I read books. I read a lot of books. I don’t care if I’m reading a paper book, or an e-book (I love my Sony PRS-500), or listening to an audiobook (Audible is a godsend for long car trips).
I understand that publishers want to make money. It takes a long time to write a good book. Much longer than it takes to write a good song.
However. Yes, there is a however. A paperback book is cheaper to produce than a hard cover book. Thus it makes sense that a paperback book is cheaper than a hard cover book.
An e-book is cheaper yet. Why then does an e-book cost more than a paperback book? Why do they sometimes cost more than the hard cover edition? This is not an attempt to move into a new age of books, this is pretending to care while quietly hoping it goes away.
Audio books are more expensive to produce than e-books. And yet… and yet… I buy e-books from audible at approximately the same price as a paperback.
Publishers need to learn that this is a market which they can make a killing in. E-books allow publishers to make more per copy than paperbacks. If publishers were to set their pricing at the same level as paperback books they would see an increase in purchases, resulting in increased profits.
With books, as with music, if price gouging continues then people will turn to alternatives. Most of these alternatives result in a lowered profit for publishers.
