CBS MoneyWatch
E-books, the one-time golden boy of the book industry, have hit a turbulent adolescence.
Their sales have taken a hard downward turn this year, thanks in part to sharply higher prices on new releases from the top five publishers. The higher prices have rolled out over the past several months as Amazon (AMZN) struck new e-book distribution deals with the country's biggest publishers, which gave the latter the right to set their own prices, said Peter Hildick-Smith, chief executive of industry researcher Codex Group.
The average price of books sold in the Kindle bookstore from the five biggest publishers -- which include Hachette and Simon & Schuster (a division of CBS, parent of CBS MoneyWatch) -- cost an average of $10.81 this year, while e-books from smaller publishers sold for an average of $4.95, according to Codex. From January through mid-August, almost half of newer e-book titles from the big five publishers were set at $12 or higher, Hildick-Smith noted. Prior to the new agreements, Amazon discounted e-books, often setting prices at $9.99 or lower.
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The average price of books sold in the Kindle bookstore from the five biggest publishers -- which include Hachette and Simon & Schuster (a division of CBS, parent of CBS MoneyWatch) -- cost an average of $10.81 this year, while e-books from smaller publishers sold for an average of $4.95, according to Codex. From January through mid-August, almost half of newer e-book titles from the big five publishers were set at $12 or higher, Hildick-Smith noted. Prior to the new agreements, Amazon discounted e-books, often setting prices at $9.99 or lower.
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