Tag: ebooks

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Publishing

Report From the Frankfurt Book Fair: Digital is Growing Up! | Digital Book World

Report From the Frankfurt Book Fair: Digital is Growing Up! | Digital Book World.

It appears from this article that the hype is over. E-books are here to stay, but they aren’t the be all, end all they were considered just a year ago.

I like being in a generation where I have got to be in both genres. Print is still the king when it comes to portability, durability and in some cases, economy.

But digital publishing is king when you want the best potential to reach the world, be searchable and flexible. It’s good to see signs digital publishing is maturing. I’m looking forward to see what the coming years will bring to print AND digital publishing.

Categories
books

Pricing in an Ebook age

I read an article from Digital Book World this morning about recent price reductions in Harper Collins ebooks and the seemingly little effect it had on sales. Thanks to the Department of Justice ruling (United States), Amazon and other ebook sellers were able to discount ebook prices. The article by Jeremy Greenfield had this interesting quote:

If an ebook’s price is lowered from $10 to $8, for example, it needs to sell about 25% more copies to maintain the same level of revenue. I didn’t observe any sales rank bumps that would indicate a 25% bump in sales.

My conclusion from the article is that it doesn’t appear price is a major factor in a buyer’s decision. Of course, there will always be readers that will gravitate towards the free ebooks. But a two dollar difference in an ebook doesn’t seem to encourage or discourage sales.

So the question I have is this: Why discount ebooks if you are not going to make up the amount in increased sales?

Are we witnessing a paradigm shift in book discounting?

Categories
books

Social Reading

Joe Wikert has a great post on the future of social reading. He states how many cynics believe reading will always be a solitary event, while he asserts great startups like ReadSocial and BookShout are making social reading attractive.

In many ways, this is a nod to the past when storytelling was a social event that would be held around a campfire. The storyteller would weave history and tall tales while the audience would give their approval. It was part history and part drama.

Until recently, literacy was only for the well-educated. If you wanted to hear God’s word, you went to church and heard the pastor or priest read from scripture. Even if you could read, Bibles were too large to be toted around. It was only when books became portable that reading could be a solitary event.

Technology is allowing us to become social readers again. We can be part of a larger community that shares our reading interests. It’s an interesting world we live in!