Library Orgs Urge Big Five to Address Digital Pricing - Publishers Daily

Publishers are in it for the money.

Today, Panzer's first stop in the Catosphere was at the Publishers Daily site. There with just a little digging in the posts our inquisitive kitty boy found one about library organizations and the big five publishers.

 

Nathalie op de Beeck's post quotes extensively from the representatives of library groups in the U.S. and Canada about the high costs of licensing digital products. The library organizations would like to meet with publishing representatives to discus the pricing at sustainable levels for libraries.

 

Panzer says, "It's important to have ebooks and audiobooks available in libraries for patrons to read and listen to."

 

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for a snack.

 

To read the post tootle over to Digital Pricing 

Print Book Pricing and Printing Costs - Barnes and Noble Press Blog

I need a nap after all these changes.

Panzer's next stop was at the Barnes and Noble Press Blog site.

 

According to an announcement there, the minimum print book price must be set at $14.99.

 

Panzer says, "If you don't set your price there or higher, your book will be de-listed."

 

Note: This is a short announcement. You don't need to bring anything to snack on.

 

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble 

Amazon Sued Over Its Dominance of the eBook Market (Finally) - The Digital Reader

Today, Panzer decided to make a stop at The Digital Reader site. With a little digging in the posts he found one about Amazon being sued.

 

It will be interesting.

According to the post by The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder, Amazon is being sued for causing the inflation of ebook prices. The lawsuit says Amazon did this by signing contracts with the five large book publishers. The post includes links to the press release about the lawsuit, a copy of the lawsuit and an article explaining the lawsuit at The Guardian site.

 

Panzer says, "You'll want to follow the link to The Guardian site to get the most understandable information."

 

Note: This is a long-short length post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow all the links, bring three more cups of tea and three muffins.

 

To read the post tootle over to Amazon sued

Smashwords 2017 Year in Review and 2018 Preview - Smashwords Blog

I am so tired.

Our poor little kitty boy just can't seem to get a nap today. He was just dropping off to sleep when cheering and clapping noises jarred him out of his kitty bed. Dragging himself to the Panzermobile, he followed all the noise to the Smashwords site. Digging around in the blog posts he discovered a post about Smashwords' indie author sales in 2017.

According to Smashwords founder Mark Coker, Smashwords sales were up in 2017 even as the rest of the book market saw a slowdown. A few of the other topics covered in the post are Smashwords' new Special Deal and Global Pricing features and the Smart Author Podcast. There is a lot more 2017 information included, plus a look ahead to new projects planned for 2018.

Panzer says, "Some of those new projects for 2018 look interesting."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring two thermoses of tea and a dozen muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Smashwords 2017 Year in Review and 2018 Preview:

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Shocking WSJ Discovery: Higher Prices=Lower Volume...

Are you sure you humans know how to add?

Panzer stopped in at Joe  Konrath's A Newbie's Guide to Publishing blog today. Our big bad kitty boy found a post by Barry Eisler about price and demand in economics.

Mr. Eisler's post addresses an article in the Wall Street Journal about the rising cost of ebooks and consequent lower sales. After the new contracts traditional publishers signed with Amazon, they (the publishers) began charging premium prices for ebooks ... and ... sales plummeted. Mr. Eisler explains the "correlation between higher prices and lower demand" in sometimes snarky and sometimes humorous terms.

Panzer says, "The folly of human stupidity never ceases to amuse me."

Note: This is a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g post, but well worth the gallon of tea you'll need to finish reading it and the Comments Section.

To read the post, tootle over to A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Shocking WSJ Discovery: Higher Prices=Lower Volume...:

Setting The Price Of Your Novel

Just resting before my nap.

Panzer was tootling around the Catosphere just enjoying his Saturday afternoon. Our lazy little kitty made a leisurely visit to The Blog at the Huffington Post site.

Doing a little rolling around in the posts there, he found one by author Kristen Houghton about pricing your novel. There's information in her post for Dead Tree book authors as well as ebook authors. Of course, determining the price for a Dead Tree book is more complicated than for an ebook. For example, the printing costs and discounts for volume purchasers must be taken into account for DT books, but not ebooks.

Panzer says, "I'm glad I don't have to worry about all that extra stuff for my ebooks."

To read the post, tootle over to pricing your novel

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Douglas Preston's Fail-A-Thon Continues

I need to rest.

Panzer made a trip over to author J.A. Konrath's Blog today. He hasn't been there for quite a while now. Our big bad kitty boy found a post there addressing author Douglas Preston's newest attack on the evil Amazon empire.

Mr. Konrath's post is in the form of an imaginary interview which is where some his best posts shine. He can be funny and acerbic at the same time in them. The post is based on an interview Mr. Preston did with the American Book Sellers Association. Apparently Mr. Preston and his friends have sent another letter to the Dept. of Justice.  Mr. Konrath takes Mr. Preston and his friends to task for statements made about and against Amazon and the letter itself. But the post addresses other issues as well. Mr. Konrath also includes quotes from Mr. Preston spotlighting his disrespect for readers in general and those who use Amazon in particular "for their sense of entitlement" and wanting low book prices. There's much more included this post.

Panzer says, "I only have a limited amount of awake time and I have to put it to good use. So I'm letting Mr. Konrath and others duke it out in the Catosphere arena without my expertise."

Note: This is a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g post and needs a v-e-r-y l-a-r-g-e cup of tea, but it's worth your time.

To read the post, tootle over to A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Douglas Preston's Fail-A-Thon Continues:

Terms Of Amazon HarperCollins Contract

Means more readers for me.

Panzer was taking a leisurely trip around the Catosphere when he stopped in at the Slate site for a few kitty treats.

Our big bad kitty reporter told you on April 2 about the new Amazon Harpercollins contract. Well, he found a post by Alison Griswold about the terms of that new contract.

And ... readers may not be happy about those terms.

The contract gives publishers the right to determine their own ebook prices.

Readers say price is Too High?

Amazon says, "This price was set by the publisher."

Panzer says, "Let me get this straight. Publishers can set the price however high they want. Let them. If readers don't want to pay hardcover prices for an ebook, they can buy my ebooks for ebook prices."

To read the full post, tootle over to Amazon and HarperCollins Contract

Kobo's Challenge Part 2

Makes sense to me.

Panzer was out at Publisher's Weekly today.

My bad boy found a follow-up post about Kobo's challenge to the Canadian ebook pricing agreement. He told you about the challenge a few days ago.

The post at PW explains the judge's reasoning behind his suspension of the agreement.

If you're interested in reading Kobo's arguments and the judge's reasons for suspending the agreement, tootle over to Canadian Judge

Starting Your Own Small Press

Do you still want to do it?

Panzer brought home this post by Spencer Madsen at The Toast blog.

Madsen tells you the good, the wrong, and the just plain ugly things he did starting his small press.

Do you always want to go with the cheapest printer? How many copies of an author's books should you order? What price should you charge to make a profit? Madsen answers these questions and a lot more.

Panzer says, "By the time you get to the end of Madsen's post, you'll have learned everything you need to know to start your own small press."

Warning: this is a very long post, so bring a huge cup of tea with you.

To learn about starting your small press, tootle over to A Small Press

CJ Lyons and How To Sell A Million Books

Marketing ... Pricing ... Selling

Panzer wants you to go watch this video with NYT bestselling author  C.J. Lyons. He's been on her email list forever. She's always dispensing her secrets to successful book marketing to the list.

When Panzer found out about this video, he took the Panzermobile over and checked it out. He says it's worth the trip! Grab a cup of tea and a sandwich because the video is almost 45 minutes long.

When you get to her site, scroll down until you see the screen. Click and you're on your way to learning about marketing, pricing and selling ebooks.

So, tootle on over to No Rules Just Write.

New Pricing For Ebooks In 2013?

Panzer and I were out in the catosphere today and we stopped in at Dean Wesley Smith's blog The Writings and Opinions of Dean Wesley Smith. My bad boy wanted to see what Smith's take is on the new ebook pricing model. Now that the dust is starting to settle as the big traditional publishers begin their settlements with the government Smith discusses what that means for you and me as indie publishers and our ebook prices.

Smith has it all nicely broken down by word count and how much he suggests the pricing should be for novels, short stories and collections of short stories.

So, tootle on over to Pricing 2013 and see if you need to increase the price on your ebooks!