25 Responses so far

1. 1. Greg on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 8:50 am

   I tend to agree. I’m not a huge fan of drm’d music, but Apple hit a sweet spot for me at $0.99 on iTunes. If I need a specific song, $0.99 feels right, cheaper than a cup of coffee.

   Likewise, I think anything under $5 bucks would be fine for a novel (maybe a $1.99 for a novella and $0.99 for a short story). As much as I look forward for something with a larger screen, lately I’ve really enjoyed reading novellas on my old PDA. I found a bunch of Robert Howard and H.P. Hovercraft Lovecraft on manybooks.net that I haven’t read in years. (Also liked Four Eyes, BTW ).

   It isn’t a 10-inch e-ink reading pad, but it doesn’t hurt my eyes. Someday, someone will market the flash-memory reading pad/word processor (con keyboard detachable), with limited Internet abilities, that I dream of.

2. 2. Mark Terry on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 9:01 am

   Oh yeah, let’s dig in on this one, please. Here’s my pet peeve, big time.

   Downloaded audio books. Several experts on the e-book industry have argued (I think quite possibly accurately) that if they would put their time and energy and dollars into audiobooks, that’s likely to be the future of e-books, not e-readers, specifically.

   Quite possibly. But why in the HELL does a downloaded audiobook cost the same amount as buying the CD version? (Which are probably overpriced). $45? $55? $65?

   Talk about your markup. If publishers really want to book audiobook download sales, make them available for the price of an album or even a hardcover. After all, what exactly are they selling? It’s all profit. There’s no warehouse expense, no packaging, no paper, etc.

3. 3. Josh on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 9:03 am

   That would be awesome pricing for ebooks, even 4.99 works for me.

4. 4. Greg on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 10:07 am

   Hey Mark, not that I’m an expert or anything, but maybe publishers feel that downloads eat into the money they would make with sales, so the money they put into designing the package and marketing still has to be picked up somewhere. I don’t know, just a thought.

   I’d imagine audiobooks are expensive to produce, with all the hours and hours of studio time and editing involved. Never really been a fan of the format, to tell the truth, which is strange since I really enjoy old radio shows (X-1, for example).

   Still, I can’t imagine e-books could cost anything beside the initial production of the book itself. Think about all the out-of-print stuff that’s out there. You could easily put all that on-line, and charge for it, without much in the way of production costs, since those were already accounted for in the initial print run (maybe).

   Like with music and the iPod revolution, I still think there needs to be a well-designed device like the iPod — in addition to a well-designed distribution system like iTunes — that could replace the paperback. Unfortunately, you couldn’t upload your existing books onto the device like you could put your existing music on your iPod.

5. 5. Steve Buchheit on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 10:35 am

   Mark Terry and Greg, I think it has something to do with costs, but mostly with the slow market for audiobooks. There isn’t all that large of a market for them, so they have to recoop costs (and keep that all important profit level) from a lower number of sales.

   I still like ink on paper. The psychology and psysicallity of it works so much better than phosphors. I could do a forty-page short paper on how we perceive text and how our visual systems work, which all lead to dead-tree editions (personally, I like dead cotton-field editions, dead-trees make poor paper). Just a short part of that would discuss font selection (for US readers, serifs for paper, sanserifs for phosphor) and how our eyes receive information and can become fatigued quickly (if I look at light text on dark backgrounds, I get a headache very quickly), plus a little bit on conception of text (how our brains process visual information). Ink on paper conveys properties that are hard to replicate on screen (text float and the like).

6. 6. Greg on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 10:43 am

   Steve, that’s why I’d like to get my hands on one of those e-ink based readers, just to see if there is a difference. Right now, I’m too annoyed by the small screen on my Palm and the constant scrolling to notice any harm to my eyes.

   I have a fondness for old books, but an old house with little storage space and a (young!) wife who doesn’t like the look of cluttered bookshelves.

7. 7. Tony on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 11:31 am

   I still think $6 is a bit high, I’d prefer to wait and get my hands on a paperback.

   But if it’s something like $4 I’d be buying a whole lot of them as we don’t get a lot of good books here.

8. 8. Lou Anders on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 11:35 am

   Just noticed that Harlequin is offering reasonably priced ebooks, albeit at shorter than novel length. From PW: “Spice Briefs will be original erotic e-books in the 5,000- to 15,000-word range. The price will be $2.99, although the company is offering the titles at 99 cents until Aug. 15.”

9. 9. Steve Buchheit on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 11:55 am

   Greg, I loved it when I heard about that tech (e-ink), I didn’t know we were close to deploying it. And yeah, I would love to be able to carry around my guilt stack in a single book sized reader, instead of the two copypaper boxes they reside in now.

   Lou, Mmmm, “Spice Briefs,” tastee treats. Or, something like that. Um *cough* yeah. I certainly hope they change the title because, for the life of me, all I can see is the “Candy Briefs” (fruit roll-ups for your bottom) box at the condom nation.

10. 10. Greg on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 12:09 pm

    Steve,

    There are already two major e-ink readers on the market. Sony’s Reader and the iRex (Philip’s spin-off) Illiad. They’re both on the other end of $350 and they both are involved with some sort of DRM scheme. I’m not terrible clear on the DRM part, honestly.

    They are, however, both using licensed honest-to-Crom e-ink technology. Not the bendy interface sort of stuff, but the actual paperlike appearance technology.

    You can buy Sony’s Reader at Best Buy. http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/itpd/reader/

11. 11. Rick Novy on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 12:32 pm

    Tobias, considering Scott Card can and does sell IGMS for $2.50, I’d say the sweet spot is probably slightly higher for novels, with a ceiling around $5. My guess would be closer to $3.50.

12. 12. David Chunn on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 1:14 pm

    I won’t buy an ebook that’s more than 1/2 the print cover price. No way. Same goes for a downloaded audiobook rather than the cd.

    I’d be happy with paying $4, or 5 if the author is independently/small press published.

13. 13. Pablo Defendini on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 1:33 pm

    I think anything under US$3.00 is probably tenable, but yeah, $1.99 probably is the sweet spot for audio/e-books.

    I still prefer the actual printed book (and yes, cotton rag paper is sooo much nicer!), but as for on-screen reading, well, in my travels through techdom I’ve had a Newton (yes, barely before my time, but I inherited it from an uncle), a slew of Palm OS based devices, and now an iPhone. For me, being able to read on one of these devices has always been the holy grail, for obvious reasons, but I never felt comfortable reading for long periods of time off a PDA screen until the iPhone came along. You still have to do a lot of scrolling, but as far as the actual quality of the display vis a vis the clarity and readability of the type, it’s fantastic.

    The only downside is that there’s as of yet no PDF reader app for the iPhone AFAIK, which sucks, because I like how Acrobat 8 goes about handling bookmarks, and it’s nice to have the formatting from the print edition preserved, especially if there’s artwork on the inside of the book.

    Which actually brings me to what I’ve always thought of as one of the ways in which publishers can get more value out of an e-edition of a book: since you’re eschewing printing costs, I would think that it’s feasable to spend a little of that saved money on things like interior illustrations, custom type treatments, etc., which will look great on screen, and in effect not add to production costs the way they would in print editions (aside from comissioning artwork, of course, but I’m talking print production costs). That way you’re offering an added value incentive to the reader, and you can justify maybe setting that price point at something closer to the printed mass market edition (but still cheaper, you’re still saving mnoey, dammit!).

    I dunno, I’ve never crunched numbers on this, but I think that maybe twenty or thirty years down the line, publishers will be printing hardcover editions for collectors, or purists who like the physical book (like me), or luddites (like my mom); and e-books along these lines will replace mass market editions.

    I haven’t seen any of the e-ink-based readers up close and personal, but if they have the Sony one at Best Buy, I might just have to swing by and check it out.

14. 14. tobias buckell on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    I don’t ever see myself buying ‘an ebook device.’ But the moment I read a website on the iPhone I said to myself ‘I would be very comfortable reading on this device.’ I already read books on my PDA (my old Zire 72, and then again on my VZ 6700), but the screen quality of the iPhone made it perfect.

    As for price, some of Fictionwise’s prices come close for my auto-buy impulse. The ceiling for me though is certainly $4.99, particularly as Wal-Mart sells paperbacks for $4.79 and used paperbacks I can get for just under $4.

15. 15. Greg on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 2:47 pm

    Oh, just a quick note about the e-ink readers I mentioned, neither of them are currently Mac compatible, which kinda rules me out.

    One cool bit is that you can write on the iLiad, like a tablet and it is wireless, so you can (somehow, I never played on it) access RSS feeds. It doesn’t seem to have an e-mail or web browser.

    How are you enjoying the iPhone, Mr. B? I swear, if Apple made one that had a seven inch screen, at least — and wasn’t a phone — I’d use it to replace my MacBook.

16. 16. tobias buckell on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    Greg, I don’t have the iPhone yet, sadly, b/c AT&T (I am so frigging pissed that Verizon TURNED APPLE DOWN, WTF? Seriously?) has almost no service coverage out in the boonies where I live unless I’m on I-75.

    There is technically service, but if I move 4 miles out of town, I can’t make an emergency call. Now does AT&T have a partner agreement, I can’t tell from their maps and customer service isn’t helping.

    Anyone with AT&T cellphone plan want to spend a couple days at my house? I’ll buy all meals!

17. 17. Greg on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 3:14 pm

    Heh. As good as vacationing in the Ohioan boondocks sounds, I’m a Verizon guy myself.

18. 18. Rick Novy on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 3:57 pm

    Alas, I just switched from Cingular/AT&T to T-mobile because nobody else has a plan that will allow parents to ration minutes to kids.

19. 19. Pablo Defendini on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 4:04 pm

    Greg, no Mac compatibility is a deal breaker for me too, so I guess I’ll put off that scouting trip to Best Buy. No need to torture myself if it turns out that the device is worth buying.

    I wouldn’t put it past Apple to release something similar to what you’re talking about with the 7-inch iPhone, but probably a little larger. Something to replace the much-missed 12-inch PowerBook, maybe with the same touch screen as the iPhone? Only time will tell. I would certainly trade in my MacBook for something like that.

20. 20. Pablo Defendini on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 5:07 pm

    Well, speak of the devil. This just in via:

    http://www.macminute.com/2007/08/02/booksoniphone/

    I just checked it out, and signed on. It seems cool, definitely has a nice simple interface. . . added a Murakami short story to my reading list, we’ll see how it goes.

21. 21. Tobias Buckell on Aug 2nd, 2007 at 5:09 pm

    I was just going to post that.

22. 22. Wyman Cooke on Aug 3rd, 2007 at 6:51 am

    On Webscriptions, you can get the entire month’s releases for $15. That’s up to six books. There are exceptions, but 99% are available at the time of release.

    You want weird? Webscriptions started out at $10 for a month’s worth. The fans suggested it was worth the extra $5. And now there’s eARC’s, uncorrected proofs for $!5 each. Be the first on your block to read the new Honor, Vorkosigian, etc.

    Some reasons that I think will mean that Webscriptions wins the e-book race: no encryption and multiple formats. you can download files as everything from HTML to Mobi Pocket.

23. 23. Fred Kiesche on Aug 3rd, 2007 at 7:33 am

    I’ll chime in for Webscriptions as well. For 2007, I bought the entire year’s worth of subscriptions and I’ve bought everything that has been offered (so far) for 2008. And I am almost embarrassed to mention how many other eBooks I’ve bought at Baen. Far more than any other shop, DRM-free, multiple formats, so limits on how many times I can download, etc. Plus I’ve even go so far to start paying for the books that I’ve found in their Free Library. You don’t have to, that’s why it is free, but I think this sort of behavior should be encouraged.

    As for an eReader, forget it. They all seem to think they should suck as much money out of you upfront for a limited use item. They would do better to sell something lower priced, no DRM, no limit on formats you can read (in other words, let me upload TomeRaider or Plucker or Mobipocket, etc.).

    Heck, on eBay, I picked up two Sony Clie SJ33’s for less than what I was paying for 128MB memory sticks a few years ago! So now I have two dedicated eBook readers and a (metaphorical) ton of eBooks to stuff on them.

24. 24. Samuel Tinianow on Aug 5th, 2007 at 4:39 am

    Anybody else use http://www.wowio.com/ ? Most of their SF/F eBooks are reprints, but they look nice and they’re free. =)

    While I like the Sony eReader (based on the demo at Borders, anyway), I’ve pretty much accepted that there won’t be any produced in the near future that are inexpensive or worth the money. For the moment, I’ll be sticking with pulp paperbacks I get used for 50 cents–unlike an eReader or PDA I can carry them around in my pocket at work without worrying that they’ll quit working if they get a little wet or greasy.

    But if commercial eBooks start costing 50 cents or less, then we’ll talk.

25. 25. Lyndon the Adult eBook Webmaster on Dec 4th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

    There’s definitely a price issue here, cheaper the better but as with most things it’s all really about quality. Put simply, the more established and well known authors can charge that bit more.

    The English book reading public is nowhere near as advanced as the American in accepting ebooks as a choice, yet. Hopefully they will become so.