eBooks? No thanks.
The heading may seem a little strange, given that I’m a self-confessed geek. Surely I love technology and all the warm fuzzy feelings it brings? Well, yes. I do. And I love the e-paper technology especially, it’s very clever. The Amazon Kindle has been on my wish-list for ages.
Waterstone’s recently started promoting thier own eReader product as well, and I was sorely tempted. But in the end I walked away.
So how could I possibly not want eBooks?
It’s quite simple really. As an example, Waterstone’s are selling the new release, hardcover printed copy of Lee Child’s latest thriller for £9.59. This is a thick, heavy book. Trees were cut down to make it. It had to be printed, glued, bound, primped & preened, have glossy colour covers made up, transported from the printer to the distributors to the wholesalers to the central-purchase stores and eventually to the retail outlets, who need to find bulk-space to store it and shelf-space to display it, and lights and water and toilets and staff and and and… the list is endless. All of these things cost money. Fair enough. Just under a tenner for a new-release hardcover isn’t bad value, all things considered.
Now, the electronic version of the same book is £12.99. Selling and distributing the eBook carries NONE of the costs described above. Sure, there are some costs, such as getting the damn thing written in the first place, proofing, editing, and so on. But those are already incurred for the paper version. There’s the trivial cost of hosting the eBook, granted. Pennies per month, if anything. Other than that, every single copy sold is basically free money. Whether they sell one copy or one million copies, the cost of supply and distribution is static.
Why charge £3.40 more for the version that’s obviously a lot cheaper, Waterstone’s?
For purely common-sense economic reasons as outlined above, eBooks should be significantly cheaper than printed copies.
For environmental reasons, they should be significantly cheaper – if we use less paper, we kill less trees.
For convenience reasons, they should be cheaper! eBooks are understandbly DRM-protected, meaning that once I’ve bought a book, it can only be read on my reader. My wife and I have similar tastes in reading material, and I’ll often pass my latest book on to her once I’m finished with it. eBooks make this difficult – I’d have to pass over my eReader as well. As I said, this is understandable. But it’s a pain in the arse. I could put up with that pain if the electronic version was a lot cheaper than the paper one.
Waterstone’s will doubtless claim it’s not their fault, they are at the mercy of thier suppliers who dictate pricing policies. Sorry, guys, that’s not acceptable. You are HUGE in the UK literary market, big enough to dictate terms to THEM. If you want people to buy your eBooks (and eReaders), take a firm stand and correct this ridiculous policy right away.
And please note: I’m not specifically picking on Waterstone’s. I don’t hate them. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m sure other retailers have similarly stupid policies. Also: this is not a hand-picked example I went searching out to emphasise the problem, it’s a book I’m genuinely interested in.
References:
61 Hours – Hardcover
61 Hours – eBook
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Comments
Reviving this rant once again…
It is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous that Amazon charges MORE for the Kindle version of Stephen Fry’s book than for the tree-killing HARDCOVER copy! http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Fry-Chronicles/dp/B0042JTA56/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM&s=digital-text&qid=1290172185&sr=1-9 Oh come ON, Amazon! You can do BETTER!
Stephen – clobber them!
It seems I’ve been a little unfair with Waterstone’s. I sent them a message via their Facebook account, and got a very prompt reply, which they’ve given me permission to re-publish here:
“Hi Ken, as with traditional books, the RRP of each eBook title is dictated by the publisher of the eBook. Waterstone’s is working with all publishers to agree what is the appropriate price for an eBook and in the meantime, we discount as many eBook titles as possible to try and offer the best possible value to our customers. A long way from perfect, we know, but hopefully there will be changes in the near future. Kate”
Thanks, Kate. And Waterstone’s. I appreciate the time taken to reply. And good luck in your arm-wrestling with the publishers. Unless and until the powers-that-be have a serious pricing re-think, eBooks remain an interesting idea for slightly eccentric people. And that’s a great pity.