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Suppose buggy-whip makers had owned the early plants that made automobiles. They might have overpriced the horseless carriages to protect sales of the horse-driven variety.

And that’s just about the case with e-books. Despite the rise of some fine independent publishers of e-books only, the traditional houses still do figure. And often they’re not so keen on seeing e-books appear at the same time as paper editions and undercut prices. What’s more, even some e-book independents may charge hardback prices. I wish that publishers of all kinds would read NetWorker’s recent post to the eBook Community list:

…just because book junkies are willing to pay whatever it takes to get their fix, doesn’t mean that they are totally insensitive to price differences. If e-books were cheaper than p-books, and if e-books were perceived as being as effective as p-books, and if e-books were understood to be as widely available as p-books, then e-books ought to sell better than p-books, and if their cost is lower then the profit will be greater.

There are a lot of “ifs” in the foregoing statement, but that just gives us some idea as where we need to work.

1) E-books need to be priced so that the public perception is that they are cheaper than paperbacks, and the difference needs to be more than just de minimis.

2) Everyone interested in the success of e-books needs to be actively engaged in promoting the idea of e-books, and not just as the equivalent of p-books, but as something which is different and better. I think the size of an e-book device needs to be small enough to fit inside a Ziploc sandwich bag, because thats how I read them in the tub.

3) The public needs to be made aware of how simple it is to acquire an e-book, and to the extent that p-books are more available than e-books we need to think up new ways of distribution so that they become as available. I’m still looking for investors for my e-book kiosk idea.

Thinking that higher prices will sell more e-books is sort of like thinking that setting off cannons will make it rain, because rainstorms are accompanied by bright flashes, loud sounds and heavy clouds. It sort of works, just not for the reasons they thought…

NetWorker adds that better marketing, improved hardware and rejection of DRM could also boost sales. True!

 
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