All Articles Tagged "book sales"
Expensive E-Books Keeping Standard Tomes in Print
(Wall Street Journal) — Even as readers grow more comfortable with digital books, some continue to question why so many of the most popular new e-books are priced so high. Michael Connelly’s recent legal thriller, “The Fifth Witness,” has more one-star reviews on Amazon than five-star reviews in part because some angry reviewers focused on the e-book’s $14.99 price. As physical book sales fall, publishers’ fixed costs are becoming more cumbersome. One area major publishers can cushion the blow is by keeping e-book prices higher. “If e-book prices land at 99 cents in the future we’re not going to be in good shape,” said one New York publishing executive, who asked not to be identified. Indeed, e-book prices on many new national best sellers are higher today than they were at the start of last year. That’s because the six major publishers have adopted a new pricing model, known as “agency pricing,” championed by Apple Inc. Publishers, worried about the deeply discounted $9.99 digital best-sellers promoted by Amazon.com Inc., agreed to set the consumer prices of their digital titles. Under this model, retailers act as the agent for each sale and take 30%, returning 70% to the publisher.
Will Jailed Mayor See Any Proceeds From His Book?
(Detroit Free Press) — That didn’t take long. Less than a week after Kwame Kilpatrick’s memoir went on sale for $26.95, Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner scheduled a June 15 hearing on Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s bid to block the former Detroit mayor from getting his cut. Worthy wants to use any proceeds Kilpatrick could get from the book, which will not be shipped until late July, to help pay down the $860,000 he still owes in restitution. The Web site for the publisher of “Surrendered: The Rise, Fall & Revelation of Kwame Kilpatrick,” says authors receive half of all profits. The Associated Press quoted Kilpatrick last week as saying: “Any money that I make — any dime, any penny I make — will go to pay restitution.”
