I've completely avoided buying Penguin e-books because more often than not, they've been priced substantially higher
than the print edition on Amazon.
The greater loss was largely due to a change in the company's sales mix: last year, HMH sold lots of The Handmaid's Tale and 1984 e-books, which have higher
margins than print editions.
Due to the relatively low prices for English ebooks (German ebooks cost mostly the
same than the print edition), this trend will increase.
But after the holiday e-reader gift giving when the industry saw an expected spike in ebook sales to go with those new devices, USA Today's list contained an unprecedented number of ebooks that were actually faring
better than their print editions in the marketplace.
A few dissatisfied nutters keep sending you support emails because the ebook edition you released is much
worse than the print edition because it was a money - losing low - budget production.
Lawyers might be more interested in the both the search feature and the hyperlinks, which both make maneuvering around 2800 pages a good deal
easier than a print edition.
Also, be aware that, as of this writing, Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) requires that the digital eBook edition of any print book is at least 20 percent
lower than the print edition price.
Digital copies of new titles purchased from Overdrive tend to be on average about $ 8
more than a print edition and can jump as high as $ 75.99 for popular titles.
Publishers are also struggling to cope with vast changes in the industry, as brick - and - mortar stores such as Borders go under and online vendors such as Amazon have started selling e-books for far
less than the print editions.
That leaves digital customers still getting the story and at a lower
price than the print edition ($ 2.99 vs $ 3.50, and $ 1.99 after a month).
If the digital edition is significantly
cheaper than the print edition, you'll start seeing sales moving from print to digital — the eternal fear of the content companies that the digital version of something will cannibalize sales from the physical version.
Whether Indian readers, influenced by the debates in USA and UK for lowering of prices of e-books to less
than print editions, will accept parity in price of the two editions is uncertain.
In a future with even more digital readers, lower ebook prices would mean «print booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Borders and independents across the country would be unable to compete... if the e-books are priced much lower
than the print editions, no one but the aficionados and collectors will want to buy paper books.»