Low E-book Pricing: Is Cheaper Cheapening Books?

By - August 4, 2012

I recently read this article in which the writer talks about how she, as a self-published writer, doesn't believe that writers selling cheap e-books at prices less than $3—many at $.99—are harming the traditional publishing industry.  She says, "I love books, I love authors and I love writing. I’d be devastated if something I was doing was contributing to the downfall of the part of the world I love the most."

Like this writer, some argue that only authors with huge advances are affected by e-books priced "less than a quarter cup of coffee."  For example, surely James Patterson's fans will be willing to pay $9.99 for his e-book since they know they love him.  So if the little guys aren't affected, what's the problem?

Here's the problem: the little guys are affected, and far more than the big guys.  As previously pointed out, the big guys already have a fan base, a loyal one who will be more than happy to shell out ten bucks for a novel they know for sure they want.  New traditionally published debut authors, however, aren't as lucky.  Your Average Joe with a Kindle doesn't understand why some e-books cost more than others.  How can you blame him?  If you're in the industry, you spend lots of time thinking about book pricing and the division of money that goes into it.  For him, though, it's a book he's going to download and read.  Perhaps Joe "gets" the jacked up cost of a J.K. Rowling or James Patterson e-book: because those big guys can.  But when it comes to debut authors he's never heard of, Joe Shmoe from Kokomo sees one debut author priced at  $.99, another priced at $5.00.  Which book is he more likely to buy? 

You guessed it.  He's going to buy Mr. Ninety-Nine Cent Self-Published's book, and not because Joe knows the book is self-published or because he knows the other author's novel is traditionally published.  Rather, Joe will buy the self-published $.99 novel because it's cheaper.  After all, neither author is a known quantity to Joe, so it's easier to take a chance on the cheaper one.  That way, if he hates the author, he's only blown a dollar.

Why does this matter?  If traditional publishers want to compete, surely they can just lower their prices, right?  Bonk!  Nope, they can't.  The sales of these books have to pay a whole group of people from the editor to the cover designer to the distributor, agent, author...  If $.99 books or free e-books are chosen over higher priced e-books—a necessary price hike for traditional publishers if both the author and publisher are to make money—traditionally published debuts will sell less.  If traditional publishers can't sell debut authors as easily, they will be less likely to take on new debut authors.  They'll fear failure and lack of sales, but the logistical truth is that for even the bravest publisher who wants to take risks on new debut authors, fewer sales mean less money they have to spend on new deals.

"So what?" you might be saying. "Who cares if we cut out the middle men?  Let all authors self-pub, sell for cheap, and we're gold."  Sounds great, huh?  However, if you back up and imagine a world where no traditional publishers exist, it isn't all sunshine and roses, at least not to me.  Right now, while many self-published books offer a printed version, the books with widely distributed print runs come from traditional publishers.  Authors going the route of self-publishing can easily pay to list their books on Amazon or Nook, but a print run with wide distribution is a different story.  Without traditional publishers, the number of print books being distributed will go down.  Without print books, brick and mortar bookstores will dry up and close.  No more driving to Barnes and Noble for an afternoon of browsing.  The apocalypse will be upon us.

Bottom line: yes, I think authors selling e-books that cheap do a disservice to the writing world.  Do I blame them for going that route?  Not necessarily.  I know it's a long and frustrating road to travel to try to find a publisher who wants to buy your work.  I understand that for some, it's not about the money, but rather, about knowing you can tell your Great Aunt Clara where she can read your Great American Novel while she's sitting at your Great American Family Reunion. 

The answer?  I wish I had one.  The best answer I have right now, however, starts with readers, the folks buying e-books and print books alike.  Somehow, the public should be aware they're buying self-published work or traditionally published work, and that there is a difference between the two.  Am I dogging self-published work and saying nothing self-published is good?  Certainly not.  Are there great self-published books?  Sure.  But in a world where there's no regulation of who has quality or doesn't, no editing requirement to put your book up for sale on Kindle, being lumped into that "maybe wonderful but maybe crap" group is part of the "cons" list when you weigh the pros and cons of listing that manuscript on Amazon yourself.  No matter what the reader decides after this, at least then, we'd know the truth about what matters most to readers: quality or quantity.  Chances are, the truth lies somewhere in between, and there are readers from both camps.  And if there are, if readers know what falls under that umbrella and what doesn't, maybe a lot more might be a little more willing to shell out that extra money for something they know for sure is edited and regulated.  Maybe they won't.  Maybe if this happened, I'd find out that readers don't give a rat's brown behind whether or not their books have been looked over by professionals so long as they don't cost more than a pack of gum.  But the writer in me has to believe that if 50 Shades of Grey hadn't somehow beaten the odds and stormed the bestseller lists, most people wouldn't have wanted to pay even $.99 for it.  A part of me has to believe that good, quality self-published novels would make it anyway, and that this would help the good ones to excel and the bad ones to be weeded out. 

A part of me has to believe the bookstore apocalypse will never come to pass.