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E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

nytimes.com

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Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#71

Post by DannoHung »

ilamont wrote: post #60

Small publisher here. I believe Ebook sales have been generally flat or declining for many titles for the following reasons: * Pricing issues * Huge influx of new/republished titles entering ebook distribution channels are outpacing demand, including many free or low-cost self-published titles * Kindle Fire sales negatively impacting ebook reading habits encourages people to do other things besides read (video, apps,…

As an ebook consumer, the single biggest reason I don't buy more ebooks is because I have to spend time and energy figuring out if the ebook has DRM or if I can remove the DRM afterwards.

Also, I spend time thinking about the fact that if I ever move to Kindle, any epubs I have won't work regardless of DRM.

I can't speak for other readers, but this is why I don't buy or read books as much as I used to. And I used to read a lot of books.

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#72

Post by rhino369 »

helipad wrote: post #4

I've been really disappointed with the pricing of eBooks. A new book is available for pre-order, and here is the Amazon pricing: Kindle – $26.35 Hardcover – $19.23 Audible – $27.61 Audio CD – $30.00 All logic suggests the electronic version should be cheaper. Prices like this will likely drive me, and others, to piracy. Yes, the value of the book is what I am willing to pay for it, but I feel insulted by the pricing…

>All logic suggests the electronic version should be cheaper.

You get the same book either way. Why should it be cheaper. You could even argue that instant download to your kindle is a convenience worth paying for.

But it's silly that Amazon is selling them for more. Often times much more.

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#73

Post by ilamont »

krasin wrote: post #70
ilamont wrote: post #60

Small publisher here. I believe Ebook sales have been generally flat or declining for many titles for the following reasons: * Pricing issues * Huge influx of new/republished titles entering ebook distribution channels are outpacing demand, including many free or low-cost self-published titles * Kindle Fire sales negatively impacting ebook reading habits encourages people to do other things besides read (video, apps,…

There's also an issue of Ebook lock-ins. Some people are tired to have their collection of purchased books in various incompatible formats available to read through different subsets of devices / apps.

I agree that it is frustrating. I sell a lot of PDFs through Gumroad, and I think many of the buyers want that cross-platform compatibility (and the ability to print out specific pages). However, when I make ebook bundles available with .mobi, epub and PDF versions of a particular titles, relatively few people buy them.

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#74

Post by iak8god »

DannoHung wrote: post #71
ilamont wrote: post #60

Small publisher here. I believe Ebook sales have been generally flat or declining for many titles for the following reasons: * Pricing issues * Huge influx of new/republished titles entering ebook distribution channels are outpacing demand, including many free or low-cost self-published titles * Kindle Fire sales negatively impacting ebook reading habits encourages people to do other things besides read (video, apps,…

As an ebook consumer, the single biggest reason I don't buy more ebooks is because I have to spend time and energy figuring out if the ebook has DRM or if I can remove the DRM afterwards. Also, I spend time thinking about the fact that if I ever move to Kindle, any epubs I have won't work regardless of DRM. I can't speak for other readers, but this is why I don't buy or read books as much as I used to. And I used to…

> if I ever move to Kindle, any epubs I have won't work regardless of DRM.

I've frequently used Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com) to convert epub to mobi. There are also plugins available for it that strip DRM, though I can't vouch for them.

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#75

Post by panzagl »

For me a lot of the slow down has to do with how transparent it has made the publisher price model. I can buy a new book today for $15.00, wait a year and get it for $10, or wait longer and maybe get it for $5, if I haven't gotten it out of the library by then. Publishers want to tax me for my impatience, and I'm not going to fall for it.

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#76

Post by shoyer »

bduerst wrote: post #42
TheGRS wrote: post #15

I hope this isn't the trend going forward. I don't get the traditionalist love of paperback books most of the time. Like the sort of people who go on and on about exploring book stores or the smell of new paper. I love my Kindle and I really hope to be able to use it as my primary reading source, its just so convenient, light, portable and unobtrusive (especially with that newer back-light option). But the price of n…

The marketplace is getting worse for e-books, not better. Amazon has been pushing the "Kindle Unlimited" subscription model and changed how authors get paid for those consumers, which favors shorter stories. Authors have taken to breaking out a book's chapters and releasing them individually [1] to capitalize on this model. Conversely, this gives them more shelf space in Amazon's recommendations, and because they are…

Kindle Unlimited no longer works this way. Amazon now distributes payments among authors in proportion to the number of pages that are read: http://mashable.com/2015/06/22/amazon-kindle-unlimited-autho...

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#77

Post by panzagl »

bduerst wrote: post #53
TheGRS wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much of these books you can borrow for free on your kindle from a library though.

Unfortunately you still have to physically go to the library to get them sent to your kindle. It's almost worth $5-10 to me to not have to do that. Edit: I think I need to have a chat with my library.

No you don't, at least not universally. I get mine sent to me, I think most libraries use the same system (Overdrive).

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#78

Post by Kevguy »

bduerst wrote: post #53
TheGRS wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much of these books you can borrow for free on your kindle from a library though.

Unfortunately you still have to physically go to the library to get them sent to your kindle. It's almost worth $5-10 to me to not have to do that. Edit: I think I need to have a chat with my library.

My library systems lets you check them out and download them completely online. Never need to leave the house.

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#79

Post by blumkvist »

superuser2 wrote: post #45
TheGRS wrote: post #15

I hope this isn't the trend going forward. I don't get the traditionalist love of paperback books most of the time. Like the sort of people who go on and on about exploring book stores or the smell of new paper. I love my Kindle and I really hope to be able to use it as my primary reading source, its just so convenient, light, portable and unobtrusive (especially with that newer back-light option). But the price of n…

Paperwhite makes reading better than it was on paper. The screen looks just as good (pixel density makes a HUGE difference), it's a comfortable rigid rectangle that's a lot easier to hold than most paperbacks, and most importantly the backlight means I can stop wrestling with cheaply made yet expensive AAA-hogging clip-on lights.

Except... it has no pages.

Re: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead

#80

Post by hga »

rhino369 wrote: post #72
helipad wrote: post #4

I've been really disappointed with the pricing of eBooks. A new book is available for pre-order, and here is the Amazon pricing: Kindle – $26.35 Hardcover – $19.23 Audible – $27.61 Audio CD – $30.00 All logic suggests the electronic version should be cheaper. Prices like this will likely drive me, and others, to piracy. Yes, the value of the book is what I am willing to pay for it, but I feel insulted by the pricing…

>All logic suggests the electronic version should be cheaper. You get the same book either way. Why should it be cheaper. You could even argue that instant download to your kindle is a convenience worth paying for. But it's silly that Amazon is selling them for more. Often times much more.

Indeed, it's a lesson many of us find very difficult to learn, that the price someone is willing to buy something at has little relationship to what it costs. This book is the best I've read on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Walking-High-Tech-High-Wire-Entreprene...

But it's silly that Amazon is selling them for more. Often times much more.

Not by choice. Amazon tried to set some reasonable price points, and the big five refused to play ball (remember their conspiracy with Apple?), ultimately renegotiating their contracts to agency pricing. Which is why so many of their books cost so much now.

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