The eBook Kerfuffle

[micah]

OMG! I am kicking myself for not seeing this argument before.

"Also, you know. I think it’s kind of funny Amazon can initially sell the Kindle at $400, and then eventually drop the price to $259 when it makes sense for Amazon’s business to do so — and yet appears to maintain that the content for the Kindle has to have a single price point."

I bow down the greatness that is Scalzi.

He also brings up an interesting point (and one which I have said elsewhere), nothing is being said about e-books that are currently priced less than $9.99. Damn near everything I have on my Reader right now was purchased at "mass market" prices or lower. Why is it ok to be lower than $9.99 but not higher?

I agree with the observation that this is where any revenue lost by not going higher on new books will be recouped. Not sure how I feel about this. It means a bigger pay out for the author, but only if the books are being purchased. Will the average readers be willing to pay the same price for an old mid-list title as they would for a brand new book by a "Name?"

Oh, this is in reference to whatever.scalzi.com/2010/02/04/a-quick-interview-of-me-by-me-to-catch-up-with-everything-amazon/

[micah]

In the name of including all sides of the issue, even ones I do not agree with, I offer this:

www.teleread.org/2010/02/05/maybe-we-should-be-hurting-the-authors/

Anyone want to react to this one?

[micah]

Another word on pricing. Interesting stuff here.

www.tobiasbuckell.com/2010/02/05/why-do-people-want-more-expensive-backlist-books/

[micah]

...and right around the time they disappeared last Friday, Macmillan's titles were back on Amazon this Friday. At least, the ability to purchase the analog copies is. The Kindle versions of Macmillan titles are still missing.

An even more annoying result of this from the viewpoint of both the consumer and the author, is that when the titles were pulled, they disappeared from any Wishlists they might have been on. Now that they are restored...they are still missing from the Wishlists.

This is exceptionally annoying if you use Amazon's Wishlists the way most people that I know do, as a shopping list. You see a book you might want to read, throw it on your Wishlist so you won't have to worry about remembering the title and author, then when you have a little extra jingle in your pocket you buy it. Except you can't. Because you can't remember the title and it's not on your Wishlist anymore.

Odds are this is an unplanned result of the previous action and the software either is not capable of putting the titles back or no one in Seattle has noticed it yet. Either way it's a major inconvenience. If you have a birthday coming up, you probably won't be getting that box full of SciFi you were hoping for.

[tomsawyer1016]

I'll take the Amazon, Rock Hudson doesn't appeal to me.

[micah]

Literary agent and chief Litopian provides an insightful and eyebrow raising summarization of the Kindle Kerfuffle.

www.thebookseller.com/blogs/114251-page.html

[micah]

The latest Amazon asshattery involves Penguin. www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/publishers/new_penguin_ebooks_not_available_on_amazon_157546.asp

I should change the name of this thread.

[micah]

Penguin and Amazon have reached an agreement:

www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gNPuogXRrAyeQjzW_5FBjdPkp3nQD9FUNSD81

[MontiLee]

The biggest thing Amazon tends to forget is that behind the big publishing companies are authors would would like to make a living. After Amazon takes thier cut - and don't let anyone full you into thinking it's not a huge cut - what's left is pocket change for the author. That's why digital titles are so appealing to smaller presses.

There isn't much overhead, and even after percentages are taken for editing and authors what remains is still a good chunk. Not to mention no warehousing fees, no remainders.

Amazon's pecentage for selling on it's pages is mind-boggling. that it insists on keeping the prices low for the little guy completely ignores that the littlest guy is the author making $.70 on a $10.00 e-book.