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We're still a day away from the much anticipated launch of Apple's iPad, but already the tablet from Cupertino has managed to make its presence known. According to an AFP report, Amazon has agreed to let two more major publishers raise the prices of electronic books for Kindle readers in deals similar to those Apple struck for its iPad.
The deals with Simon & Schuster and Harper-Collins allows for ebook prices to be set at $12.99 or $14.99 rather than the $9.99 price point Amazon has tried to maintain.
This marks a major win for publishers, who previous to the iPad had little leverage in negotiating deals with Amazon. Amazon might have been on borrowed time anyway with the deluge of ebook readers expected to flood the market this year, and perhaps no one is happier right now than Rupert Murdoch, chairman and managing director of News Corp., the parent company of Harper-Collins.
"Without content, the ever larger and flatter screens, the tablets, the e-readers and the increasingly sophisticated mobile phones would be lifeless," Murdoch stated earlier this year. "Without content these ingenious and wonderful devices would be unloved and unsold."
Are you prepared to pay up to $15 for an ebook, or is the publishing industry shooting themselves in the foot?
Image Credit: Amazon
Comments are closed on this article
hunterada
April 03, 2010 at 5:50am
Baen uses a sliding scale.
Published before the hardback? Around $15, but may contain proofing errors.
Published at the same time as the hardback? $15.
Published after the paperback has come out? $4-6.
I absolutely despise the company's blatant and frequently offensive political slant, but I can't really fault their in-house ebook business.
iinweed
April 03, 2010 at 2:42am
Great idea, start encouraging piracy by overpricing, then no doubt start to complain that "piracy is killing ebooks"!
You couldn't make this stuff up.
Morons
Ruins
April 02, 2010 at 3:00pm
I have a sony reader and was notified by sony that they also will be raising prices for new releases. I will not pay more than $10.00 for an e-book. As a matter of fact most of the e-books I have purchased cost on average $7.50. I will just wait until they lower the prices on their new releases or go back to reading the dead tree paperback format. As far as paying a subscription to read Murdocks publications, it will never happen.
Rocketpop
April 02, 2010 at 2:03pm
I own a nook, and while I'm not too keen on the idea of rising prices for ebooks, as long as they're less than what a physical copy costs, I'm fine with it. I'd be really reluctant to spend that much on an ebook, though, and so far I haven't.
One appeal of ebooks, though, is that they cost less than new physical copies. I hope they don't choose to forget that.
NSain
April 02, 2010 at 1:18pm
I wouldn't mind getting a tablet pc that could be used as an Ebook reader, but not something that is only an ebook reader. And IMHO, I think $10 should be the normal price for an ebook, like it has been said there is no printing and no distribution costs.
bloodgain
April 02, 2010 at 12:07pm
The entire reason to purchase an e-reader and purchase ebooks is convenience factor. Books right away, anytime, and having many books on you at once (especially instead of heavy textbooks). However, there is a ceiling to what the average consumer will pay for a certain level of convenience. I think $10 for an electronic copy of a book that you have no tangible way to guarantee you will have access to it indefinitely is pretty close to that ceiling. Being able to compete for pricing doesn't matter if you outprice demand (especially considering supply is practically infinite with digital).
Sebie Kay
April 02, 2010 at 9:48am
$1 for used book on Amazon.... $15 for the same book in e-format.
Hmm. By going with a used paper back, I get a physical copy of the book (no concern for a crapped out piece of hardware), no DRM to hassle with, its cheaper, and it doesn't require the purchase of a $200 piece of hard ware.
I'm sorry Amazon. I love you guys, but I'm opting for the standard paper back over an e-format any day!
-=Do unto others... THEN RUN!!=-
Rocketpop
April 02, 2010 at 2:00pm
Huh? You can't get bestselling new or used hardcovers for $1 on Amazon. The $1 deals only come about after the book's become a mass market paperback.
bigglesandginger
April 02, 2010 at 9:15am
With no physical media in my hand that is A LOT of production cost and distribution cost not spent by the publisher. I would consider $1 an ebook. At $15 they can smoke another and wallow in their deluded tears.
Nastyman
April 02, 2010 at 9:08am
E-Book is not for me! I can buy three paperbacks for the price of one E-Book!....and I don't have to charge a battery to read it either! LOL!
Nasty
grorc
April 02, 2010 at 8:29am
It is going to make me look twice at what I am purchasing. That is pushing the limit fo what I am willing to spend on an ebook. I vote for a shot in the foot. Idiots.
