Thanks Steve for driving the price of eBook up for everyone
One of the surprises in the iPad announcement by Apple came for many when the pricing for eBooks was unveiled. Amazon had set a defacto price point in the industry with new releases selling for a bit under $10. Apple single handedly started a transition in the digital book market to a higher price point of around $14.99 for new releases.
Apple conceded to the new $14.99 price point when it agreed to the pricing with publisher Macmillan to get its books on the iPad. The move was seen as a precedent and was expected to be used as leverage by other publishers to force Amazon to allow an increase in pricing of digital books sold on its digital book store. The move was all the more strange because Apple has been so stringent on low pricing for digital tracks on iTunes despite music companies wanting to charge more.
Amazon temporarily stopped selling Macmillan books directly because of pressure to increase pricing. Amazon stated, "Macmillan, one of the 'big six' publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases."
As expected, other publishers are stepping up and using the precedent set by Macmillan to force higher prices for their digital books. Some fear that the pricing change could double the cost of eBooks for consumers. Mediabistro reports that Hachette Book Group has announced that it intends to move to an agency model for its digital books.
David Young, Chairman, and CEO of Hachette Book Group wrote in an email, "There are many advantages to the agency model, for our authors, retailers, consumers, and publishers. It allows Hachette to make pricing decisions that are rational and reflect the value of our authors' works. In the long run this will enable Hachette to continue to invest in and nurture authors' careers--from major blockbusters to new voices. Without this investment in our authors, the diversity of books available to consumers will contract, as will the diversity of retailers, and our literary culture will suffer."
Young goes on to state that a price increase will allow the company to open more doors for distribution of eBooks and will allow the simultaneous release of digital versions of a book with the hard cover launch. Young says that this method is preferable to withholding books and is in the author and Hachette's best interests. While Young doesn’t mention pricing, he is certainly eyeing the same $12.99 to $14.99 rate that Macmillan eBooks sell for.
Young claims that the move to an agency model is not to make more money on eBooks. He states, "It's important to note that we are not looking to the agency model as a way to make more money on e-books. In fact, we make less on each e-book sale under the new model; the author will continue to be fairly compensated and our e-book agents will make money on every digital sale. We're willing to accept lower return for e-book sales as we control the value of our product--books, and content in general. We're taking the long view on e-book pricing, and this new model helps protect the long term viability of the book marketplace."
Apple has also cut a deal with HarperCollins Books owner Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who owns News Corp. Pricing has not yet been revealed, but it is expected to be "significantly higher" than Amazon's pricing.
Digital books will become even more important for publishers as more digital readers and tablet enter the market. Amazon and Google are working on a competitor to the iPad and other tablet offerings are sure to be coming that will support digital books.
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