Comments on: ‘At the End of the Paper Trail’ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/at-the-end-of-the-paper-trail/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:09:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Rob Preece http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/at-the-end-of-the-paper-trail/comment-page-1/#comment-591302 Rob Preece Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:58:11 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=7359#comment-591302 Hi David, Can't resist accepting your invitation to comment. I absolutely agree that the traditional print media (newspapers, magazines, books) will move electronically. From the newspaper perspective, this is mixed news--people tend to search for news that confirms their prejudices rather than challenges them--and that is not always a good thing. I'm not a huge fan of POD technology (call me one thumb up). I think it's a great way for a small publisher like me to dabble in the not-yet-dead world of print, but it is frightfully expensive on a per-book basis, squeezing margins. Part of the beauty of POD is that you, uh, print on demand. But bookstores still require returnability, which means you can have a pretty good sellthrough and still lose money if you use POD to hit the bookstores. (If you hit the industry average of 50%, you pay $3 for a book, and you sell the book for $12 with 50% bookstore/distributor margin), you end up just covering printing costs, with nothing left over for shipping, disposing of returns, paying the author or, heaven forbid, paying yourself. I do quibble with the 'everything's free' part of Adam's prediction. Sure there's an ad model, but it's not the only model and I'm not convinced it's the best model for books. Highly affordable prices (minor plug--like BooksForABuck.com sets) seems like a better solution for both authors, readers, and publishers. Rob Preece Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com Hi David,
Can’t resist accepting your invitation to comment.
I absolutely agree that the traditional print media (newspapers, magazines, books) will move electronically. From the newspaper perspective, this is mixed news–people tend to search for news that confirms their prejudices rather than challenges them–and that is not always a good thing.

I’m not a huge fan of POD technology (call me one thumb up). I think it’s a great way for a small publisher like me to dabble in the not-yet-dead world of print, but it is frightfully expensive on a per-book basis, squeezing margins. Part of the beauty of POD is that you, uh, print on demand. But bookstores still require returnability, which means you can have a pretty good sellthrough and still lose money if you use POD to hit the bookstores. (If you hit the industry average of 50%, you pay $3 for a book, and you sell the book for $12 with 50% bookstore/distributor margin), you end up just covering printing costs, with nothing left over for shipping, disposing of returns, paying the author or, heaven forbid, paying yourself.

I do quibble with the ‘everything’s free’ part of Adam’s prediction. Sure there’s an ad model, but it’s not the only model and I’m not convinced it’s the best model for books. Highly affordable prices (minor plug–like BooksForABuck.com sets) seems like a better solution for both authors, readers, and publishers.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com

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