







What does Apple have to say about all this?







Sources: The New York Times, Reuters

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Don't understand why ebooks so expensive.
By rameshms on 5/15/2013 1:55:58 PM , Rating: 2
Why should ebooks be as expensive as a hardcopy ? There are no costs involved in printing, transporting, storing and retail. Shouldn't the ebook price be a fraction of the hardcopy (or paperback) for that matter ?

What portion of a books retail price actually goes to the author/publisher ?

RE: Don't understand why ebooks so expensive.
By Solandri on 5/15/2013 2:38:56 PM , Rating: 2


Actually, the cost to print a book is only about 30% of its retail price.


For a regular (printed) book by a big-name publisher, about 7%-20% of its price goes to the author. The rest goes to the retailer and publisher. The author royalty is low enough that self-publishing an ebook and having iTunes/Amazon/Google take 30% (i.e. 70% to the author) is pretty attractive.

We'll have to give it a decade or two to see how it all shakes out. I suspect most of the publishers who insist on keeping most of the profits for themselves are going to die out. If they do survive, it'll be because their name becomes branded and associated with a certain minimum quality level (spelling, grammar, layout, etc) in their publications.

What the independent-publishing industry (both ebooks and indie music) really needs are some review sites which function like a bestseller's list or top 100 charts, to help spread publicity for popular titles/songs. I think that's why Amazon does so well here - their rating and suggestion system pretty much fills that role.

By GulWestfale on 5/15/2013 5:55:44 PM , Rating: 2
i can't speak for authors who have a publisher (why on earth do you need a publisher if all you do is e-books???), but for us freelancers it's quite simple:
we get 70% of the retail price on amazon, plus a fee for each book that is loaned out through amazon's lending program (this varies month to month, but it's usually around $1.50 or so per book).

i publish on apple, kobo, sony, nook and others through smashwords, who take their own cut in addition to the platform providers. so i end up with about 50% of the retail price.

given that an author with a publisher (and the obligatory agent, who takes 20% of the author's earnings) only earns about 7-15% of the wholesale price of a printed book (perhaps a s little as 50 cents), i think i'm doing quite well making 2 bucks off a 3 dollar book. the only reason why publishers would sell ebooks for 10+ dollars is simple: greed.

RE: Don't understand why ebooks so expensive.
By InsGadget on 5/15/2013 3:31:26 PM , Rating: 2
All books are too expensive, IMO. Compare the retail price of an average book, CD, and DVD/Blu-Ray. Now compare the cost of creation: movies cost by far the most to make, followed by music, and then books (generally speaking). Yet, often books cost more than the other 2 forms of media, even though they cost a fraction to create, especially compared to movies.

Look at video, music, and audiobook subscription services: Netflix is $8 a month, Spotify is $10 a month, and Audible is an insane $15 a month. AND, you can only get ONE audiobook per month!! Whereas with the music and video subscriptions, you can watch/download as much as you want per month. It's absolutely ridiculous.

The publishing industry is due for a shakeup. Sorry authors.

By GulWestfale on 5/15/2013 5:57:36 PM , Rating: 2
don't be sorry, read my above post. you'll see that many authors agree with you (and me). publishers are no longer really necessary. all they do is add cost for the reader, while gobbling up the profits of the writers.





