How I make $400 a month in Passive Income by Self-Publishing • Hacker News Board

Re: How I make $400 a month in Passive Income by Self-Publishing

#61

Post by jjnoakes » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 4:54 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #54

jjnoakes wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Obviously it's not about the value added because of extra functionality, it's about the new technology having lower marginal costs Is that really how supply and demand works though? If people are willing to pay more for the extra functionality, why would you not sell it at that higher price?

> Is that really how supply and demand works though? If people are willing to pay more for the extra functionality, why would you not sell it at that higher price? People are not willing, they are forced to, if they want the book, because books have an artificial monopoly based on copyright. That is, I can't offer the same book for cheaper unless I have the copyright to the content.

> People are not willing, they are forced to, if they want the book, because books have an artificial monopoly based on copyright.

In many cases people have a choice of ebook vs physical copy, which is what we're discussing here.

Re: How I make $400 a month in Passive Income by Self-Publishing

#62

Post by coldtea » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 8:54 PM UTC

jjnoakes wrote: post #61

coldtea wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is that really how supply and demand works though? If people are willing to pay more for the extra functionality, why would you not sell it at that higher price? People are not willing, they are forced to, if they want the book, because books have an artificial monopoly based on copyright. That is, I can't offer the same book for cheaper unless I have the copyright to the content.

> People are not willing, they are forced to, if they want the book, because books have an artificial monopoly based on copyright. In many cases people have a choice of ebook vs physical copy, which is what we're discussing here.

>In many cases people have a choice of ebook vs physical copy, which is what we're discussing here.

Well, then it's still no free competition, between those are two entirely different technologies, and the sole owner of the copyright sets the price of both.

To put it in another way, the prices of ebooks that are in public domain (e.g. 19th century books) are way lower (e.g. $1 per book for some publishers), whereas printed editions of said books are as high as they ever were.

Re: How I make $400 a month in Passive Income by Self-Publishing

#63

Post by jjnoakes » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 9:58 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #62

jjnoakes wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People are not willing, they are forced to, if they want the book, because books have an artificial monopoly based on copyright. In many cases people have a choice of ebook vs physical copy, which is what we're discussing here.

> In many cases people have a choice of ebook vs physical copy, which is what we're discussing here. Well, then it's still no free competition, between those are two entirely different technologies, and the sole owner of the copyright sets the price of both. To put it in another way, the prices of ebooks that are in public domain (e.g. 19th century books) are way lower (e.g. $1 per book for some publishers), whereas…

Which supports my point. Price isn't set relative to production cost. It is set relative to value to the users.

Re: How I make $400 a month in Passive Income by Self-Publishing

#64

Post by rhizome » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 11:21 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #40

patrickyeon wrote: post #24

A little off-topic, but I found this interesting: > "Specifically, a lot of the traditional guys price e-books at $20–30, often times more than the paperback/hardcover, which is so stupid." It catches my eye when people get stuck on an e-book version costing more than a hard copy. It's funny that a Kindle version can be more valuable (instant delivery, easier to carry around, and a more enjoyable reading experience)…

> It's funny that a Kindle version can be more valuable (instant delivery, easier to carry around, and a more enjoyable reading experience) to somebody, but still seem like it should cost less. That's a bizarro reasoning. Obviously it's not about the value added because of extra functionality, it's about the new technology having lower marginal costs (and all that functionality comes basically for free), and publishe…

publishers still charging as if they still incur the full physical production and distribution costs

I haven't worked out the numbers to figure out whether there's really parity here, but the physical production and distribution costs are now borne by computing and network infrastructure.

Re: How I make $400 a month in Passive Income by Self-Publishing

#65

Post by patrickyeon » Tue, Oct 25, 2016, 3:01 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #44

patrickyeon wrote: post #24

A little off-topic, but I found this interesting: > "Specifically, a lot of the traditional guys price e-books at $20–30, often times more than the paperback/hardcover, which is so stupid." It catches my eye when people get stuck on an e-book version costing more than a hard copy. It's funny that a Kindle version can be more valuable (instant delivery, easier to carry around, and a more enjoyable reading experience)…

> Personally, I'll gladly pay an extra dollar to get an e-book version for anything I'm only expecting to read once or twice. Sure, but you won't be able to pass that book on to someone else and that is a major feature that paper books have that e-books should have (and maybe even better than paper ones) that they don't due to DRM.

I agree with you that this is an issue, and is why I buy hard copies of books I want to share or read many times over. When I'm buying an ebook, my thinking is "this will entertain/educate me and I would like to give money (that I'm lucky enough to be able to afford to spend) to the people who made it possible". If that weren't the case, I'd just use my library card.