Saturday, October 29, 2011

Traditional Publishers' E-book Pricing - A Crime

Received this link in an e-mail from Amazon with a list of several other books they thought I might be interested in since I had purchased some other Mystery/Thrillers recently. Just out of curiosity and as I've read Jodi Picoult in the past and enjoyed her, I checked the link out:


Now aside from the fact that this book is a reissue with a different cover (a rant for another day about how publishers get you to purchase a book that you've already purchased, but luckily I remembered the premise in this case) it's shit like this that just pisses me off with traditional, big publishers. WHY the hell is the Kindle version TWICE as much as the print?!?! And this is just a sample. I've seen other big name authors' books priced like this (J.R. Ward, for example, whose Black Dagger Brotherhood books I avidly follow!). Amazon makes this note beside the Kindle edition: "This price was set by the publisher", like this is supposed to somehow absolve and separate them from the travesty.

When I purchased my Kindle, I thought I would just convert and buy all my books in the Kindle version from now on, but with prices like this, I can see myself buying half-print, half-e, or just stop buying books from traditional, big publishers altogether, except in very special, auto-buy-author instances (and these are getting few and far between, especially since I can find comparable authors and themes with e-publishers). Admittedly, I have found lots of bargains and have downloaded numerous FREE or reasonably priced (i.e., $2.99-$5.99) books in Kindle version (some by big name authors) since I purchased my Kindle, so I guess like with any new technology, one must take the good with the bad (i.e., outrageous, traditional publisher pricing vs. reasonable e-publisher pricing). As usual, the best prices for e-books are coming directly from the source: E-Publishers!

I still like the idea of the Kindle and reading on it, but traditional publishing, hanging on tooth and nail to their outdated models (and pricing accordingly) is, as usual, trying to control the market and stomp on the "little" guy. Except that the little guy isn’t so little anymore as authors like Barry Eisler can attest:



So traditional publishers, stomp on! E-Publishing is here to stay. Better check yourself before you wreck yourself!