$ 14.99? Is there a ceiling on e-book prices? Have we peaked already?

[FrankZubek]

I was surfing around looking to for some new books for my kindle later this year and saw that (as an example) James Patterson has another Alex Cross due out in November called KILL ALEX CROSS. Now, it's available as an e-book and a hardcover

Hardcovers being as they are- what with a full color cover and the cost of paper etc- you can get a copy off the shelf for $ 30.99.

There are of course a few places where you can find it discounted. But then I caught the price of the e-book version: $ 14.99 !!

I thought the average price for e-books was around $ 9.99 ?
That was the big selling point of them that you could get it digitally and read it cheaper since there was no actual paper involved. Now it looks as if the publishers are creeping the prices up to the levels of where all the paper products sit. (such as the average trade paperback ( a bit larger in size than the popular mass market paperback)

As this was the drawing point OF e-readers and since, from what I am aware of, this was one of the big reasons people were dropping books from their entertainment habits- the high cost of a singular book that is basically read once-- we seem to be heading BACK to the pre-Kindle days of a dying market where people were just waiting for the paperback version (and yet even THOSE are pushing the envelope on price as many of them hover around the 10.99 mark these days)

Of course, to be fair- Patterson DOES have a huge fan base and no doubt as this IS cheaper than the hardcover a large portion of his die-hard audience will get the latest entry of Alex Cross on day one of sales. Patteron IS still a huge name in the market and I do agree he deserves to get a somewhat higher price for his work.

Still.... there is the fringe market out there that will balk at the  $ 14.99 price when they have been used to the 'norm' of $ 9.99

And you can't blame them to a degree as on the surface... there really isn't much overhead involved- it's just digitally transferred bytes of info to your e-reader and until now, $ 9.99 was a pretty good alternative to the traditional hardcover. This was a good thing for our industry because it meant there were hoards of new readers buying books simply because they were much cheaper than hardcovers)

And yet... prices go up every year.
If this continues, I fear that the literacy numbers will drop back to PRE-Kindle days and the industry will once again be wringing it's hands trying to keep the bottom line from turning red.

What do all of you think of this trend?
CAN there be an argument given (on the surface- for the average reader) toward the seemingly minimal cost of a book AS an e-reading product VS the traditional hardcover

Because if Patterson's number hold up(and they will since he remains a hot author out there), many other writer's who are not AS popular as Patterson will STILL jump on the bandwagon and charge higher rates for their own e-books. "Well, if Patterson can sell books at 14.99, than I'm going to try it too!"

And yet, we, as an industry, will see a peak at reader interest in this new pricing format and things will fall apart again.

Do you think we have hit the peak yet?

If not now- when?

Is there anything we can do to prevent the coming slide in readership ( IE: sales?)

I mean, it seems sad to me that at the time when we, as an industry, have gotten readership numbers back UP- we, as an industry are slapping the prices higher than we should instead of nursing the whole thing along to keep hold of the all the new readers we've gained. In many cases- many of these readers we gained are the very readers we LOST several years back when hardcovers began edging past the 23 dollar mark (give or take a few dollars)

[Ann in Arlington]

Nearly 4 years ago when Kindle was first released, part of Amazon's marketing was that NYT best sellers would be priced at $9.99.

That changed subsequently when publishers forced a renegotiation of their distribution deal, essentially giving publishers the right to set the price and taking away Amazon's right to discount them, even at their own loss.  So prices have been creeping up since then.  You'll find new releases at everything from $9.99 to $14.99 -- whatever the publisher thinks they can get.  Hardbound first editions may be priced around $30, but those usually can be discounted by resellers to around $15 or $16.

Whether people are willing to pay almost as much for an ebook is debatable. . . . some see it as an inherently lower value product:  You only get a 'license' not the real thing, can't loan it but once (if that), and can't give it away to a friend when you're done with it.  Others see the ebook's convenience -- instant delivery, adjustable font size, and no heavy book to hold -- as making them at least equivalent in value.  Each reader has to decide for themselves whether they're willing to spend the money.  Some are, some aren't.

[indiebookslist]

That extra 5 bucks is the added cost of legacy publishing infrastructure. On our end, we are seeing mid-list authors leave the big publishers in droves. This week was when it hit critical mass.

As really good mid-list authors start to hit the Amazon best-sellers list...at prices of $9.99 and below, you will begin to see the bigger names capitulate. There are only two reasons I would pay $14.99 for an ebook:

1.) Graphic novel (and I mean, like those really thick compilation ones, that are almost coffee table books.)
2.) It needs to be a collection: Hocking "Trylle" trilogy comes to mind. I did buy a traditionally pubbed trilogy last summer @ $14.99 .

$15 is about the peak. That goes out the window if we start seeing inflation. I think $9.99 is still the psychological barrier, with $0.99-2.99 being the sweet spot for volume sales.

[history_lover]

In my experience, most novels are not as high as $14.99 but you will find some. I certainly wouldn't say it's the average price - if you consider all the bargain indie ebooks available out there, the average is probably lower than $9.99. Just strictly looking at major publishers, I'd say the average would land somewhere between $10-12. Just an estimate based on all the browsing I do for my blog.

Non-Fiction is more likely to be priced around $12.99 - $14.99 but that's expected since even with DTBs, non-fiction is usually more expensive.

[mooshie78]

Yeah, that's old news with prices being higher than $9.99 on many books.

Personally, I have no problem with it as long as the e-book is still cheaper than the cheapest print version on Amazon.

If the hardback is all that's out and it's say $18.99 on Amazon, I see nothing wrong with the e-book being $14.99.  I may not buy it, and rather wait for a price drop when the paperback comes out.  And I'm fine with that as that's what I almost always did in the past as I rarely bought hardcovers and usually waited for the cheap paperback to be out.

Now if the paperback comes out and is $10 or whatever, and the e-book stays at $14.99, then I have major issues with that.

[KathyGleason]

I can't see spending 14.99 for an e-book. 9.99 is the most I'll spend, and even that seems a bit much to me when there is no paper, ink or glossy cover involved. I did recently pay 20.00 for the new hardcover by Janet Evanovich, and that pained me a little, but I have several friends that also like her work and usually one of us buys it and then we take turns passing it around to read.

[mooshie78]

$14.99 is the most I've spent--and that was recently for A Dance with Dragons.  I was dying to read it, and it was still cheaper than the hardcover on Amazon.

But otherwise, I've never paid more than $9.99 as there are very few books I want to read enough to pay more than that.  So I'll wait for price drops or get them from the library just like I did with print books by almost never buying hardbacks.

[Angerona Love]

$14.99 seems a bit much for an ebook unless there is something of real potential value to change one's life. I can see certain How-To's and some types of nonfiction hitting this price mark; however, I don't know that I would spend that much for fiction.

At the same time, I feel my insides tensing up as I write that. I don't want to devalue anyone's work either. I think the sweet spot is still significantly less than this and do not feel many writers could achieve volume sales at this price mark. Given meager royalties, I'll take my 70% of $2.99 any day!

[scottnicholson]

I don't mean it to be flip, but it's basically worth whatever you are willing to pay for it. If everyone decides Patterson is not worth $14.99, that WILL drop...and fast.

We are dealing with a virtual product with very little intrinsic value. You can't eat it, put it in the bank to gain dividends, or heat your house in the winter with it. It's a shared fantasy between reader and writer/producer, and the value is mutually agreed upon. There's simply no absolute value that can be applied--some are happy to give their books away and others have lots of corporate overhead involved. But it's just a stack of electrons.

Right now we are all sort of agreeing that ebooks are worth between 99 cents and $14.99, for the most part. A wide gap, but we'll see what 2012 brings. And how long it takes Patterson to go indie.

[Krista D. Ball]

I don't mean it to be flip, but it's basically worth whatever you are willing to pay for it.

And that's why I happily put down $14.99 for Jim Butcher's GHOST STORY.

I also put down $18.99 for HERESY even though the paperback was cheaper...but I was travelling and did not want to carry a brick around with me. I paid for the convenience of not arriving with a sore back. 

[Tara Maya]

There is clearly not a "ceiling" since I have seen ebooks for sale at $140 and more. Usually nonfiction, and I have to ask, who on earth would buy that? But someone charges it.

[mooshie78]

$14.99 seems a bit much for an ebook unless there is something of real potential value to change one's life. I can see certain How-To's and some types of nonfiction hitting this price mark; however, I don't know that I would spend that much for fiction.

But isn't the same true of print books?  And print books have generally been more than $14.99 when they first come out and are only in hardcover for a long time.

So it's always been a matter of waiting for a cheaper paperback (or used books) if you don't feel books are worth that kind of money.  Now it's a matter of waiting for the e-book to drop in price when the paperback comes out--which has usually happened for titles I've been interested in and balked at the initial price always.  Though their are exceptions where it stays up and ends up costing more than the paperback which is absurd.

[Tara Maya]

But isn't the same true of print books? 

Well, in the case of the crazy-expensive ebooks I mentioned, I presume they are priced that high because the hard cover of the book is $150, so some dumb-head somewhere thinks $130 for the ebook should be a steal. The difference is that the the $150 hardcover is a first-edition out-of-print collectable, that you can resell, whereas the ebook is just an ebook. I have paid more than $200 for a book before. But it went up in value after that, it didn't become unsellable.

[oliewankanobe]

I have paid as high as $12.99 because I simply could NOT wait... which is precisely why they put that price tag on it.

It bugs me... since there is absolutely no difference between the ebook I buy at that price tag when the hard-cover is released and the one that will sell for $7.99.

I think I am really rare in being suckered, and hope it eventually wears NY down... honestly, the pricing seems like sour grapes to me.

[mooshie78]

Well, in the case of the crazy-expensive ebooks I mentioned, I presume they are priced that high because the hard cover of the book is $150, so some dumb-head somewhere thinks $130 for the ebook should be a steal. The difference is that the the $150 hardcover is a first-edition out-of-print collectable, that you can resell, whereas the ebook is just an ebook. I have paid more than $200 for a book before. But it went up in value after that, it didn't become unsellable.

True.  But in those cases both prices are absurd.

What are the books your talking about?  Most of the things I've seen over $100 (in print or e-book form) are things like textbooks, technical manuals etc. which have always been overpriced.

I do get the resell point though--especially for things like textbooks.  Yet another reason I'm not convinced e-text books will take off any time soon.  Publishers won't price them cheap enough to make them more affordable than buying the print textbook and selling at the end of the semester.

My point was more limited to fiction books (and fiction priced non-fiction books, biographies etc.).  There's not much of a resell market for fiction books anyway.  Most people who don't want a fiction book anymore just give it to someone they know or donate it anyway.  So I'm fine with e-books in those cases costing up to the same as the print version as I'm mostly just reading it once and never touching it again.  Things like textbooks are different as ability to resell is a big factor.

[GerrieFerrisFinger]

I have paid as high as $12.99 because I simply could NOT wait... which is precisely why they put that price tag on it.

It bugs me... since there is absolutely no difference between the ebook I buy at that price tag when the hard-cover is released and the one that will sell for $7.99.

I think I am really rare in being suckered, and hope it eventually wears NY down... honestly, the pricing seems like sour grapes to me.

You've said it, you could not wait... Should a James Patterson not sell at 9.99 or whatever, the price would drop until people started paying. That's what the correct price point is.

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

I'm voting with my credit card. I am not buying fiction for $9.99. If a book is already out as a mainstream paperback, I'm not payimg MORE than that price.

I have been intrigued by descriptions of many authors here on the forums...but like Iain Banks...I'm not paying $9.99 for the early (90s) Kindle versions of his books. Oh well. Maybe I'll find a special somewhere someday. Or used in a real bookstore.

[history_lover]

I don't mean it to be flip, but it's basically worth whatever you are willing to pay for it. If everyone decides Patterson is not worth $14.99, that WILL drop...and fast.

Exactly. I am more than willing to pay $14.99 for a novel that I REALLY want to read, from an author I love. But I probably won't put out that much for an author I'm not familiar with or something I'm on the fence about. Publishers are aware of this and so you'll probably only see them pricing novels this high on popular authors or series.

I also forgot to point out though that a lot of Kindle books will be priced higher while only the hardcover is out and once the paperback is released, they drop to reflect the paperback. So if $14.99 is too high for you, wait and see if it drops when the paperback is released.

What bothers me far more is when the Kindle book is priced HIGHER than the lowest priced (new) DTB on Amazon. As long as the Kindle book is less than the paperback/hardcover, I'm usually okay spending whatever the price is.

There is clearly not a "ceiling" since I have seen ebooks for sale at $140 and more. Usually nonfiction, and I have to ask, who on earth would buy that?

Someone who needs the information in that book and can't find it elsewhere for less.

[Ann in Arlington]

The "crazy-expensive" books are generally non-fiction, often highly technical, usually with a lot of specialized formatting -- tables, charts, equations, graphs, drawings, etc.  And sometimes are on topics so specialized that they don't really expect to sell many, either in paper or "e".  They price them higher accordingly.  They're not the sort of books they expect random browsers to just pick up for a light read.   AND, until Amazon, they weren't even readily available -- if you wanted such titles you had to contact specialized book distributors, probably through some professional organization.  Not the sort of thing you'd see on the shelves of your local book shop.

[Ann Chambers]

The old Amazon $9.99 price for NY e-books was one (of many) reasons I originally bought a kindle. When the prices jumped to $12.99 - $14.99 - I quit buying those. There is just too much great stuff out there for sooo much less. I have been reading a select number of "freebies" and tons of 99 cent to $4.99 fiction. There's just no real reason to pay so much for an e-book. (There are some great writers hanging out here on KB, I am finding.)

E-books do have less value - I can't hand one off to a friend who might like it (I know, you can "lend" them, but I don't). I can't resell it at the used bookstore for credit or sell it in a garage sale etc.

I really hope that NY publishers are forced to drop prices back down by decreased sales. But even if they do, I don't know that I will go back to paying $10 for e-books. I enjoy looking for new/different authors with great stories at lower prices. Fits my wallet better, that's for sure. IMO, the big publishers got greedy and I hope it benefits the indies. The only big name authors I've picked up in the past year or so were at the used bookstore, and that was because I had store credit to use. I'd rather read on my Kindle.

[Ann in Arlington]

E-books do have less value - I can't hand one off to a friend who might like it (I know, you can "lend" them, but I don't). I can't resell it at the used bookstore for credit or sell it in a garage sale etc.

That's certainly a valid position.

But others have an equally valid position that ebooks have as much value (maybe more) than paper books because you can get them so quickly and without added costs:  no paying to ship them or using your car to go buy them.  Plus, you can literally have it NOW, if you're like Veruca Salt.

Also, for folks who have trouble with holding heavy things, a kindle book is better because the device is not as heavy as many hardback books.  Or maybe you're just a voracious reader who, when you travel, have to take a second or larger suitcase to carry all the books you know you'll read.  With Kindle, you can have hundreds of books with you and no additional weight (or baggage cost)

Finally, for folks who have trouble with the font size in a print book -- that difficulty is resolved with a Kindle book since you can set the font to whatever size works best for you.  My aunt was 90 and hadn't been able to read in years because of macular degeneration.  But she could with Kindle!

So, I'd say, depending on what is most important to "you", a Kindle book may, in fact, be worth more than a paper book.  And it's o.k. if the person next to you feels differently -- he/she has different things that are important to him/her.

[FrankZubek]

All valid points and thanks to all who took time to say something (though I welcome continued debate here)  

It still irks me slightly

I mean- as I said- the Alex Cross series is a solid reading experience but it's gotten so I don't get them every time a new one comes out. How many times can Cross face "the deadliest threat yet in his career!" ?
LOL

I love the character and will pick one up on ocassion but not for 14.99   I don't HAVE TO read a Patterson book THAT bad   LOL

Now I have been a long time Clive Cussler fan too but the character Dirk Pitt has become a little stagnant for me but I just checked his backlog and the most recent ones are 14.99.... go back a few years and the price drops to 12.99 and then the older stuff is 9.99 which I find reasonable.

Now Stephen King is another solid buy and yet his newest in November "11/22/63" is currently going for 16.99  !!  But I'll get that one because I GOTTA have every new King novel.

I'm just saying that it seems the publishers aren't exactly creeping the prices along for the juggernaut writer's as slowly as I feel they should- especially at a time when we desperately need to hang on to any new readers that we, as an industry, need .

Maybe a buck a year would be okay but to just leap up to 14.99  a few years after the 'norm' was 9.99 seems a bit greedy

As Joe Konrath has pointed out here many times (as well as PROVEN his point in sales) you CAN make more money with a proven selling product by selling it for less than you normally would sell it. Sure, it's WORTH more-- but through volume sales you probably pick up more potential long term fans at 9.99 than you would at 14.99

But also- I do accept this point- it depends on your genre as well as your writing skills/word of mouth etc etc etc
There are certain variables that should be included.

But 14.99 still seems a bit steep (to me) considering the current, fragile situation the industry is going through. Let's remember- despite it not being headline news everyday....BORDERS (as well as it's 9,000 employees) will not be around during the Holidays

[Ann in Arlington]

Maybe a buck a year would be okay but to just leap up to 14.99  a few years after the 'norm' was 9.99 seems a bit greedy

Well, but "a buck a year" is pretty much what's happened:  

2007 -- $9.99
2008 -- $10.99
2009 -- $11.99
2010 -- $12.99
2011 -- $13.99

One could argue the $14.99 price has just come a little early.

I will say, though, that I hope it doesn't go any higher.  I still think that $14.99 is the high end of new release prices, though and is, again, what the publishers thing readers will pay.  And, you know what?  Some do!  But as with any consumer product, YOU get to decide if a given thing is worth the price asked and buy it or not based on what you decide.

[FrankZubek]

Yes, Ann (I say sheepishly)   I had thought of that after typing it and rethinking

Perhaps they could have at least lowered or held their "hot" items this year as they KNOW the industry is in transition. And yet, I CAN see things from their POV because each hot selling author CAN be counted on to bring in desperately needed cash  with each new book that comes out- by pushing hardcover as well as e-book versions (especially at 14.99) it certainly helps the bottom line

But then again- perhaps the price could drop a bit in a year on the e-reading version when the paperback version of the hardcover is due out

And yet it's tough for me lately to track all that info and I have no idea if that price scale/timeline is already in place or not


sigh
It's tough sometimes to care so much for something and to see certain areas just not doing what you personally think should be done for the overall good

[Geemont]

I think $14.99 is the high average and it's the ceiling for me.  I will be buying 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami at that price but I will not be buying Reamde by Neal Steaphenson at $16.99.  The extra $2.00 will not make a fug of a difference to my budget, but the price hike sticks to my craw enough to say No Thank You.

I do think $9.99 is unreasonably low for many new books with $12.99 being, more less, an acceptable compromise.  Big books like 1Q84 and some non-fiction can go for the ceiling.