Candice Hughes

Not long ago I posted a summary of comments on the cost of book production by Lee Child.

Here’s another source showing how little it actually costs to produce a physical paper-based book (just in terms of printing).

“Printing a 9-by-9-inch, 334-page hardcover book in China costs about 44 to 45 cents now, with another 3 cents for shipping, says Goodwin. The same book costs 65 to 68 cents to make in the U.S.” He goes on to explain that US printing obviates the need for an additional 30 days of shipping time- plus the extra 3 cents cost.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100708/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_cheap_no_more

Thus, the cheapest cost for China is 47 cents versus the most expensive cost for the US 68 cents. Will an extra 50 to 70 cents more or less  prevent anyone from buying a paper book (over say an e-book version)? Because that ‘s the real cost difference unless vendors artificially lower e-book prices by cutting pay for writers or publishers or sell at a loss to themselves. In fact, the difference is likely even less because there is still a cost for programming to develop and maintain software allowing e-books to be uploaded and viewed.

These numbers further demonstrate that most of the cost of a book is content development (ie: the writer sitting in the chair fingers to keyboard for months or years and the editor polishing the text up) plus some marketing/sales costs so that readers can find and obtain a copy of a new book and don’t have to hunt the Internet for obscure web sites to buy a poorly or non-promoted book. Thus, most costs do not change regardless of whether the book is delivered in electronic or print format.

E-books are a great option, but keep the price honest.

Spring has been here for several weeks now, with the usual crazy New England weather- shorts and tee-shirts one week then back to sweaters and coats the next.

Besides the changing but consistently wacky weather, the publishing industry continues as well, changing but expectedly so.  Publisher’s Weekly reported that e-books were up 177% for 2009 while sales of most other books were flat or slightly lower than the year before. All forms of entertainment have been moving digital for a number of years. Yet things rarely move entirely digital or, if they do, convert in their original form. I still listen to the radio periodically. I often listen to the radio online. It’s still the radio, just a different delivery system. I envision paper-based books sharing the world with digital books- reaching an even larger audience.

Spring is a great time for writing- full of energy and bursting with ideas! So now it’s back to a writer’s main job…writing.

After reading about the iPad for several weeks and (finally) watching the Apple demo, I can see that it doesn’t quite match my lofty expectations. It is a cool, new twist on a computer or iPhone (or something half-way in between really). As a multi-media device, it would be fun to play with.

My focus though was how is it as an e-book reader.  Here I believe the iPad doesn’t quite make it. The most glaring lack is that the screen is a standard type computer screen. As such, it’s subject to glare and hard on the eyes. It definitely doesn’t replicate reading on paper. The e-ink screen appears to me to better simulate the reading experience. Although of course it doesn’t yet provide color.

The other drawback I see is that the iPad appears delicate. Is this device going to survive being stuffed into a loaded backpack? What if it’s lying on your table and your kid comes home and dumps a pile of books on top of it? Or you’re reading it at the kitchen table when your spouse spills a cup of coffee? For now, my newspaper or paperback can survive all these scenarios (with a few dabs with a towel or blasts with a hair dryer after the coffee) better and it’s much, much cheaper.

Sorry Apple, I’m holding out for now. But thanks for working with the publishing houses to provide realistic pricing models on e-books.

Bookmarked: The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

E-books are expected to represent $150 million of this year’s book market, rising to $201 million next year (according to Albert Greco, professor at Fordham University as quoted by the Wall St. Journal). Two major publishers announced e-book delays (Hachette Book Group and Simon & Shuster). Only a couple years ago, e-books seemed like harmless dalliances. A way to look hip, to crest the techie wave. Now the wave is threatening a whole business model.

Fundamentally, e-books and their so far rock bottom prices represent a basic struggle between consumers (readers) who would like to pay as little as possible for a product (books) and producers (publishers and authors) who would like to earn a reasonable profit from their products. How far the model can stretch under these pressures is uncertain. Already consumers have access via the Internet to very low cost, even free, “books”. Frustrated authors post books on their web sites or give podcasts of them. Google has indexed libraries full of free books. But, no one is checking the quality of all this free written entertainment. That’s where the current model benefits consumers. Only an infinitesimally small number of books pass the extremely high hurdle to publication by a major publisher. To pay all the people who ensure this high quality entertainment, create a beautiful package and give consumers easy access to it, publishers need to earn a certain income with profit to keep shareholder’s happy so they can stay in business. If consumers do their part by keeping volume high, prices can be lowered. But low volume and low profit is an unsustainable business model. Are consumers willing to pick through mountains of chaff for gems in “free” Internet entertainment? Or are they willing to pay for quality?

In other words, how low can prices of e-books go before publishers (and authors) call it quits? The e-book medium offers so many enticing opportunities for enhanced content and other benefits that are worth paying for. If the focus can be moved from bargain basement to luxury entertainment, e-books may turn from Trojan horse to gift horse.

The new Kindle is out! I took a look at Amazon’s video of the Kindle 2 yesterday. It’s starting to look pretty tempting… I especially like the read aloud feature. This feature could be great for someone who’s older and can no longer read or for anyone who can’t look at or read a book for any reason. It might even keep kids entertained by reading them stories on a trip.

The other interesting feature is the thinness. I’m not sure how I’d feel about holding something that thin after being used to the weight of a book. Or how I’d feel about not being able to put my fingers on the pages and turn them. Since the screen is black and white, book covers will be monochrome and less exciting.

The wonderful thing about the Kindle is that books will be even more available to everyone, any time, wherever they are. If you are bored and stuck somewhere, you could order up a book and read (so long as there is wireless). The stack of books by the bed becomes a few millimeters thick. And once you go digital, a book can become a multi-media experience.

Being a techie at heart…I just might have to put this on my wish list. And start thinking up new plots and characters that can go digital…