More eBook trouble for Amazon

Let's remember that not one publisher or e-book seller are charity's. The whole point in the end is for them to make MORE MONEY! I have been reading e-books for years on my Palm through e-reader and fictionwise (pre geographical restrictions now I can't buy any e-books I live in Europe) and some older book prices were considerably cheaper than recently published bestsellers which is great. When I read a book it's new to me! I really don't get it paper bpoks must be more expensive to produce and I can buy them anywhere, no problem, I can share them with my friends, I can give my old books away. With ebooks I can't even download books I bought in Holland and England to the e-reader of my choice on my own computer and my own iPhone due to DRM restrictions, what is this all about?????

competition is supposed to lower prices, but instead apple decided to screw amazon when they really are screwing the customers.

and I thought the point of e-ink readers was the paper- like ease of reading? is the iPad really a good alternative with its LCD screen?

I think you all need to read these before you "blame" apple and/or defend amazon

unless you're an author doing business with amazon and selling Kindle format you can't really speak to this topic. sure, as a consumer, you see see prices going up, because this debate is focused on top sellers/new releases... but as with printed books, the prices will drop over time. if you really want to read the latest from your favorite author the day it comes out then a few extra bucks won't really matter, will it?

did anyone catch the fact that amazon pulled macmillans PRINTED books too? WTF, I thought this was all about ebooks.

charles stross:
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/01/amazon-macmillan-an-outsiders.html

tobias bucknell
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2010/01/31/why-my-books-are-no-longer-for-sale-via-amazon/

john scalzi
http://whatever.scalzi.com/

this is important (last paragraph from stross' piece above)

Just before Apple announced the iPad and the agency deal for ebooks, Amazon pre-empted by announcing an option for publishing ebooks in which they would graciously reduce their cut from 70% to 30%, "same as Apple". From a distance this looks competitive, but the devil is in the small print; to get the 30% rate, you have to agree that Amazon is a publisher, license your rights to Amazon to publish through the Kindle platform, guarantee that you will not allow other ebook editions to sell for less than the Kindle price, and let Amazon set that price, with a ceiling of $9.99. In other words, Amazon choose how much to pay you, while using your books to undercut any possible rivals (including the paper editions you still sell). It shouldn't surprise anyone that the major publishers don't think very highly of this offer ...

Just a note to those who think that ebooks should be at rock bottom pricing: it still takes money to create a book. The author, the editor(s), the distributor all need to get paid at the end of the day. Taking the cost of digital distribution as the only criteria for pricing only undersells the value of the people in the chain that create books, regardless of what device they're read on or what revenue split models are in play.

@Jordan - tell us how badly Apple f'd up with the ipad when it's out in the market for a couple quarters, instead of your a priori oracle act.

This is not eBook trouble for Amazon - it's eBook trouble for consumers.

It seems to me that over time this model will be bound to change. Right now an author really NEEDS a publisher. Sure, they can self publish, print their own books in small quantity - but without the marketing clout of the publishers, it'll be an uphill battle and a riskier proposition.

I think you'll see a trend towards more content being available direct from the author. The risk/benefit completely shifts when the cost of publishing is $0. Something like http://www.smashwords.com.

I am siding with publishers here. First, prices will go down, as time From hardcover release progresses. Second it's competitive market, if sales are too low, prices will go down. publishers will compete themselves. Last, I don't understand Internet mentality that stuff on Internet should be very cheap or free. someone in the family has to make money. Be it in just pixels or real printed book, there is no less work to create anything. Maybe someone can do it for free, but real life has responsibilities. And consumers should know - if you don't like the price, don't buy it. Get a second hand book a year after The original hardcover was publihed. There are options.
Diclaimer that I am not working in publishing, video or music industry. I do work creative job though and believe in fair pricing.

It's just so sad to see the book publishers trying their best to strangle the ebook industry before it has a chance to really build a strong base of support. $10 is too expensive to rent books (you can't but it if it's DRMed, much as Amazon/Apple would like you to think otherwise) and $15 is preposterous when the physical books cost less, have fewer restrictions and can be resold if desired.

So a big FU to book publishers until they end this crap. I won't buy a single eBook with the current price/ DRM structure. These short-sighted executives are amazingly making even worse mistakes than the music industry in a futile attempt to preserve an outdated business model. The dinosaurs will die, eventually, but in the meantime we can look forward to another 5 years of ebook suckitude.

It's just so sad to see the book publishers trying their best to strangle the ebook industry before it has a chance to really build a strong base of support. $10 is too expensive to rent books (you can't but it if it's DRMed, much as Amazon/Apple would like you to think otherwise) and $15 is preposterous when the physical books cost less, have fewer restrictions and can be resold if desired.

So a big FU to book publishers until they end this crap. I won't buy a single eBook with the current price/ DRM structure. These short-sighted executives are amazingly making even worse mistakes than the music industry in a futile attempt to preserve an outdated business model. The dinosaurs will die, eventually, but in the meantime we can look forward to another 5 years of ebook suckitude.

I get that the book publishers would like to charge a lot more for books, authors would like to get more in royalties, etc. But for me, as a consumer, I resent paying for pixels like I would pay for paper & ink. I'm not saying I won't pay at all, but I don't want to pay the same price, when the production costs are so dramatically different.