An article in today's issue of The Bookseller, discussed this survey by Mintel. Here's a snippet. A lot more info in the article: Half of all book buyers expect to pay less for e-books, according to new research by Mintel, but those book readers who already own e-book devices have marginally more realistic expectations over price, suggesting that the transition of the big publishers to agency terms is helping to shift consumers' attitudes—albeit slowly. The survey also found that nearly half of readers (49%) said they would rather own and read actual books rather than e-books, but the survey also...

Raise your hand if you’re surprised. Apple Insider reports that Random House e-book titles have started appearing on the iBooks store, just in time for the launch of the new iPad today. It must have been in the offing for some time before Random House actually announced the change to the agency model. I’ll be watching the liveblogging of the iPad 2 launch event just like anyone, but will probably have to wait for this evening to post my thoughts on it due to my day job. ...

It used to be the Agency 5, now it’s the Agency 6 as Random House has caved and instituted agency pricing. This further changes my book-buying habits. Let me start by saying that I am not outright opposed to the agency system. What I am opposed to — and appalled by — is the pricing. Granted that Agency 6 pricing clearly demonstrates lack of competition bordering on price collusion (Isn’t it amazing how similar the Agency 6 ebook pricing is across the board?), but that isn’t the primary problem I have: The primary problem is...

Another one from The Bookseller. Random House UK is not jumping on the agency bandwagon, or at least not yet. However, Random House UK said it had a wait and see policy on the pricing model. When the Office of Fair Trading launched its investigation into e-book pricing in February, publishers outside agency said they would be more cautious about it while it was under review. A spokesperson for Random House UK did not refer to the OFT investigation but said: "New commercial models in the fast changing e-book environment are constantly under review. Across our territories—not least in the UK—we...

I thought this was worth publishing in full, given the importance of the matter. It comes from an email I received this morning. Blockquotes omitted: From Steve Potash, OverDrive CEO: Since Friday, we’ve heard directly from many library partners about the new eBook licensing terms instituted by HarperCollins. As an initial step, here is what OverDrive is doing about it. Beginning March 7, we are making changes in the eBook ordering process. HarperCollins eBooks and their catalog of titles will be moved from our general eBook catalog to a separate collection. Until we have time to review the effect of these...

Here is the press release I received: “Random House, Inc. is adopting the agency model for e-book sales in the United States effective March 1, 2011. Going forward, Random House will set consumer prices for the e-books we publish, and we will provide retailers with a commission for each sale. There are no changes to our terms of sale for physical books. “The agency model guarantees a higher margin for retailers than did our previous sales terms. We are making this change both as an investment in the successful digital transition of our existing partners and in order to give us the...

The Bookseller reports that the investigation into agency pricing by the UK Office of Fair Trade could hold up any new publishers from switching to agency terms for as long as a year. Although OFT is careful to insist that the mere fact of an investigation should not be taken to mean that agency pricing is illegal, but given that nobody is sure yet which way the investigation is going to go, publishers are concerned about negotiating agency terms and then potentially having to turn right around and renegotiate new terms if the OFT finds against it. Nonetheless, publishers...

According to The Bookseller: The Office of Fair Trading has launched an investigation into agency pricing, following a "significant" number of complaints. The OFT said the investigation is "into whether arrangements that certain publishers have put in place with some retailers for the sale of e-books may breach competition rules". However, it added: "The investigation is at an early stage and it should not be assumed that the parties involved have breached competition law."...

This subject has become my hobby horse lately. While we’ve got it out, I might as well ride it until I get splinters in my butt. One of the rationalizations from the Big 5 publishers who are doing agency pricing with the ebook editions of their books was that “they would be able to better respond to the marketplace and adjust prices accordingly.” Macmillan’s John Sargent, he of the opposing side of the infamous Amazon delisting crisis of 2010, made a post to his blog that included this paragraph: For physical books, the majority of new release hardcovers...

I received the following email from Adam McDiarmid: Hi Paul, I was wondering if you or someone on Teleread could answer the following question: "Why is agency pricing not consistent between ebook sellers?" For example, due to the movie coming out, I checked out the novel The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. It was published six years ago in 2005 and is sold on Amazon as a MMPB for $5.60. A quick search of ebook sellers using inkmesh provided the following results: Diesel: 9.64 Amazon, Sony, BooksonBoard, Apple, B&N, Kobo, and Borders: 9.99 CyberRead: 10.00 Powell.com: 12.42 ebooks.com: 13.99 This book is published by Hachette and since that...

From Irish Publishing News. More info in the article. Stephen Boylan, Books Purchasing Manager at Easons with responsibility for ebooks has confirmed that Easons has signed Agency contracts with Hachette and HarperCollins. Both publishers have also changed from wholesale to agency terms for ebooks in the UK, as have Canongate, Penguin and Simon & Schuster. The new agreements mean that Easons, ‘currently have a mix of agency and wholesale pricing on their ebook site,’ according to Boylan....

The ebook-related interwebs are buzzing with news that Mark Coker and his Smashwords ebook-publishing site is adopting the anti-competitive, price-fixing “agency model” favoured by publishing monoliths everywhere. He wrote a long and detailed missive on the Smashwords blog the other day, justifying the move, and if we didn’t know any better, after reading it you’d say his explanation makes sense. But of course he can justify the move. In practice, when buying directly from individual amateur authors, it won’t make much difference. They set their own prices then and now, and would see "discounting" rarely, and on tiny turnover it wouldn't...