khameirsith wrote:So what is the real value of an ebook? Excluding the obvious argument that it costs next to nothing to copy/paste a digit file and minimal to distribute it.
What is the value of the book it contains without the paper/hardcover it was printed on.
That, I think, is the real question.
Much of the cost of printing a book is the same no matter the format (Hardback, paperback, ebook). Author advance & royalties, publisher & editor costs, distributors percentage, etc. And just like in other forms of media these costs are up front and prior to selling the first copy. Yes, with ebooks there is a lower cost to distribute the finished work but lower is not free contrary to popular belief. Server costs, web management, digital security, e-transaction costs with the banks (they love their transaction fees), IT support both internal and external (Can't tell you the # dumb questions we get on how do I read an ebook), and many other small $ figures go into the cost of putting out an ebook. The cool thing about ebooks is that as time goes on and sales defray those initial upfront costs the prices of ebooks tend to go down. You also see this in physical books, bargain hardcovers, special priced paperbacks, anthologies, etc. but the you usually see a greater discount on ebooks.
In general if you see an ebook below the $8-10 and it's brand new someone is cutting some/all of the profit from it. But 5 years down the road once all the initial costs are recouped you can see books at $4-5 and still be making a decent profit. But the market will bear what it will bear so you see some books forced into lower price points by public perception and you will see some books making HUGE margins by pricing at 7.99 because the public sees that as reasonable as well.
Look at the cost of small print publishing (e.g. print on demand & self publishing). You see these books often priced at 24.99 for a paperback and 19.99 for the ebook. That's because they are not working with much scale and have to pay the costs.
