People may want to enjoy the same book in different ways. Why not be able to start the hardback in bed at home, then enjoy the e-book on your cellphone at work during lunch—especially if you’re reading a saucy novel whose bold cover might jeopardize your next promotion at the bank?
So I love the idea of e-books being bundled with hardbacks or paperbacks, and now Google Editions plans to make it easier for publishers to accommodate readers this way. Getting Started with Google Editions includes this bullet:
“Default Bundle Pricing: Retailers may choose to sell your Google Editions book in a bundle with the print copy. This setting allows you to specify the percentage of the Google Editions list price that you would like to charge when the print and digital editions are sold together. For example, if you are selling a Google Edition for $15, you may decide that a customer making a print edition purchase from an online retailer will be willing to pay an additional $4.50 on top of the print edition purchase price to receive the digital edition as well. If so, you will want to enter "30%" into this field.”
So, gang, either as a reader, writer, or publisher, what do you think of the above option? What percentage would you prefer to be plugged into the field? And do you think Amazon should add this choice? Kindle files with p-books of interested publishers?
Meanwhile it will be fascinating to see how many publishers take advantage of Google’s bundling capabilities.
I know there’s the risk of someone keeping the e-version and giving away the p-version to a friend. But you know what? That just might be useful as promotion. Consider New York Times columnist David Pogue, whose found that his sales went up slightly even when people were pirating his book. I’m pro-copyright, anti-piracy, but there are a lot of interesting variables to consider. I suspect that small-press writers might especially come out ahead, since obscurity, as Tim O’Reilly puts it, is more of a threat than piracy.
Related: Watch out, Amazon.com? Google Editions stocking up now for 2010 consumer debut.
I can understand this. I can also understand wanting a paperback bundled with any hardback purchase (that way, when I’m traveling and might lose my book, I could risk the inexpensive paperback). I think the multi-format option (which I support and which is available from Fictionwise) or a multi-device option (Kindle for…) makes more sense. Let’s put paper out of its misery, not come up with ways to preserve it’s stay.
Rob Preece
Publisher
But Rob, what if you enjoy both E and P? I like the idea of either being available–so we can grow the book market to the max. David