4 ms·

There's another way to look at it. eBooks sales, whether in Kindle, iBooks, or another marketplace, end up with similar dynamics to the App Store in iOS. People

by maguay 16y ago

There's another way to look at it. eBooks sales, whether in Kindle, iBooks, or another marketplace, end up with similar dynamics to the App Store in iOS. People have paid $0.99-$4.99 millions of times over for apps such as Angry Birds that would have sold far fewer copies as a $19.99 boxed PC or game console game. I think eBook readers actually encourage buying books, and for the vast majority of the public, it's so easy to do that they'll do a lot more impulsive buys than before. Additionally, as DennisP mentioned, if the author is actually getting more money from it, then we're just doing away with a middleman. That's what lot of startups are trying to do right now, after all, and it's a great opportunity. For creative writers, musicians, or designers and coders, there's more chance than before to get your content out there and sell it more seamlessly than before. That can't be all bad!

ghaff 16y ago
The (hypothesized--I think it was Tim O'Reilly who has written about this) issue though is that, with books, time is much more of a limiting factor with books than with songs or simple iThing games. Even if an author makes substantially more per copy with an eBook, there's a limit in how many more copies they'll sell even at a much lower price; people only have time to read so many more books. I'm not arguing it's all doom and gloom but, as the article discusses, I hear a lot of reflexive "Give it away; you'll gain visibility and make money somehow." I heard that plenty as a consultant by people trying to get me to speak or write for free and it mostly didn't work then either.
- forensic 16y ago
  Since the invention of e-books and digital audiobooks I probably buy 3-10 times more of these. Audiobooks in particular, of the on-demand variety where I can instantly get them on my iPhone through the Audible app, have led to me reading a HELL of a lot more. It's easy and convenient. eBooks also help because I buy more books and search through them. I can also read them on mobile devices while I take a shit in public washrooms. Right now I am in the middle of: * 2 non-fiction audiobooks * 3 fiction audiobooks * 4 standard ebooks I task-switch between these 8 products based on my mood. I could never carry around 8 dead trees or fit 5 audiobooks onto my walkman. It just wouldn't happen. Digitization has led to me spending way more money on authors. In the past I would just get dead trees from libraries or friends, or not buy them because they were too much money. Now that I can get an audiobook for an ~$8 audible credit I try out new things way more. That I can instantly buy an ebook I need for ~$10 means I read a lot more. If it's 2am and I want to read some particular book, I can instantly get it, I don't need to put it on the shopping list and waste so much time finding a bookstore and standing in line and searching through stacks of shelves. I spend more time reading/listening and far less time deliberating, searching, planning, and waiting.
  - oiujyhgtfrt 16y ago
    The problem at the moment is that the publishers are marketing eBooks as a new luxury product to a niche of rich techies who but iPads on a whim. SO an eBook costs the same as the hardback - screwing you. But the contract with the author has the same clauses charging them a percentage of buy-backs and printing faults or damaged copies as the paper version - screwing them. The publishers need to realize the game has changed - and quickly unless they want to end up like the record business
    - maguay 16y ago
      True ... which is exactly why I think it's publishers, not authors, that stand to lose the most from this. When smart authors start selling eBooks cheaper directly on Kindle et al., that's when the real book transition will start. At the very least, there's a huge potential for a lucrative new market in cheaper eBooks, only it hasn't been fully realized yet because of existing publishers.
- chc 16y ago
  This is anecdotal, but my experience is that the limiting factor for most readers is just having a book to read. If I have a book with me that I really want to read, time magically appears to read it — books fit very well into those little gaps that are otherwise wasted. But I don't have time to think about reading, so if I don't have that book with me, I'm not going to look for one. The easy availability combined with guilt-free impulse-buy prices on ebooks solves that. Extra anecdote: My girlfriend has always been an avid reader, but since she got a Nook, I'd estimate her book purchases have doubled because she can just buy a book at midnight while she's sitting in bed or when she's stuck home sick or on her lunch break.

by maguay 16y ago

ghaff 16y ago

The (hypothesized--I think it was Tim O'Reilly who has written about this) issue though is that, with books, time is much more of a limiting factor with books than with songs or simple iThing games. Even if an author makes substantially more per copy with an eBook, there's a limit in how many more copies they'll sell even at a much lower price; people only have time to read so many more books. I'm not arguing it's all doom and gloom but, as the article discusses, I hear a lot of reflexive "Give it away; you'll gain visibility and make money somehow." I heard that plenty as a consultant by people trying to get me to speak or write for free and it mostly didn't work then either.

forensic 16y ago
Since the invention of e-books and digital audiobooks I probably buy 3-10 times more of these. Audiobooks in particular, of the on-demand variety where I can instantly get them on my iPhone through the Audible app, have led to me reading a HELL of a lot more. It's easy and convenient. eBooks also help because I buy more books and search through them. I can also read them on mobile devices while I take a shit in public washrooms. Right now I am in the middle of: * 2 non-fiction audiobooks * 3 fiction audiobooks * 4 standard ebooks I task-switch between these 8 products based on my mood. I could never carry around 8 dead trees or fit 5 audiobooks onto my walkman. It just wouldn't happen. Digitization has led to me spending way more money on authors. In the past I would just get dead trees from libraries or friends, or not buy them because they were too much money. Now that I can get an audiobook for an ~$8 audible credit I try out new things way more. That I can instantly buy an ebook I need for ~$10 means I read a lot more. If it's 2am and I want to read some particular book, I can instantly get it, I don't need to put it on the shopping list and waste so much time finding a bookstore and standing in line and searching through stacks of shelves. I spend more time reading/listening and far less time deliberating, searching, planning, and waiting.
- oiujyhgtfrt 16y ago
  The problem at the moment is that the publishers are marketing eBooks as a new luxury product to a niche of rich techies who but iPads on a whim. SO an eBook costs the same as the hardback - screwing you. But the contract with the author has the same clauses charging them a percentage of buy-backs and printing faults or damaged copies as the paper version - screwing them. The publishers need to realize the game has changed - and quickly unless they want to end up like the record business
  - maguay 16y ago
    True ... which is exactly why I think it's publishers, not authors, that stand to lose the most from this. When smart authors start selling eBooks cheaper directly on Kindle et al., that's when the real book transition will start. At the very least, there's a huge potential for a lucrative new market in cheaper eBooks, only it hasn't been fully realized yet because of existing publishers.
chc 16y ago
This is anecdotal, but my experience is that the limiting factor for most readers is just having a book to read. If I have a book with me that I really want to read, time magically appears to read it — books fit very well into those little gaps that are otherwise wasted. But I don't have time to think about reading, so if I don't have that book with me, I'm not going to look for one. The easy availability combined with guilt-free impulse-buy prices on ebooks solves that. Extra anecdote: My girlfriend has always been an avid reader, but since she got a Nook, I'd estimate her book purchases have doubled because she can just buy a book at midnight while she's sitting in bed or when she's stuck home sick or on her lunch break.