|
Yeah, quite interesting. The cost of ebook setup can be expensive if you account for all the formats you need to establish to hit the majority of the marketplace.
That aside, you see that her per-unit cost of printing is high ($12) due to POD pricing. Offset printing is less expensive, but you need to print in quantities of 500 or more in most cases.
What this tells me, generally, is that ebooks should probably be priced lower, but not necessarily drastically lower.
Her example of $5.99 for an ebook that in hardcover would cost $27.99 seems reasonable, especially when I've seen that albums cost as much as $8.99 or $9.99 on iTunes.
I think a reasonable price point for ebooks would be anywhere between $3.99 and $9.99. Below that would be essentially a bargain or at a discount, while above that would be overpriced or for special circumstances. I've seen ebooks priced at $12.99 or $14.99. I think that's high, but not completely unreasonable. If ebooks are charged the same as a hardcover book at $20+, I think that's insane.
__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
|