For those that are hyper-concerned about ebook piracy, and say that it’s not about the cost of the ebooks, and people would ’steal’ them anyway:
Let’s compare the download / physical prices for the fledgling ebook industry, and the mature music industry (that went through piracy traumas some years ago)
Firstly, from Amazon.co.uk, MUSIC:
Lady Gaga - “The Fame Monster”: CD £8.98, download £5
Black Eyed Peas - “The E.N.D.”: CD £8.98, download £5
Robbie Williams - “Reality Killed the Video Star”: CD £8.18, download £5
Secondly, from Waterstones, EBOOKS:
James Patterson - “I, Alex Cross”: Hardback £9.49, ebook £11.65
Patricia Cornwell - “The Scarpetta Factor”: Hardback £9.49, ebook £13.30
Robert J Sawyer - “FlashForward”: Paperback £4.89, ebook £5.60.
Where’s the justification for those daft prices?
What can we learn from this? That the music industry, from experience, knows that the way to stop piracy is to provide the goods at a reasonable price. A purchaser can save 40-odd percent by downloading an album rather than buying the CD. The actual price, too, is interesting. £5. Simple, no nonsense, none of this 98p stuff. The psychological message is: downloading is easy, simple, straightforward.
Book publishers have a lot to learn.
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