Shryke Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 They should start making books like they do Blu-Ray DVD combo packs and include a digital download as part of the purchase.Yeah, going forward the only reason it doesn't work this way is because they don't want it to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigima Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 They should start making books like they do Blu-Ray DVD combo packs and include a digital download as part of the purchase.I think at least one company -- Baen maybe? -- does this already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wedge Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Once you start treating a book as a piece of information and not a physical object, charging full price for format-shifting becomes ridiculous imo.I mean, I and I think most people would accept a nominal fee for "eBook conversion". Like $1-$2 or something for the eBook if you already have the hardcopy.Funny thing is, the main problem with this idea I think, and the reason I believe it doesn't exist, is there is no system setup to figure out which books you have a hardcopy of.I would love this. I have many old books I'd love to load on to my Kindle, but it's amazing how expensive the eBook versions of in-copyright classics like Invisible Man ($11.99), The Grapes of Wrath ($12.99), or Old Man and the Sea ($9.99 for freaking novella!).These things should be more readily accessible, IMO. Or perhaps they know these books get assigned year in and year out in high schools, so they make an absolute killing with them. I get that there is profit to be had, but when something that has been out there for decades and requires basically for the publisher to get it online, my (uneducated) guess is they could make profit happen at a much lower price point and move more "units" along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuisDantas Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 As , this is totally erroneous.Don't equate a download with a lost sale, the guys who download would not have bought 99% of what's on their hard drive, and for the rest, they actually give the same part of their salary to the entertainment industry.Where is Neil Gaiman talking in the page you linked to?Anyway, I never said that every download is a lost sale. Clearly not so. But we are at a point where people hardly have a reason to buy the genuine article anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruella Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 One funny - if you may call it that - bit of trivia. I've read an article by Balzac, in which he asked people to please buy books instead of loaning them from their friends. He complained that authors lost money because like twenty high society people would read the book without buying it. I guess it was XIX century version of internet downloads, and he didn't think it was that innocent. Of course it exists to this day, but there's clearly bigger fish to fry.ETA: Are people in your experience satisfied with reading e-books? People around me, including those who very much use PCs, including tech guys, want to read books in paper. Many use both, but still prefer paper version. I know if I want to reread book, I want to have it in print form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuisDantas Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I've sure heard enough of people liking to have "true books", meaning paper-based ones.I guess I see the point. There is a certain satisfaction at actually holding the thing and flipping the pages. I am certainly not shy of buying the paper versions and reading them.Also, many books simply don't translate well into electronic media, due to strong reliance in color pictures or other media-related factors.However, the ebooks usually have lots of advantages, at least in the Kindle, particularly when it comes to choosing (and changing) the balance of text ammount per page vs ease of reading and the sheer convenience of having so many books in so light and compact a package.I believe many people also underestimate the quality of the experience. E-ink is nothing like LCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Winter Rose Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 http://www.libellarium.org/index.php/libellarium/article/view/210/298 If you can't open it, then: http://www.libellarium.org/index.php/libellarium/index and search. quote: One study of e-books suggested that illegal downloading could lead to an increase in sales. A publishing consultant, Brian O’Leary conducted the study for O’Reilly Media: Surprisingly, he found that sales actually increased after their books showed up on pirate sites. Piracy seems to have boosted sales. O'Leary says people may have been using the pirated editions to sample books before they actually opened up their wallets (Misener 2011, April 19). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjornbert Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 http://www.libellarium.org/index.php/libellarium/article/view/210/298 If you can't open it, then: http://www.libellarium.org/index.php/libellarium/index and search. quote: There is a reason sample characters are available on the internet for most fantasy novels. I don't buy this sampling reason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamSongs Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 I've actually gone back to the library. At this point, ebooks have become almost as pricey as physical paperbacks, so my fictional reading business had to be returned to the library. eta typos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerenthaClone Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 I've actually gone back to the library. At this point, ebooks have become almost as pricey as physical paperbacks, so my fictional reading business had returned to the library. My library has ebooks available, so I use both depending on whether I want it to read at work/on the go (in which case I want a lighter, fluffier ebook) or something that takes more mental involvement. Seems to work out well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 This again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 This is a valid argument. Physical pages are better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamSongs Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 This again? Yes. Personally, I have been big on ebooks. The upwards creeping prices have made me reevaluate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 It's just not the same for me. Guess I'm an olde man and set in my ways, but I don't think I'll ever get a kindle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relic Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 It's just not the same for me. Guess I'm an olde man and set in my ways, but I don't think I'll ever get a kindle... That's what i thought once. Now, my Kindle is one of the best things that ever happened to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ants Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Ah, this thread was actually all about piracy, torrents, copyright etc. Not if ebooks are better than paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gasp of Many Reeds Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I've downloaded a lot of academic books for my doctoral research. However, for fiction I prefer to buy second-hand or new. Academics, for one thing, rarely depend on book sales to live off, whereas fiction authors frequently do. As for new vs. second-hand, I usually go for the latter when I can get it, but I think buying new is better if it's an author who can clearly do with the support (I'm not advocating not buying George's books, for example, but he's one of those very high-end authors where it's not going to hurt his livelihood if you don't buy his books new). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamSongs Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Ah, this thread was actually all about piracy, torrents, copyright etc. Not if ebooks are better than paper. Piracy is wrong, period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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