By Edward Nawotka
In our lead story, I asserted that perpetual big discounts offered on books by retailers, whether bricks or clicks, dedicated booksellers or not, ultimately lead to asset devaluation. I argue that book buyers are being becoming accustomed to never paying full price for books—something that is likely only to to only become more entrenched in our psyches as long as the economy continues to waver. In the long run, this is essentially asset devaluation.
What do you think? Agree, disagree? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #ppbonus.
2 Comments
I totally agree. What people are looking at these days is that $25 or $27 is a lot to pay for anything. But, when you think about the time spent reading compared to, say, the time spent in a movie…then perhaps they will consider that the time vs. money spent ratio is a bit better with a book–a book which you can then share with someone else.
What is even more unnerving is the constant return to Amazon as the be all end all marketplace for books. Next year, the books I am going to publish and sell will not be on Amazon. Not even Kindle. Relying on Amazon for one’s rader base is like playing the lottery. The odds are against you. If anyone wants my books in future, they can look for them on my site alone.
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