If you’re not a zealous reader of, well, anything, you may not know about the new literary revelation known as e-books. One of the appealing aspects of these “e-books” is their low prices relative to books printed on paper, but that’s about to change…

• Various publishers of “e-books,” books that you can read on e-book readers (like the Amazon Kindle or new Apple iPad), have won the ongoing battle for pricing—newly published e-books and bestsellers will go from a flat price of $9.99 to as much as $14.99 each.
• Unfortunately for the publishers, many avid e-book readers aren’t too keen on this—even going as far as to organize “impromptu” protests, accomplished by going on different e-book websites (e.g., Barnes and Nobles and Amazon) and leaving low ratings and negative reviews for particular books.
• The central disagreement seems to be over the costs of production; e-book consumers argue that since publishers no longer have to pay for printing, storing and distributing paper-based books, they have no grounds to charge higher prices. Publishers allege that e-book readers are myopic and, frankly, old and cranky, and don’t take into account all the overlooked costs of e-book publishing, like the actual writing, editing and thinking on the part of the author, editors and all the other employees at each publishing house.

Facts & Figures

• Up until now, e-book prices have hovered around $9.99, a price most e-book readers find quite agreeable.
• Sometimes publishers will hold off on offering an e-book for a few months so that they can protect sales of the paperback and hardcover versions of the book, prompting hordes of indignant geriatrics to post one-star reviews online.
• According to a number of online consumer testimonials, iPods, video games and films are good alternatives to books.

Best Quote

“The sense of entitlement of the American consumer is absolutely astonishing. It’s the Wal-Mart mentality, which in my view is very unhealthy for our country. It’s this notion of not wanting to pay the real price of something.” – Douglas Preston, Bestselling Author

Tags: e-books, inflation, publishing, reading