PP Weekly Poll: How Should Publishers Price Newly Released Ebooks?

In What's the Buzz by Hannah Johnson

By Hannah Johnson

There is a price war going on in the UK. Apple, Amazon and customers are putting pressure on publishers to lower the price of ebooks. Authors and agents want higher royalty rates and higher ebook prices. Publishers need to cover the costs of using new technology and potentially losing hardcover sales to lower-priced ebooks.

Ebook sales continue to climb, but for many publishers, the revenues from ebooks are not high enough yet to cover the cost of investing in new technology. Nor are ebook sales strong enough yet to bear the financial weight of big publishing houses as hardcovers have traditionally done.

So we want to know from all of you — as publishers, authors, agents and readers — what you think of ebook pricing. What price point is enticing for consumers yet sustaining for publishers? What do YOU feel comfortable paying for an ebook?

Take our poll below:

[poll id=”5″]
About the Author

Hannah Johnson

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Hannah Johnson is the publisher of international book industry magazine Publishing Perspectives, which provides daily information and news about book markets around the world. In addition to building partnerships with international cultural and trade organizations, she works with the Frankfurt Book Fair to organize and support a number of its overseas initiatives. Hannah has also worked as the managing editor for an online media company, The Hooch Life, focused on craft distillers and cocktail experts. Prior to that, she worked as a project manager for the Frankfurt Book Fair’s New York office, managing various business and marketing activities.