The real cost of books

[mdlbear]

So... here's an article on Gizmodo about How Much It Actually Costs to Publish an Ebook vs. a Real Book, based on Making the Case for iPad E-Book Prices at the New York Times.

Giz puts it all in a handy table -- I'll wait while you go and look -- that makes $13 for an ebook look like a fair deal compared to $26 for a hardcover. The publisher gets about the same amount in both cases. The bookseller -- Amazon, say -- gets $3.90 for the ebook, vs. $13 for the hardcover, which is fair because there's no inventory, floor space, or need to cover inventory that doesn't sell. The author gets a little less for the ebook: $3.25 vs $3.90. Printing, storage, and distribution for the hardback is only $3.25. Seems fair, right?

Not so fast.

Giz also says "There is no equivalent paperback market with lower costs to eke out more money later in a book's life (especially if the hardcover flops)." But isn't the ebook more like a paperback? The marginal cost of one more ebook is zero.

If you take out both the bookseller's and the publisher's cut from the ebook, you're down to a perfectly reasonable $4.53. That still includes $1.28 per copy for copyediting, design, and marketing. That means that an author who sells ebooks directly to the public can make money at a lower price.

And that, my children, is why crowdfunding works.

(I'm oversimplifying, of course. Unless you're already an established author or famous for some other reason, it's almost impossible to get your sales figures up to what a publisher could get for you. And so on. But the publishing industry still has to worry.)

Cross-posted to mdlbear and crowdfunding.

Scryer's Gulch, Episode 14 Is Up

[meilin-miranda.livejournal.com]

Waste Not the Hour:

From the front window of the Hotel LeFay, Anthony Bonham watched Miss Duniway and John Runnels exchange pleasantries. He knew the look on the man's face; Miss Duniway had fallen afoul of the Sheriff's crime-fighting instincts. What could he suspect the schoolteacher of, besides being beautiful, and that was no suspicion. Outwardly, Tony eyed her dispassionately. But within him, he formulated plans. A young woman, all alone in a town like this--she was bound to be lonely. He could use that.

Poetry Fishbowl in The Wordsmith's Forge Today!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

The March Poetry Fishbowl is now open.  Today's theme is "elements & elemental spirits."  Please drop by and give me prompts to write poems.  You're welcome to share this news with anyone who might be interested.