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I saw a new V. C. Andrews[SUP]TM[/SUP] book for pre-order on Fictonwise.com. OK, I know the V. C. Andrews books haven't been written by V. C. Andrews for decades as she died some time ago -- in the 1980s, I think. But they had a new one called Secrets in the Attic. The title made me nostaligic, so I added it to my wishlist. -- yes, even though the list price of the e-book was around $16.00 (about $10 after rebates and discounts). After all, I thought it must be a new hardcover.
Then I looked the book up on Amazon, and learned that the book is being published in simultaneous mass market and hardcover editions. So I could buy that book in paper for $7.99!
Here's the Fictionwise listing.
Here is the hardback on Amazon (note the release date of Sept. 25). And here is the paperback on Amazon (note the release date of Sept. 25).
Aargh! And I don't blame Fictionwise. They've been in this business long enough to know that customers hate this sort of pricing game. I blame the publishers. Simon & Schuster in this case -- of course. There have been complaints in blogs about the discrepancies between their e-book prices and print prices -- but this has to be the worst discrepancy yet. Aargh and aargh again! And...
I've heard theories that some companies price the e-book editions as high as they do because they don't want e-books to succeed. Hmm, I don't think the "conspiracy" is that well planned out. I've also heard that they're pricing them higher so that a cheaper e-book doesn't compete with a more expensive print edition and thus keep the print edition from hitting the best-seller lists (that makes sense) and because of the "geek factor" (fewer people buy e-books, so clearly they must be willing to pay more to buy them ). But what's the point of pricing themselves out of a sale?
Before I buy an e-book from a print publisher, I'm going to check the prices on Amazon first. Grrr. Or maybe I should give up and buy only from Baen Books' Webscription site until the other publishers get their acts together.
Then I looked the book up on Amazon, and learned that the book is being published in simultaneous mass market and hardcover editions. So I could buy that book in paper for $7.99!
Here's the Fictionwise listing.
Here is the hardback on Amazon (note the release date of Sept. 25). And here is the paperback on Amazon (note the release date of Sept. 25).
Aargh! And I don't blame Fictionwise. They've been in this business long enough to know that customers hate this sort of pricing game. I blame the publishers. Simon & Schuster in this case -- of course. There have been complaints in blogs about the discrepancies between their e-book prices and print prices -- but this has to be the worst discrepancy yet. Aargh and aargh again! And...
I've heard theories that some companies price the e-book editions as high as they do because they don't want e-books to succeed. Hmm, I don't think the "conspiracy" is that well planned out. I've also heard that they're pricing them higher so that a cheaper e-book doesn't compete with a more expensive print edition and thus keep the print edition from hitting the best-seller lists (that makes sense) and because of the "geek factor" (fewer people buy e-books, so clearly they must be willing to pay more to buy them ). But what's the point of pricing themselves out of a sale?
Before I buy an e-book from a print publisher, I'm going to check the prices on Amazon first. Grrr. Or maybe I should give up and buy only from Baen Books' Webscription site until the other publishers get their acts together.