There is no right price for an eBook. It’s up to the author.
The CJR presented a nice summary this week of the ongoing (raging?) debate over ebook pricing. There are great insights from Chuck Windig, Mathew Ingram and Mike Masnick throughout - and I encourage you to read this if you haven’t. It’s a valuable discussion - but one that, as you’re accustomed to hearing me say, is missing the main point. There is no right price for an ebook - and there won’t be. The right price for an ebook will be based on an author’s development of and engagement with their audience.
For some authors this is going to be $0.99, or some other lowest common denominator. These price points will result when authors are not directly engaged with their audience and the retailers will have the ability to force the price point.
For authors who deeply engage their audience, the right price could be $29.99 (or more). Music was standardized at $0.99 (and later $1.29) because RETAIL established the price point and piracy was rampant. Right now, authors (and publishers) still have major work to do to build their direct engagement and control their pricing strategies. If they don’t do it quickly, just like music (and apps), it will be too late.
The Future of Publishing is Publishing
From breaking news to investigative research and analysis to book publishing and more, PandoDaily is really on to something.
Timely, relevant and super fast. Crazy smart.
If you’re watching what they’re doing, you’re seeing the complete future of publishing come together in one fell swoop - if (and only if) their Facebook IPO book becomes a “live” book and continues to follow FB through the post IPO process.
If it’s not a live book, well, we’re still being treated to 90%+ of the future, which is an incredibly strong position from which Ms. Lacy and her team will continue to build.
Questions will come up as to where Pando ends and Paul Carr’s NSFW Corp begins relative to the publishing process, but it doesn’t matter. Publishing is an ecosystem play, regardless of how you view it.
If the resulting works continue to progress accordingly - and their integrated ecosystem of news and book publishing stays intact - the future of publishing everyone’s looking for may very well be taking place right before our eyes.
This morning, my latest piece at Digital Book World, Booksellers v. Libraries? Publishers v. Amazon? These are the wrong battles to fight, was a quick-pick-up on the first page of Prismatic’s Book Trade section.
Very cool.
Does familiarity with restricted content breed contempt?
Familiarity breeds contempt.
Aesop
Be it news and periodical content behind an unexpected paywall or a book with unexpected and difficult to manage DRM, unfamiliarity with restricted content quickly breeds contempt.
When what was expected to be an easy exercise in the consumption of media becomes a difficult to understand and execute process, the negative impact on the provider brands is measurable. Whether it’s the publisher or the author requiring these restrictions, the reader is left with a single impression - media from this provider is difficult to access.
Now, for every action there is an equal and opposite action. In the case of restricted content, the equal and opposite reaction is the lightning quick “click” or “tap” into the search window to find the same media (or similar media) via a different source.
In the instances where the same or similar media isn’t available, the reader is most apt to just give up on their quest. This is a complete worst case scenario - but one that happens tens of millions of times a day - and one that is having a significantly negative impact on publisher’s and author’s revenues around the world.
While it has never been my position to that authors and publishers should seek a 100% free content model, it is my position that the presence of restrictions for use be visible and clearly understood by the reader. Nothing is worse than surprises … and surprises when there are equal or better alternatives readily available is a recipe for disaster.
Instead of not presenting information that a piece of media will be restricted until after the fact (ebook purchase) or right when it’s restricted (paywalls), consider engaging your readers right away with the ways they can use your media.
A few things to consider:
- Note what content is available for free and what is restricted (a’la the WSJ w/ their key icon or ESPN w/ their in icon).
- Offer alternatives to the “direct cost” of the media (e.g. registration, sharing of the media with one or more other readers, a social action of the author / publisher (follow, friend, etc.), or an interaction with an advertiser who may provide direct monetary compensation for the media.
- Structure the transition from “free” to “not free” content. The challenge today is there isn’t really any rhyme or reason to the paid content strategy from the reader’s perspective. Help readers understand exactly what is free and when it transitions to “not free”. The more clearly a reader can see and understand this process, the more informed their decisions will become - and the more positive their perception of your brand(s) will become. (Note: A press release isn’t helping reader’s clearly understand this process. It has to become part of the actual discovery and consumption process on your site or in your app)
Most importantly, always remember that reading should be a positive experience, not a negative experience. The more negative the reading experience, the faster readers will become non-readers as readily available alternatives continue to increase (exponentially) on an hourly basis.
Who knew such insights into paid content strategies could have originated in c. 620-564 BCE.
This week has seen a significant number of pieces written about the future of the book.
- The Evolution of Books by Nick Harkaway via We Love This Book
- Where Is Publishing Headed?: The Future Of Books In 7 Easy Steps by John B. Thompson via HuffPost
- Is The Novel Dead? by Cynthia Crossen via WSJ
- What Will Become of the Paper Book by Michael Agresta via Slate
- Speculations on the Future of the Book Conference @ MIT via Publishers Weekly
All of these well written pieces illustrate the interest and concern of the authors for the well being of a truly loved item - the book. It is great to see such lively discussion and interest in books.
From my vantage point, it is the function of reading that is being equally (or more) disrupted than the form - and it is this disruption that is getting very little attention.
Ed Nawotka and the crew at Publishing Perspectives were kind enough to pick up my piece on this topic today titled, Books Have a Bright Future, Just Not Like You Expect.
I hope you enjoy it and, as always, welcome your feedback.
Amazon & J.K. Rowling shake ebook world with subscription offer
Yesterday, when discussing Amazon’s upcoming announcement regarding the Potter series, I had a strong feeling it would be a major announcement.
I’d place a bet on Potter logo’d device w/ screensavers, wallpapers, books bundled + special feature pieces.
This morning Amazon and J.K. Rowling announced the entire Potter series will be available via the Kindle Lending Library on June 19th.
This is an even bigger announcement that I anticipated.
For the first time we are seeing a major ebook property willingly jump into the ebook subscription waters. An entire industry is going to be watching this extremely closely as authors and publishers continue to weigh the merits of ebook lending - specifically via the Kindle Lending Library.
For Amazon, this is an incredibly smart move. This announcement should have a material impact on Amazon Prime subscriptions. People who were never inclined to be aware of Amazon Prime before will be now - as Potter has truly transcended generations and just about every demographic you can note.
In one fell swoop Amazon has seriously change the game.
Kindle Lending Library? Validated by the biggest and the best.
Kindle? An exclusive and cost effective place to get great content.
Amazon? Genius.
Smart authors shouldn’t cut Amazon out
Smart authors shouldn’t cut Amazon out, contrary to VentureBeat’s urging. Smart authors shouldn’t cut Barnes & Noble or anyone else out, either.
In an age of electronic distribution, there are no bad points of purchase. As long as the quality of the purchase and consumption experiences meet your personal standards, go!
Smart authors will not only leverage each distribution channel and play to its strengths - they will, at the same time, aggressively establish their own direct to reader presence. This is a critical way to ultimately maintain (gain?) control of their own destiny.
For now, Amazon’s reach is too big and the cost of re-creating its influence is too high to walk away from.
However, just because a point of distribution meets author’s purchase and consumption experience standards today, doesn’t mean they will in the future. This is where a direct-to-reader presence comes in - the author’s hedge against unknown changes in distribution channel policies and practices.
If Amazon is the totality of an author’s distribution strategy, there are definitely going to be problems in the long run. Not only will the ability to establish the direct reader relationships suffer, but there will not be a single place where the author can be in 100% control of their brand and message.
When Amazon is an important part of a complete distribution strategy, not the complete distribution strategy, the foundation for success has been intelligently laid.
