Ok, granted, I haven't looked up an ebook for a few months but WTF is up w a book being $15 HC but $12 for Kindle? Or $18 PB & $15 for Kindle? Sorry, but I'm never paying those prices. I'll just get the physical copies. (And tbh, if that's the norm, there's some books I won't be reading at all now.) - ThreadSky

stinasdemons.com • 144 days ago

Ok, granted, I haven't looked up an ebook for a few months but WTF is up w a book being $15 HC but $12 for Kindle? Or $18 PB & $15 for Kindle? Sorry, but I'm never paying those prices. I'll just get the physical copies. (And tbh, if that's the norm, there's some books I won't be reading at all now.)

Comments

darklock.com•144 days ago

Cost of materials is a smaller portion of the price. Paper is cheap. Printing is cheap. The expensive parts are the author and the editor, and they should be paid fairly for the ebook just like for the physical book.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

Never said they shouldn't be. And I'm confident Am*zon can afford to do that and is also saving money on the cost of materials. That price is not a reasonable price to "purchase" a file I don't even technically own.

zenothankyou.bsky.social•143 days ago

Just saying it doesn’t make it so. The main factor in pricing is publisher RRP, which reflects the rate they sell to stockists. When they’re significantly cheaper it’s usually the publisher that takes the hit. Most books from big presses sell <50,000, with much smaller numbers for indies.

zenothankyou.bsky.social•143 days ago

Games, films, etc. don’t suddenly become dramatically cheaper to make when they’re downloadable rather than on a disc, so why would books?

darklock.com•143 days ago

But they do. Movies on video used to cost $80+. Now you can watch several hundred of them for $8 a month.

zenothankyou.bsky.social•143 days ago

Maybe 40+ years ago. They certainly haven’t cost near that much since DVDs came into existence. You can watch an unlimited amount on Netflix for that, but that’s with ads and it’s 98% re-runs and slop. If you want to buy a download of a new film it costs just a few dollars less than the DVD.

uofagrad97.bsky.social•144 days ago

It should not be more than a physical copy.

mcburnellauthor.bsky.social•144 days ago

I've been astonished by this as well. If I like something enough to spend that much on it, it's bc I want it to be MINE, something I hold in my hands when it isn't on a shelf, proudly shown off as piece of my collection and sign of my good taste.

kimber-mcleod.bsky.social•144 days ago

I'm not paying those prices for a ebook that someone else can just delete. I'll take the physical copy thank you very much. I do think if I pay over 20+ dollars for a hard cover it would be nice if it included a scan code for the ebook.

bensynnock.bsky.social•144 days ago

The advantage for me of the Kindle is that I can read it in the dark and that I can buy books without my wife noticing.

I usually have a kindle book, a paperback, and an audiobook on the go at any one time.

bjflanagan4.bsky.social•144 days ago

Library card & Libby app for free kindle and audiobooks

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

Yes, I mentioned exactly this in my next post in the thread. That's well & good IF you have one near you but that doesn't change the fundamental issue which is that "purchasing" an electronic file (that I don't ever actually own) should not be near or more than the price of buying the physical book.

scribe1128.bsky.social•144 days ago

Check them out for free at the library.

stellaaround.bsky.social•144 days ago

Yeah, the market has completely abandoned cheaper ebook prices for mainstream books. A small token discount is usually all you get now, outside sales.

kithrup.bsky.social•144 days ago

Authors will generally get more from a $15 ebook than they will from a $15 physical book.

I'm told that the physical cost of a printed book is not significant enough to make a major difference in price.

stellaaround.bsky.social•144 days ago

I totally get the economics of it, but as a consumer it feels real bad.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

Regardless of the underlying economics of who's responsible for setting the price and the costs involved on the backend, the "purchase" price of an electronic file I don't even get to actually own should not be near (or more) than the cost of buying a physical copy.

meangreenmom.bsky.social•144 days ago

I love my ereader. I can’t track across a page since chemo. Ereaders allow me to enlarge, change color, change font at will to accommodate whatever I need. Regular books no longer work for me.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

This isn't about the pros and cons of an ereader. I don't have a problem with them, and own one myself. This is about the price for ephemeral electronic files the reader doesn't own versus physical copies.

meangreenmom.bsky.social•144 days ago

There is that.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

The point of an ebook reader, for me, is to take a chance on an author, or for books I don't necessarily want to own physical copies of, but still want to read. An electronic file (I don't even technically OWN, btw) should never be that expensive, sorry. It's fine, just means more library trips... 🤘🏼

pauljessup.com•144 days ago

Exactly! They were supposed to replace paperbacks. Why pay for a device to get overpriced books

amberreadshorror.bsky.social•143 days ago

I add a lot of books and favorite authors to BookBub wishlists and call it a day. Almost everything goes eventually to $1.99 and then I pounce with zero regrets. 😂

inuewindwalker.bsky.social•144 days ago

Honest question bc I really do wanna make my books $5.99, but I do everything by myself....
Like to Make a 100k novel takes 103.5 hours with editing
About how long should a book be if it's
$5.99 US?
Entertainment should be accessible you know

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

Your book should be as long as it takes to properly tell the story.

I can't tell you how long it should be, I only know that I wouldn't pay more than $4.99 for an ebook, and it needs to be more than 300 pages for me to consider paying that price.

inuewindwalker.bsky.social•144 days ago

Thank you!
I'm on anystories rn but those prices are too much!
Also they pay in popcorn peanuts and wishful thinking so I'm publishing myself next series!!!
I could make a 300 page book in maybe..... idk... I did my first book took one day?
I sat there and just kinda did it
That's the wolf prince

evavroslin.bsky.social•144 days ago

There are still so many cases (especially academic publishers, which don't even get me started...) they'll set the price ridiculously high for the eBook version and it's not too different from the HC or paperback, or in some cases, the Kindle edition is somehow more expensive than the HC.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

I suppose they can (and apparently DO) do that, but they're shooting themselves in the foot.

satanicplastic.satan.social•144 days ago

I've found that there are more expensive Kindle or ebook editions than their physical counterparts, which I found completely insane

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

Yeah, that's always wild to stumble upon.

kithrup.bsky.social•144 days ago

Amazon gets discounts for the physical books, but the publisher is setting the price for the ebook. This skews the relative prices.

laurelhightower.bsky.social•144 days ago

Saaaame

randamuko.bsky.social•144 days ago

I rarely buy ebooks at full price. I wait for them to be like 2.99 or I only read books through my Kindle Unlimited subscription (which works for me financially because I read so much). Paying $15 for an ebook is theft.

rangerwinslow.bsky.social•144 days ago

My local library system has most stuff available as ebook format. My wife is a voracious reader, she gets a different audio book every few days. They have movies too! It’s a great resource for those on a budget. There are physical branches all over the region for those that prefer that.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

I mentioned this as a solution in the next post in the thread so yeah, I'm grateful I'm near a library, but that doesn't change or affect the original issue.

hashtagspooky.bsky.social•143 days ago

I love paying for physical media and would rather drink bleach than pay for ACCESS to a file!!!

uofagrad97.bsky.social•144 days ago

I get ebooks only because I am out of room.

theforgottenmuse.bsky.social•144 days ago

Aggravating isn't it?! I cannot for the life of me understand the high prices on kindle editions.
I have a physical book in my cart, it was $9.15 when I had added it. I was waiting to add a few more things to get the free shipping. Just before Thanksgiving, it went up to $13! PB, no less.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

Yeah, their physical book prices vacillate wildly from day to day. I really loathe them.

ihaveaquestion4u.bsky.social•144 days ago

Try your local library! You can get them for no cost! (p.s. they rip off libraries that purchase kindle versions, too.)

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

Yes, I mentioned that solution in the next post in the thread but it doesn't change the issue of how buying an electronic file I don't ever actually "own" is almost the same price (or more) than buying a physical copy.

barberl.bsky.social•144 days ago

I bet they're charging your library $42.50 for a 12 month ebook license. I wish we were paying those ebook prices.

chimericalgirl.bsky.social•143 days ago

See, what I do is wait for price drops, and I have a range I try to stick to. I very rarely buy an ebook at full price unless it's already priced within my established expenditure range. There are algorithmic engines which can be used to search for price drops, plus Kindle has daily deals.

brada.bsky.social•144 days ago

The publisher sets the price for ebooks and the retailer sets the price for physical copies.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

Thank you, that's information that helps explain this. It's a dumb and unnecessarily convoluted reason because capitalism, but it IS a reason.

brada.bsky.social•144 days ago

It's only possible because ebooks are licensed even though they present transaction as a purchase; and that's because the law treats ephemeral copies (copying the book from disk to memory) as infringing if no license. There's no such dodge for physical books so the first sale doctrine apples.

thelesbianmama.bsky.social•144 days ago

Not to give unsolicited advice, but where I live, borrowing from the library is very common. Also we make little neighborhood libraries in little boxes outside our houses and those ones don’t even need registration or anything. But I’m sorry if this is not an option for you. Books are so expensive.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

I mentioned in my next post where I elaborated a bit more that all this ultimately means for me is more trips to the library :)

ramarty.bsky.social•144 days ago

Meanwhile, our tax dollars are at work furnishing public libraries with ebooks than can be checked out/renewed/returned/requested online for free.

stinasdemons.com•144 days ago

I mentioned that in the next post in the thread

ineti.bsky.social•143 days ago

Buy indie. Generally much more sensible ebook prices.

tavernstories.bsky.social•144 days ago

I know some indie authors are turning to https://itch.io and most prices I have seen so far are around 3-5 dollars per book. Maybe worth exploring when you feel like giving new authors a go. 😅

firing-blanks.bsky.social•144 days ago

I won't pay over £6 for an ebook. The file was written. It now costs nothing, unlike a physical book.

zenothankyou.bsky.social•144 days ago

Editing, design, typesetting, copy editing, marketing, legal and financial management, etc., all take work, not to mention the physical overheads of wherever the people doing that work are based. The cost of printing, storing, and distributing a book are a fraction of the overall costs.

zenothankyou.bsky.social•144 days ago

Obviously there are plenty of horrible, parasitic publishers, but there’s also a good reason why so many independent, non-profit, and all around decent presses also price their books this way. The overall labour that goes into making an ebook is only marginally less than that for a paper book.

zenothankyou.bsky.social•144 days ago

Once upon a time I worked for a large non-profit publisher where 90% of my job was “find what things appear wrong about our books on Amazon then sort it out”. When it comes down to it, some fraction of every single book sold was dedicated to “that weird kid who fixes the Amazon data feed”.

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