What is the value of book?

How much do you think a good story is worth?  I don't mean a book necessarily since books can be collectible and that's not what I am getting at here, but how much do you think a novel length story is worth?

When deciding this you might compare the value of the read vs. other entertainments such as the cost of a movie rental? The price of a video game? The cost of a newspaper or magazine? The drop in fee for a local gym or that knitting class at the community center?  For me the value varies wildly depending on how much I enjoy (or expect to enjoy) the book. 

With that in mind I have been thinking about the current "race to the bottom" debate in e-publishing that has been raging on the blogosphere. For those of you who are unaware it essentially boils down (in an inelegant way) to publishers claiming that self published authors are going to ruin publishing by offering eBooks at rock bottom prices; while the self-published authors are claiming that large publishing houses are bloated profiteers.

From the publishers side: two years ago I posted a rough breakdown of what the costs of printing a book might be for a traditional publisher.  Based on these figures you get closer to understanding the $9.99 price point that publishers seem to be trying to stick with for an ebook.  Shave a little here and there and then knock off the additional costs associated with a physical book and you are close to that figure.  Everyone takes a bit of a hit in total values but I can see where they are coming from.

On the other hand it's now very common to see self published ebooks for sale for as little as $0.99-$2.99. You may also see these self published authors explaining that they are in fact making money at this price.  So why do the publishers need to charge more?

Now that authors can self publish without having to front the serious amounts of cash to physically print their books they are less likely to need a publisher to bankroll the project.  Couple this with the fact that an author can now act as or hire a publicist and designer on a piece meal basis to cover most of the basic marketing needed for a book launch and you can see why some mid and backlist authors choose to self publish.

I am making the suggestion that now a publishers greatest value is not to the average author but to the reader.  Publishers do help separate the wheat from the chaff. By helping readers find quality writers they can save them from that feeling of wanting those last few hours back.

I am willing to pay a bit more to know that the novel I am about to read is at least going to be well written and hopefully interesting but exactly how much more I am willing to pay for that is what publishers need to figure out.  I kind of wish I could tell them.

Comments

[Karen Herzog]

i do not know what "Keywords" mean when researching the cost or worth of my signed copy of Ernie Harwell's book that he wrote entitled Tuned To Baseball and his other book Diamond Gems which he also signed.

Also i am not getting anywhere when i fill in the information regarding the books to find out what they are worth so that i can sell them.

Anyone that can help me on this would be greatly appreciated !

[Scott]

Karen,
"keywords" is the space where you would type in any terms which describe the book you are looking for which cannot be described as author, title, isbn, or price. If for instance you were looking for an edition of a book that a specific illustrator had worked on you might enter that illustrator's name in the keyword field.

For your search that you have described simply enter Ernie Harwell into the author field, Tuned To Baseball into the title field, and finally check off the "signed copy" box.

[Gerald]

I would be more sympathetic to the publishers if there hasn't been a trend of skimping on proofreading and fact checking in the industry.

[JacksonStreetBooks]

At $.99 for a self-published book, you're still not getting your money's worth. I don't understand the "race to the bottom" mindset: as an antiquarian bookseller, I'm not interested in Wal-Mart's lowest-common-denominator demographic. I want better customers, not necessarily more, cheaper ones. When the average American household spends $2000/year on cable/satellite & cellphone, as opposed to $118/year for reading (books, newspapers, magazines), logic--economic or otherwise--simply does not apply. That means your typical consumer happily blows $5.50 per day for which he/she has absolutely nothing to show for at the end of the year, when they're only willing to part with $.30 per day for a sellable, tradeable, donateable or shareable physical book. At a certain price point, those consumers are no longer worth the trouble it takes to serve them. If the book buyer doesn't make it worthwhile to provide for himself, eventually he will no longer be provided for.

[DavidH]

Like everything else, the supply/demand curve will strongly impact what people will pay for any item, books included. Certainly, as with all other consumables, quality suffers as the price point drops. Within the old paradigm, authors could not produce quality content and sell, even at bargain prices, enough copy to justify their time. However, when you factor instant access, and negligible production and delivery costs into the equation, volume can compensate for the drop in gross revenues. People purchase books to read, and if the cost is low enough, even to peruse making the low quality and high quality publications both competitive. In the end, quality should surpass the trash as the work's reputation keeps sales growing.