I’m glad that I can get my eBooks from B&N, though the prices are a little hard to swallow, considering how accustomed I’d become to the 20 or 30% off I’d get at Fictionwise and eReader.com I’m trying to look on the bright side-at least I don’t have to shell out $$$$ for the B&N Nook.

Thalia Leigh: There are a couple of other factors. Amazon is not immune to muscling publishers and authors, even the smallest and sometimes especially the smallest. After Amazon bought god-awful BookSurge and tried to whip authors into using it, Amazon started disallowing LightingSource and others exposure on their site. The message to authors was: Use BookSurge/CreateSpace or forget selling your book here.On the other side of the coin, publishers (and authors) seem vastly ignorant of basic economics, which Apple understands. The concept is that the lower the price, the more song and books you will sell and make more money in the long run. That’s why Apple has stood firm against publishers who bitch about 99¢ songs, knowing both will make more money in the long run by keeping prices low.

Except, Apple is not the one that’s setting the prices, it’s the publishers. Considering the deal Apple made where no other retailer may sell an ebook for less than in their ibookstore, I would think it would be a conflict of interest if they were involved in setting the prices. They already have a guarantee that a customer can’t shop elsewhere for a better price if they don’t like their pricing. Amazon tried to stand firm against publishers that disliked their low pricing on ebooks but they lost.

On a side note, I was in the process of picking up all JE’s old Loveswepts in ebook form when this new ‘agency model’ pricing went into effect but see now that the rest of them are actually cheaper in paperback since B&N isn’t allowed to give me my 10% member discount on ebooks. Now that I realize I’m being penalized in price for purchasing in ebook form since the discount is not allowed, I can’t’ bring myself to pay extra for them and I’m not going to reward the publisher by purchasing the print copy.

Pat Cochran

On the other side of the coin, publishers (and authors) seem vastly ignorant of basic economics, which Apple understands. The concept is that the lower the price, the more song and books you will sell and make more money in the long run. That’s why Apple has stood firm against publishers who bitch about 99¢ songs, knowing both will make more money in the long run by keeping prices low.

I then went over to Amazon and purchased several older Penguin titles there because the price has not gone up there yet. They are still in negotiation with Amazon so I purchased them and then wrote them and told them that I did so because their prices were still below that of a print book, but if and when that changes I will no longer be purchasing them.

Something to note, this may effect the prices of print books down the line. Due to the ‘agency model’ which states that a retailer cannot discount ebooks, customers are finding that the hardcover is actually cheaper than the ebook in many cases, since the retailers are still allowed to discount hardcovers. After some complaining about this customers have seen the prices for the hardcovers go UP to compensate for this discrepancy.

The second item I get mad about is about illegal downloads. After reading an article from Gena Showalter’s blog by a fellow author (can’t remember name) about the wide availablity of torrents, which I understand are non-copyrighted versions of books. I Googled torrents and was shocked at how many are available. Why are THEY not being targeted and shut down? Yes, I know there are a ton of them. But the music industry was successful in their efforts. If the publishers are so concerned about profit, I imagine much of their profit is being swept away by illegal downloads. And I imagine the digital copies of the books are being offered by someone connected to the publishing companies. Monitor your own people to make sure nothing illegal is going on instead of taking away my books , which I am paying for.

Jen: In response to Linda in SW VA: You bring up really good points, and I agree with you in some respects. To your first point, I agree that the publishers have made some huge missteps as well. I think it’s ridiculous that some ebooks cost more than the print edition right now. While I don’t think it makes sense to charge 10 bucks for the ebook of a $25 print book, I also think it makes NO sense to charge $10 for a $7 mass market. Secondly, I wouldn’t say that I necessarily support the agency model over the retail model. I’m just not totally against it, and I’m not angered by it. Yes, I think the agency model is problematic because it removes all price flexibility on the part of the ebookstore. However, as I mentioned in my first post, there are two things that I see as problematic in the marketplace: one is price erosion, and the other is the concentration of power in the hands of huge retailers, to the exclusion of independents. Yes, there’s a trade-off with the agency model, but it does allow a way to address those issues, while the regular retail model failed to offer a solution. Finally, no, I would not support the agency model if it applied to print books as well. My main argument was that there were problems with the old pricing model, and that Amazon made the decision to remove ebooks from their store, not publishers. I think the publishers have made some mistakes, but I also think Amazon has been throwing its weight around, and been the source of some of the things that have angered readers – like removing ebooks from their site.

Jen, I think you’re still thinking of what happened with Amazon and MacMillan. You do know that ebooks disappeared for sale at many ebook sites other than Amazon when this Agency Model went into effect? Fictionwise, Kobo, just to name a couple, there are more. Some now are just getting those books back for sale (at higher prices of course) and others are still waiting. Amazon can only sell previously published books by Penguin/Ace right now because they haven’t come to an agreement yet. So while you can by the rest of the Sookie books for example, you still can’t pre-order Dead in the Family or any other book that comes out April 1st or later, until that agreement is reached. I hope Amazon is fighting as hard as they can against this agency model pricing with them but I don’t hold out hopes they’ll win any more than they did with MacMillan.

If you’re truly concerned about any one company throwing it’s weight around and becoming too powerful, how do you feel about this agreement made with Apple? That no other retailer can sell ebooks at a lower price than them? Isn’t Apple powerful enough already, do we have to protect them from competition in the ebook market so they can sell more ipads?

If the concern is price erosion and how this effects independent booksellers, the same argument could be made for B&N discounting bestselling hardcovers by 40%, Walmart selling paperbacks for $5.79, Costco’s hardcovers at 50% off or more. All of these make it tough for an independent retailers to compete but it is what it is.

The publishers are building a lot of resentment in the ebook community right now and that’s a shame because we are some of their best customers.

Linda