For me, the selling point for ebooks isn’t about the clutter (although that is a plus). It’s about the convenience of having my library (well, part of it) with me when and where I want it. In a waiting room. In an airport. On vacation.

So, is a publisher “losing” a hardcover sale when I buy an ebook edition? Maybe. So what? If they’ve priced it appropriately, it shouldn’t matter.

But there’s the rub; one of the points the CEO made is that they *don’t* control the retail pricing for ebooks, just the timing. The publishers are deathly scared that they’ll lose control (to Amazon, or whomever) just like the music labels did with Apple.

One option is to sell direct, cutting out the retailer; Baen does this, and it seems to be working for them. But I don’t think it really makes sense for every publisher to become their own retail outlet. Too fragmented, and frankly I don’t know that most of the publishers would be good at it. Plus, it puts them in competition with their own existing retail channel (to some extent).

Another option is to include an ebook edition with the hardcover purchase. Baen has done that a few times too. That isn’t very attractive to clutter-sensitive customers, though, and it lacks the immediate gratification of a digital download.

For all that I disagree with the decision Sourcebooks made, I have to give them some credit: they are at least experimenting, looking for a long-term model that will work. Too many publishers seem to be just hoping the problem will go away.

The real market the publishers want to protect is that of the bookstores and (mostly) the big chains. I have little doubt that the big chains are getting angry as more Kindles are sold, and the kindle edition retails for less than their wholesale price.

The Publisher actually makes more money off the Kindle 9.99 edition than they make off the 20.00 hardcover, when you consider discounts and returns. The Kindle edition gives Publisher 7.00 for every copy sold — and there are no returns to reduce that amount.

Thus the only worry for Publisher is that Kindle sales eat into hardcover sales (no net loss, actually a boost in profits, but…) and that the Kindle sales mean higher returns, retribution by the big chains (“We won’t carry your books if they are cheaper on Kindle; we will stock half as many copies,” etc) which, on the whole, in the total reckoning, might mean lower net revenues on any given book.

Allowing for a ‘clearance’ of 6 months before releasing the Kindle edition solves this. The chains are mollified; Kindle readers still get their ebook editions, if they just wait; ardent fans will buy the hardcovers.

I also disagree with her about ‘publishing is not like music’ — the only real difference is that the vast majority of music fans will gladly listen to digital editions of songs, but the vast majority of readers still prefer paper editions because, they think, ‘I could never curl up with a computer screen.’ The Kindle and Sony Reader and others (but mostly the Kindle) is starting to change that.

The policy of ‘clearances’ may well prove wise in the short run — I’d really have to seen figures on an apples-apples comparison basis to make up my mind there, but I respect any Publisher who chooses this path — however, in the long run, Publishers must make peace with digital and ebooks, just as newspapers and music labels. They are all in the same boat, in the long run.

The only thing that can save them from the superior technology is if they can capture enough corrupt and short-sighted or foolish legislators to give them new monopoly laws and harsh copyright restrictions, such as watermarking all printed books and including ‘v-chip’ style protection on all computers, ebook readers, and smartphones.

It’s not ‘you’ll lose a print sale to an e-sale.’ It’s ‘you will lose a sale period, as I will get the print copy from the library if you don’t have an e-version to sell me.’ And that’s true for many e-readers I know. Publishers may want things to be different, but at some point, they are going to have to change their mindset and realize that the only way to get a customer’s money is to sell what they want to buy. They’ll lose more money by not selling legitimate e-versions to loyal, paying customers than they will to the mythical ‘pirates’ they are so afraid of.

Publishers have a right to their business models. If that model includes early-release premium pricing (the BooksForABuck.com model is the opposite…early-release discount pricing, the same model used by Fictionwise but that doesn’t make one model right or wrong), eBooks should be included in that model. Delaying eBook release seems to me the worse sin than high eBook pricing.

Rob Preece
BooksForABuck

Seriously, many of us don’t and never will purchase a HC or PB book again. I haven’t in over 5 years now where before, I would buy up to 20 books a month in PB. This outdated policy simply is going to hurt the publisher and author more because people who read PB/HC are more likely now to be exclusive from those that read E-versions. Not many flip-flop back and forth depending on book availability. So in the end, I believe that you won’t loose money by offering both HC and E-versions at the same time. Even if you are concerned about a price differential, then be honest and simply cut the price of the printing, shipping, storage or any other logistical costs of the HC book and use that as the price for the E-version. If this doesn’t jive with amazon’s kindle, then sell the E-version elsewhere since there are lots of e-sellers. Come on Kassia, stop being really stupid and think – you are after all, supposed to be a publisher…