I’m literally years away from finding out what happens when you complete a novel and market it, but if you’re wondering exactly where the money goes when you buy a book at Barnes and Noble, click the image above or check out this informative article by Motoko Rich comparing print and E-books.
If you had asked me a year ago about this article, I probably would argue that the economics are flawed since people invested in a Kindle and who therefore have access to lower priced books might be willing to buy more books. I would argue that there would be more money because of the greater volume. I’m not bullish on the economy these days. It looks like the media in general is hurting. As Anne Rice mentions at the end of the article, however, building a dam isn’t going to stop the inevitable.
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Funny how you put this article up right when I’m weighing the pros and cons of Ebooks. From what I can tell, Ebook readers are still a new market and a tough one to make huge profit from (for writers that is). I don’t know of anybody who has a Kindle or would care to get a Kindle. Of course I don’t know very many who read as much as me, and I don’t care to get Kindle at all.
You definitely read more than I do Byron, and I think you’re not one to get a Kindle any time soon either.
The thing is that in the minds of the consumuers Kindle books are stuck at a particular price ceiling: $9.99. That means you only get $3.50 in profit from a Kindle book. You can make up for the low profit with a high volume of sales, but from what I can tell, there aren’t enough Kindle readers to give you that volume.
I have, however, seen Ebooks outside of Kindle, priced anywhere from $30-$50. These are Ebooks devoted to very specialized topics, however.
I’ve been hesitant to put my books out there as Ebooks (whether on Kindle or otherwise), because I really don’t want Ebook sales to cannibalize my book sales. Nevertheless, I think offering Ebooks would be ideal for short specialized topics.
Alpha,
You’re totally right. I don’t think I’d ever get a Kindle unless someone gave one to me. And even then, I don’t know that I’d ever buy books to put on it–I’d be paying dollars for pixels. I know exactly ONE person who has a Kindle, and that’s only because it came free with her Mac.
Maybe Ebooks won’t catch on. Maybe we’re all wrong in thinking that this is a revolution in the making. News on the internet was definitely a revolution, but electronic readers? I saw my friend’s Kindle, and not once did the thought ever occur that I had to have one. It was just like, “Oh, that’s cool.” I would gladly pay an extra $5 or $10 (which is what hardcovers usually go for after the Amazon and BN discounts) for something that’s real rather than something that gets uploaded into a handheld device.
Maybe books will come back once the economy (hopefully) comes back. Maybe these Ebooks are cannibalizing book sales only because the devices are a fad among some people. I agree–they would be useful for shorter specialized topics.
Piracy was another issue that I had with Ebooks in general. I don’t know if Ebook readers can protect against that sort of thing. BTW here’s a French video on possible future uses for Ebook readers. Give it about 47 seconds before the video shows up.
What’s funny is that I already do a similar thing where I take pictures of interesting books with my camera phone and look up the books at the library.
I fondly recall buying $5 magazines all the time and paying $19.99 for a new novel, but now things are even better. I’ve never in my life seen like-new hardcover books sell online for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99. I just bought 3 for practically nothing. Blogs report news better than printed papers, at no charge, and if you want your standard network news you can just get it online for free too. Magazines are practically given away just to entice people to subscribe. Google Books has millions of books that will never appear on a shelf again, viewable for free. And you can Wiki anything within 3 seconds. Publishers are having a rude awakening: people like cheaper stuff.
Alpha,
Great video! I think a lot of people would like to live in that world. I think I personally would find it a bit intrusive, but I gotta admit–that’s totally cool!
Eric,
If the economy comes back, maybe people will pay. I usually don’t buy magazines at $5 a pop because, well, that’s a lot of money for me. But if I made twice as much, or if they charged half as much, I might buy it. It’s a lot easier on the eyes than a computer screen, and I don’t have a Kindle!
Yeah I prefer books whenever I can afford em, which is why I’m in bed with Amazon right now. Plus I can loan em out, they’re more fun to collect, they gain value (or lose value). It’s more fun for me. I think a lot of us create our identities based on concrete things, and when those things go purely digital then there’s something that goes missing. But there’s always someone who fights against the tide:
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/02/06/forget-vc-never-released-nes-games-finally-come-home-in-true-form/