Comments on: Is an Ebook of Equal Value to a Hardcover Book?

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:37:55 +0000

@Kat We can get DVD players in Switzerland which can play all region codes. As far as I know, they aren't allowed in the EU. @Magdalen I have no idea how print runs function, or the cost behind them. I'm pretty sure there was an article about this in the 'Romance Writers Report' a while ago. I'll see if I can find it.

By: Magdalen

Magdalen — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:26:53 +0000

Paperbacks are so much cheaper to produce: way cheaper paper that is basically stacked up, cut, glued on one side and with a thicker paper cover. No sewing — still used in the making of hardcovers — no fancy cloth binding (okay, so they’re not really fancy, but they’re way fancier than a paperback) — and no dust cover, which is cheap in & of itself, but is the cherry to the sundae that is a hardcover book.

So you can run off a thousand paperbacks for the cost of oh, say, 20 hardcovers (I made all those numbers up, but they’re not far off, I’ll bet). Admittedly you have sunk costs: the author (NOT the biggest expense by a wide chalk), the editorial staff, marketing — all of which cover both the paperback and hardcover editions. But if you’re ordering 100,000 hardcovers, each at 50x the cost of a paperback (and 500x the cost of an e-book), you really want 80,000 people to fork out the twenty bucks apiece for those books.

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:43:08 +0000

@Magdalen I can't be 100% sure, but I think Australia allows people to remove DVD region coding on their DVD players. Also, it's easy enough (at least in Australia) to buy a DVD player that can cope with multiple regions.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:07:48 +0000

@Edie As a frequent user of the edit function, I can sympathize!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:04:55 +0000

Magdalen :
I think the actual manufacturing of hardcovers is cost-effective only at certain numbers, and that only makes sense if enough of that number of hardcovers sell at or near the price set for the extra value of a hardcover. Thus the concern isn’t lost profits from selling electronic copies vs. hardcover, but the lost profits when hardcovers are remaindered and bookstores order far fewer of the next hardcover release.
EditDe-linkModerate Spam Delete

I hadn't thought of that. I'd imagine you're right re: the numbers of hardcovers which publishers need to sell in order for it to be cost effective. Wouldn't the same apply to print-runs of paperbacks, though?

By: Magdalen

Magdalen — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:27:17 +0000

I suspect (not having any *actual* knowledge on the subject) that the sticking point vis a vis a hardcover release is the numbers involved. I think the actual manufacturing of hardcovers is cost-effective only at certain numbers, and that only makes sense if enough of that number of hardcovers sell at or near the price set for the extra value of a hardcover. Thus the concern isn’t lost profits from selling electronic copies vs. hardcover, but the lost profits when hardcovers are remaindered and bookstores order far fewer of the next hardcover release. It takes an odd sort of alchemy to get romance readers to fork over extra bucks for hardcovers; publishers want to keep that alchemy in place and not mess it up with e-publishing.

I will say this, though, about geographical restrictions. I am stunned that we (the universe at large) haven’t found a solution to the issue of region-specific TV shows, DVDs, etc. It’s crazy in a global economy. But then a lot of things are crazy in a global economy, and now we’re back to another topic I actually know nothing about.

By: Edie

Edie — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:29:05 +0000

oo.. you are the best! Edit is more than enough I am sure for ramblers like moi.

oo.. pwetty edit.. lol

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:05:13 +0000

@Edie I've added a plug in which should allow visitors to edit their comments. It doesn't provide a preview, unfortunately. I'll see if I can add that function later. @Meghan DVD region codes still exist, but as most films are available in a number of countries, it's not really a problem. I just read that the Kindle will be released in the UK later this year. This will probably confirm - or alleviate - my current concerns about availability of ebooks to customers outside the US. @Marissa Apparently, exclusively epublished authors get a much higher percentage of royalties on their books than authors whose work is also available in print. Whether or not print publishers are justified in paying low royalties on ebooks remains to be seen. @Kat Thanks for the link. I love the blog title!

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:46:33 +0000

@Edie No worries. If you're an ARRA member, it's worth getting the opinion of Aussie romance readers with ebook readers. At our last meet-up someone brought along her Hanlin for us to envy, plus one of those handbag-sized Sony Vaios. I nearly cried. Feel free to email me if you want any more details about the readers. (We've gone a bit off topic here - sorry, Sarah!)

By: Edie

Edie — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:16:46 +0000

oooo.. Kat.. will have to look into those, when I went looking a little while back all I could find was Iliad online. If they have Australian warranties etc.. I am soo broke!
Many, many, many thanks!