on in the academic world. It would be in best interests of children to lighten the back packs by using eTextbooks rather than the numerous heavy textbooks. If the cost is less, then the course materials could be updated more often. At the other end of the academic world, executives could continue their education toward the MBA carrying an eText rather than weighing down a briefcase with heavy hardback textbooks. Gail Farrelly continues to inspires as she has regarding the eBook versus hard copy book.
Posted by: Dahli Gray | September 2, 2009 6:29 AM
It is amazing to me that publishers would even question the release date of new books for eReaders! Instant gratification is a big motivation. Why should the eBook reader be punished for their preference. ( and some may even say saving the environment ) And as far as pricing goes, I would hope that publishers would keep these prices lower. Unlike the continued cost of a hardcover book, once the initial cost of an eBook is recouped it's essentially all profit ( I would assume). The lower cost of an eBook is a factor in whether I buy it. If anyone in the industry is reading ... and I know Dave has a large audience in the industry... I think the $9.99 price point is reasonable, when the price creeps higher I personally 'turn the page'...
Posted by: Suzanne Levin | September 2, 2009 9:29 AM
Suzanne, publishers may be gun-shy because they've seen how Internet competition has hurt newspapers and magaazines. Newspapers have been reluctant to put stories on-line before they hit in print. They were worried about undercutting the print product. Well guess what? It was being undercut by market forces anyway, and in the meantime, the on-line news site was weakened, as well.
Posted by: Dave | September 2, 2009 10:51 AM
The next big test case of the timing and pricing of an ebook release will be for Ted Kennedy's "True Compass." No Kindle edition announced yet, but the hardback will be released on Sept. 14.
Posted by: Gail Farrelly | September 2, 2009 12:28 PM
I touced a little on this earlier, but if you are a scifi/fantasy reader that likes ebooks, one publisher does sell the ebook for $15 months before the hardcover is released. Which means that you get the story before anyone else and for $10 less. When the paperback comes out for the book the ebook price drops to $6. The icing on the cake is that these books are also DRM free and in multiple formats. This publisher has been doing this for 10 years now and still going strong.
Posted by: Boballab | September 3, 2009 9:00 AM