Comments on Dave Cullen's Blog: Ebooks wars ramp up: Authors/publishers finally pu...

It seems to me you have a case of misplaced anger ...

2010-03-12T10:00:55.810-07:00

It seems to me you have a case of misplaced anger against the ebook industry. According to what you've written above, you're making less on ebooks because the deal with the publishers is poor. That's not Amazon's fault. The problem lies with the publishers.

Right now publishers sell hardcover books to Amazon at a fixed price and Amazon determines what they want to charge for them. The profit margin for the publisher is approx (price charged Amazon)-(shipping and storage)-(production costs). The profit on an ebook is the price charged to Amazon, as the production costs are almost nonexistent and there's no cost to ship or store. Therefore, if the publisher subtracts the cost of shipping, storage and production from what it charges Amazon for the ebook, the profit margin on the ebook and the hardcover would be the same. AND if they paid Authors the same cut on ebooks and hardcovers, what you would make would be the same for both formats.

So while I get that the current situation with ebooks is bad for authors, the blame for that does not lie with Amazon or other ebook retailers. It lies where it usually does, with the publishers.

As big as ebooks get, I don't think they have ...

2010-01-03T09:51:06.802-07:00

As big as ebooks get, I don't think they have the capability to really reduce the sales of paperback books. This epidemic is something like Itunes and Ipods when they first came out, although less popular. And nothing electronic can overcome the paper backed book, certainly not in my generation. When ebooks and Kindle grows in popularity I think the demand by readers for certain books will cause Amazon to start paying more, perhaps 50%. You just really need big publishers and authors to hop on board and make the change. And can Amazon really hold a monopoly over ebooks? I haven't heard of any other carriers.

Sorry but have not read your book 'Columbine&#...

2009-12-30T12:16:23.954-07:00

Sorry but have not read your book 'Columbine'.

I found you by random really and in reading your post here just felt I had to say, as a reader, that I find the current trend of valuing books {online} at purely cash value {amazon for instance} just doesn't do justice or give reparation for the creative process when that process results in something so worthwhile or so tangible.

I mourn the loss of each bookshop and resent the ability to buy a book online for a couple of pence as a second hand object, as this just doesn't reflect the effort that has gone into production. Bookshops are special places where I, the unititiated in many ways, can walk through and touch the end product of so many intellects and so much experience. The loss of this, and the reality that payment/reward for such creativity is vastly reduced by on line retailing is a sad situation. It would break my heart to see something that had taken weeks and months to create valued at a few pence.

I hope we never lose the opportunity to browse through a bookshop and to pick up and touch a living book and to adequately reward that creativity.

{although book marketing needs a good kick up the arse too as it increasingly desperately tries to fight for a sale}

Good luck sir.

regards.....

and curmudgeonly yours,

Al.

This is totally unrelated to your post, but I just...

2009-12-29T14:31:58.554-07:00

This is totally unrelated to your post, but I just saw your comment on Nathan Bransford's blog and popped over. I just finished Columbine. You did an amazing, amazing job with it. Kudos. Hope your years of hard work pay off in a huge way.