Two Major Publishers To Hold Back E-books Book2Book Wednesday 09 Dec 2009
Simon & Schuster is delaying by four months the electronic-book editions of about 35 leading titles coming out early next year, taking a dramatic stand against the cut-rate $9.99 pricing of e-book best sellers.
A second publisher, Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group, said it has similar plans in the works.
"The right place for the e-book is after the hardcover but before the paperback," said Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS Corp. "We believe some people will be disappointed. But with new [electronic] readers coming and sales booming, we need to do this now, before the installed base of e-book reading devices gets to a size where doing it would be impossible."
Wall Street Journal
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1 comment:
I think the old school publishing houses are being prehistoric on their attitudes to e-books. They have the chance to find a whole new readership, I hope, among the young, and they are blowing it.
Why on earth should an e-book be priced above a paperback? At the very least, it should be the paper price less publishing costs less distribution costs. That would be a significant reduction for the reader, but profit margins intact for the author and publisher. Because this is about the author, isn't it?
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