This past week, life (at least as it relates to my reading and book buying habits) has been quite interesting. On Monday, my Beloved and Awesome Husband forwarded a link to this blog post. It is a conversation between Barry Eisler (here on Amazon) and Joe Konrath (here on Amazon), discussing self-publication and the attractions and benefits of not using the traditional publishing house route. The conversation was sparked, at least in part, by Mr. Eisler's decision to turn down a two-book-$500,000.00 advance in favor of striking out on his own. It's very long and there's a little bit of off-color remarks, but it's a fascinating read.
This article inspired me to take a look at some of the self-published authors on Amazon and see what was available in that $0.99-$4.99 sweet spot that Eisler and Konrath discussed - and there are a LOT! As a matter of fact, if you look at the Top 100 Kindle Bestsellers list, you will actually see TWO lists side by side: one for the top 100 PAID, and one for the top 100 FREE books on the Kindle. There is an embarrassment of riches available here, and I note that a very, very significant portion of the top 100 paid books are in that low priced sweet spot.
Which leads me to point out a couple of books that I really, really WANT on my Kindle, but that I will either borrow or wait on because the price is now, in my opinion, simply too high. I would love for publishers to "get" that I am far more likely - now, especially - to impulse buy a book I'm interested in when it's priced at $5 or lower (and especially if it's been out for more than 6 months!). Higher than that, and I have to think about it.
Now for the books:
- I saw mention of Andrew Brietbart's book Righteous Indignation over at Pajamas Media, and thought "Ooooooo, DO WANT!" - but the current pre-order price is $14.99 for the Kindle edition, and $14.73 for the hard copy. Whose brilliant idea was that?! For this story (read Dr. Helen Smith's brief review linked above at PJM), I'd pay more than $5 - but not that much more!
- I'd like to buy Randy Alcorn's book, the Grace and Truth Paradox, since my Adult Bible Study class will be finishing up a quick review of it tomorrow, but the Kindle edition is $9.99! The hard copy is only 96 pages long, and the book has been out since 2003. Sorry, I'll pass that up or maybe buy a used copy (from $0.87 plys $3.99 shipping).
- This book, Introverts in the Church, published in 2009, interests me and is on my Amazon wish list, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted it. If it had only been $3 or $4, I would have grabbed it and taken the risk.
On the other hand, I've purchased several books by authors I'd never heard of, but who had well-reviewed books with intriguing plot synopses - all $0.99, and none of which I'd have purchased at $6 or more:
- The Righteous, by Michael Wallace
- The Solomon Scandals, by David H. Rothman - this was suggested via Facebook by my darling blog-brother, GM Roper, and Mr. Rothman even responded to me in the comments there!
- Seven Days from Sunday, by M. H. Sargent
- Take the Monkeys and Run (I mean, really - how could I resist a title like that?!), by Karen Cantwell
- Live Free or Die (the Granite State Mysteries), by Jesse Crockett
- Invisible, by Lorena McCourtney. OK, I lied. This one wasn't $0.99 - it was offered FREE to entice you to buy some of her other books in the Kindle store, many-if-not-most of which are priced in that sweet spot.
I've also taken advantage of purchasing low-cost collections of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Rudyard Kipling, and James Fenimore Cooper (of The Last of the Mohicans fame) as well as the Conscience of a Conservative (Goldwater), and classics like Plutarch's Lives, de Toqueville's Democracy in America, the Arabian Nights, Milton's Paradise Lost, Dante's Divine Comedy, a complete Shakespeare, and the Ultimate Mythology Collection (including Homer, the Illiad and so on).
Every. Single. One. of those books were less than $5. That's almost TWENTY books, purchased in the last week. None of those books went on my wishlist to languish into oblivion. None of those books' prices made me stop and think or decide to wait and see if the price would come down.
I want to buy books. I LOVE to buy books! And with my new Motorola XOOM with WiFi tentatively scheduled to arrive (from Amazon - yep, total Amazon fangirl, here!) on Wednesday (and the Kindle app is smokin' hot on it - I've tested it on my hubby's 3/4G XOOM), I'm going to be buying MORE ebooks.
But not at the prices you seem to want to sell them! Not anymore, anyway...
Publishers, you are in the business of selling books! Let me give you some advice: stop resisting the digital revolution, stop pushing paper sales at the expense of digital, lower your prices, and get those books moving off the shelves (virtual or otherwise)!!!!
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