Book Pricing

[Evan]

When the Kindle launched, it changed a lot of people's perception about reading. Suddenly, you could bring (almost) as many books with you as you wanted, everywhere you went. But, probably the biggest change, was pricing. Some hardcover novels out there, especially new releases, can rank up to the $30 mark. For someone on a budget, that's a tough sell.

So Amazon marked new releases, hardcover or not, at $9.99, and suddenly the reading world was in love again. Not only did you have the convenience of the eReader itself, but now you could afford to buy three books for what, in some cases, could only get you one.

All of that is about to change, and it may not all be that bad.

Writers take their work very seriously, and when they believe that someone is trying to take some of their money off the top, they are liable to get pretty angry. And when writer's get angry, one of two things happen: one, they produce better work. Or two, they stop writing altogether. It seems Apple was listening to a lot of the major book publishers out there, because there's a pretty big change happening right now. Publishers want to be able to control the prices of their books on their own. Because of this, (new release) eBooks are primed to be set between $12.99 and $14.99, if the rumors are true.

There are some caveats to this. Those prices could reflect only new release hardcover books, or that net could be cast over the entire range of novels.

It's not a huge jump from $9.99, and it's certainly not $30.

So, what do you think? Will you buy a new release, hardcover, for $14.99? Or, will you be a stickler and fight against the waves of change?

[vincent]

For technical books or graphical books in nature - I don't mind paying an additional $5. It's a much better UIX

[Evan]

What about regular old novels?

[vincent]

Novels aren't worth the additional cost. Buy from Amazon and use kindle app for iPhone and save $5.

[Evan]

I don't even remember the last time I bought a physical hardcover novel. The only time I have recently, was through the Kindle, and only spent $9.99. However, as Macmillan and Hachette Book Group have shown us, Amazon isn't going to be able to keep those prices. At least, it seems, not for much longer. And what that means, is by the time the iPad launches.

It reminds me of the quick interview that Mossberg did with Jobs at the keynote, where Mossberg asked about the price differences between Amazon and what Apple was planning. Jobs replied coolly that they "would be the same," and left it at that. Now, I see how that makes sense. Jobs knew he had these major publishing groups already under his wing, and probably knew they would be forcing these exact price changes. Amazon has to match the prices not because they want to, but because if they don't, the publishers that deliver the books to their eReader would pull out.

[caps]

i might personally spend the extra $5 if even if its not covered in pictures and what not just to have the convenience of having all of my eBooks in the same app

[Evan]

Having all your books in one place is great, no doubt. And of course, when you think about the fact that physical hardcover books can reach up to $30, paying $14.99 for them really isn't a bad thing.

It's simply the fact that they're changing, just because of the launch of the iPad. I love the iPad, but I wish my eBooks would stay the same price.

[*Susan*]

Evan, you said just about what I was going to say. I don't like having to pay as much as $30.00 for a physical hardcover book. But, when a new book comes out from one of my favorite authors, I also don't like having to wait for what seems like ages for it to come out in paperback at a more reasonable price. I definitely would not have a problem paying $14.99 for a hardback on the iPad, just for the convenience of having it available to me as soon as it comes out.

[Evan]

That's another great point, Susan. Waiting for my favorite novels to come out in paperback form, so I could finally buy them, was something I have never enjoyed doing. After getting the Kindle app, all of that went out the window.

I'm glad that functionality and ease of use is still there. And, it's still not $30. So, I'm going to have to chalk this up to a win-win scenario.

[rrtzmd]

...I may be wrong but I seem to recall reading that some publishers -- seems like Hachette was one -- were planning on not releasing ebook versions until several weeks after the hardbacks were released...publishers seem to be having a difficult time of coping with the coming reality of no longer being able to control the markets for their books...