Just how much should Kindle editions cost? Here’s an interesting post and follow-up discussion on Kindlekorner. One publisher felt the wrath of the community by coming out with a Kindle edition that’s well over the popular $9.99 price point. The title in question, novelist Richard Price‘s Lush Life, was quickly changed from a price of more than $20 to, you guessed it, $9.99.
Regardless of how Amazon is arriving at and settling on its pricing levels, you’ve got to believe there will be more and more community discontent every time a new Kindle edition comes out at something higher than $9.99. Amazon’s response was swift in this case; it will be interesting to see if that pattern continues, particularly as the Kindle ownership base grows.
Technorati Tags: Richard Price
Huh. I wonder if the publishers at various sites that sell e-books at “hardcover” prices will notice this. It certainly has kept me from buying more than one e-book. I’ll pay hardcover prices for a hardcover, but only paperback prices for an e-book.
The ultimate question is whether Amazon has opened Pandora’s box and now will be expected to sell all e-books at $9.99 or less, which would be a heavy money-losing proposition for Amazon. Bezos’ business model will be undergoing some heavy testing over the next months and will get a real workout come the 2008 holiday season.
Well, not all ebooks, but all ebook novels. If 9.99 works for Stephen King and and all the other bestsellers in Kindle format, what is so special about Price’s book?
I have drawn a line in the sand at 9.99 for a novel. Stephen H White;s new novel is over $15 and that is just too steep for an ebook when compared with, for example, the new Jonathan Kellerman at 9.99.
Having spent $399 on a Kindle, I am not too worried about Jeff Bezos losing money anytime soon. If he can afford to build his own space ship, I figure he can afford to sell ebooks for 9.99.
And I certainly would not expect to only pay 9.99 for reference manuals – in fact, I see books on the Kindle that run into the hundreds of dollars. But novels should be discounted because look at what the publishers are saving on shipping, paper and printing costs.