The Price of Creativity

Andrea/Cara here, just back from RWA and four days filled with workshops on the craft of writing and the business aspects of marketing the books that result from our labors of love. (Though the best part of the conference is just hanging out with other writers—not only were Mary Jo, Joanna and I presenting a workshop together, but we also got the chance to just kick back and spend hours together yakking about everything under the sun. That was incredibly special.)

Creativity crackled in the air throughout the whole conference—the excitement of imagining new stories, the stresses of putting them into words, the uncertainties of the publishing business...

Which made me really stop and think about an irate letter I received from a reader on the day I returned home. In it, she expressed how upset she was that my latest book, Murder on Black Swan Lane, costs $11.99 in e-book, which she thought was was FAR too much, and that I should tell my “greedy publisher” that she would never, ever buy it.

On one level I sympathize. Most of us don’t have money to burn, and if you’re like me, you love to buy books, so the cost can add up. But I also began to think a little more deeply about how to respond to her.

How do we put a price on Creativity?

To begin with, I pointed out that there are a lot of costs involved behind that electronic file—all of which make it a better book for readers than I can produce on my own. Professional editors, copy editors, proofreaders, art department, sales departments, printing and typesetting to make sure libraries and readers who prefer paper can also enjoy the story . . . and the list goes on and on. It takes a lot of incredibly hard work to produce a book that measures up to a certain level of polish. And that dedication has a cost

Self-publishing has certainly rejiggered reader expectations of price. There’s a sea of e-books available for $.99 and for free. Are they uniformly of the same quality as traditionally published book? I find that many aren’t, but of course that is up to an individual reader to decide. However, it seems to me that no matter what you are buying—food, clothing, etc.—quality does cost more.

Another thought that immediately came to mind was the fact that these days a movie ticket costs more that $11.99, and yet most of us don’t bat an eye at forking over the money for the pleasure of enjoying perhaps 2 hours of entertainment. We go away happy. Now, the average book provides even more “escape.” Say the reading of it takes 4 hours—that’s roughly $3. per hour you’re paying for entertainment. Seems a bargain to me. Pushing it a step further, I started to think what, in general, $10. or $12. buys these days. Ummm, it’s kind of frightening how little!

These days, a fancy cup of latte can cost close to $5. and people gladly hand over the price to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of its taste. A very modest bottle of wine goes for around $10. And yet there’s something about artistic creativity that seems to flip a switch in many people, who seem to think that stories and music and visual creativity aren’t real “work”, and therefore don’t merit real pay. I’m puzzled by the attitude. I’ve had lots of people say to me, “Oh, you have a book out! Cool! Can you give me a copy?” I doubt they say to a friend who is a lawyer. “Oh, you write wills! Cool. Will you do mine for free?”

The fact that there are so many piracy sites for books and music seems to reinforce the idea that “creativity” is somehow just fun stuff that flows from some ethereal Muse, and that those of us who channel that imaginative process should simply share it.

Aside from the handful of megastars in any creative industry—authors, actors, musicians, etc—most practitioners work very hard at scraping out a living through their art, and often have a second job in order to keep at their passion. Yet most people imagine a far different scenario.

It may also be that creativity just isn’t seen as a respectable, useful skill. I recently had my plumber come out to replace a broken water heater. He’s a lovely guy, and did a great job, especially as the new model needed the pipes to be reconfigured. (Of course, the old fittings didn’t align with the new fittings!) The work didn’t come cheap, but I had no complaint about paying it. He’s very good at what he does . . . not to speak of the fact that my downstairs was going to flood if the old one wasn’t quickly replaced.

Okay, what we authors do is far more intangible. No houses are going to fill with water if we don’t write our chapters. But I certainly like to think we provide something of elemental value. Celebrating the power of Hope and Love and Imagination seem just as important as copper tubes and valves . . .

So, these are some of my initial—and rather rambling—thoughts in response to the letter. I’d really like to hear yours. Are you loath to pay $11.99 for an e-book from a traditional publisher? Do you think books in general are overpriced relative to other things? And on a more philosophical level, what are your feelings about how creativity is valued in today's society? Please share!

Comments

[Janice]

You have my sympathies. When I was working as an accountant, my firm did income taxes for a number of people in the film industry, on both sides of the camera, and a few writers as well. Except for one man who hit it fairly big, they were all just scraping by, really. They had to take whatever jobs they could land, however poorly paid, whether it was what they wanted to be creating or not. Often they had day jobs too. Lucky ones had family with a bit of money. That was some years ago; I hate to think what it's like for them now.

People think every author is another JK Rowling, but it's not so. Writing for a living is really in the small business category. Harlan Ellison once said that the reason the poor f*****s do it is because they can't do anything else. I think there's some truth in that.

[Quantum]

Andre/Cara I think conferences are wonderful sources of inspiration and creativity. Exchanging ideas with your peers and listening to the leading figures in your field can be incredibly stimulating. Also conferences tend to be set in very interesting places and provide opportunity for travel .... one of the perks for underpaid scientists ... though I guess perhaps not for self employed writers.

I don't think you can put a price on creativity, but as with everything in a capitalist society, economics determines the market price. £10.44 for the kindle edition is well above the average price and will probably reduce the profit by reducing sales. I typically expect to pay around £3 to £4 for an e-book novel and would expect it to be a lot cheaper than the paper version. Once the paper edition is produced it should be quite cheap to generate the electronic version. Also I think art work is much less important for the e-book. Having said that, there are some authors that I really want to read and would pay well over the odds for the privilege.

I once saw it suggested that books should be made free for readers. Writers/publishers would then be paid (from taxes) according to the number of books read. I've seen worse ideas!

[Mary T]

What a great post Andrea/Cara.

I think we all have our own ideas of what has value and what doesn't. You mentioned coffee. I love coffee, but I don't love it enough to pay the price Starbucks would want. I don't even want to pay the price for a plain cup of coffee at a diner. I have my coffee at home before I go to the diner. I can afford the coffee, but I just don't to pay the price they want. However, when it comes to books, I would shell out whatever the price, if it was one I wanted.

I can only respond to this post as a reader who is retired and loves books, but does live on a limited income. The first thing I did when I retired was renew my library card. The library is where I first met many of you ladies. And even now when I come across a new author, I'll check the library to see if there is a book available by the author.

I also look for cheap e-books on Amazon, and have found many a really good author I like that way. I've found quite a few duds too, but if you only pay .99 or free, it's worth taking a chance.

But if it is an author I like (like you) I will pay the $11.99 and consider it a value.

[Anne]

On the subject of e-books I tend to agree with the protester about the high cost. I have favorite authors that I follow, and the opening price on the e-book is frequently in the teens, so I grit my teeth and wait for the price to come down to 8 or 9 dollars that I am willing too pay.
I had a very creative friend who wanted to write books. She could come up with the most interesting story lines, but heaven help us we could not do dialogue to save ourselves. She was also a very good needle worker, and she use to rant on about how people expected to pay Sears prices for an imported [quilt, sweater whatever] and expect her to make it herself never understanding the time the producer had to put into the work and the difference in hourly wages between China/Korea and the U.S.

[LindaB]

Cara, thank you for saying what too few authors say.

I'm with you. I think ebooks are way too cheap. A book is a book, whatever the medium. The reader is paying for the content, not for the form in which it's delivered. And everything that goes into a paper book goes into an ebook, except for the paper, which doesn't add as much as people think. Most of the value added comes from artwork and editing.

People have become way too militant and abusive over the price of ebooks. If you don't like the price, don't buy the book. But no, they have to spew vitriol about how greedy authors and publishers, (especially self-published ones, who have to pay for editing, covers, and yes, printing for paper versions, out of their own pockets) are cheating the poor readers.

Cheating, my foot. In the past ten years, readers have come to the conclusion that they have a right to cheap books. Well, they don't.

But I think writers are part of the problem, too, what with all the free and 99cent books out there. And authors who price low also beat up on authors who price higher.

I also think creatives are easy targets. They're relatively easy to access, so people vent at them.

Nothing in life is free. You want good stories, then pay. 99cents for a full-length novel is way too cheap, and so is $4.99. $7.99 or $8.99 is fairer, but probably still too low.

And don't come ranting at me about price, or that you bought a 99cent ebook and it was terrible. You have a preview. Buyer beware, for all products.

[Andrea Penrose]

Janice, it's true that for most authors writing is a labor of love. We joke among ourselves that there are many times we ask ourselves WHY are we putting ourselves throught this? And the answer is, because we have these stories in our heads that demand to be written!

The letter really made me stop and think, though, about the attitude toward artistic creativity. It's a shame that many people look at it as the work of idle dilettantes—not serious "work" because painting, music and writing seem like too much fun.

[Andrea Penrose]

Quantum, I think you hit a very key point about economics. Supply and demand does frame buyer expectations. And there are a lot of very good books for far less than $11.99. So I do understand reader unhappiness.

Part of it is we authors who have decided to self-publish new or backlist books have way less overhead and expenses that traditional publishers, so the economics often works out better for us , even with a much less expensive cover price. However, I don't entirely agree that once the paper book is done, the e-book cost a publisher much less. For one thing, paper book print runs are way smaller than in the past because brick and mortar stores are disappearing. So the traditional business model is changing. The big publishers do need to recoup costs through the e-books.

So it's very complicated and frustrating to all of us in publishing. I think publishers have to do a better job at the business they are in. It feels like they are way behind the curve in trying to build a business model that works for the present day.

I wish I had a solution to make everyone happy!

And yes, conferences really are energizing and inspiring. It's great to spend time with peers talking about craft, hearing speakers on all sorts of writerly topics, and just enjoying the camaraderie of other like-minded people who do the same crazy thing that I do!

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Mary T, for your thoughts and the very kind words.

I absolutely agree that all of us have our own very firm thoughts on what are worthy expenses. I had to laugh at your coffee example. I feel the same way. I really enjoy my coffee, but I brew it here at home in the morning. Once in a while I'll stop at Starbucks if I'm in the city, but always grumble under my breath about how expensive it is. And I too, am a regular user of my local library to explore new authors. But there are certain thinks in life that I don't bat an eye at buying because they're important to "quality of life" They make me feel good. And books are one of them!

Those "must-haves" are very personal.

[Andrea Penrose]

Anne, as I said, I, too, have sympathy with someone feeling $11.99 is too much for an e-book.
But the reader letter got me to thinking about things like what your needlework friend feels. For some reason it feels easier for most people to find artistic endeavors "overpriced" when they don't question the prices/wages in other fields.
Creativity is labor-intensive, no question. It's a very complex conundrum for all involved.

[StephanieL]

*sigh* I've seen this more than once on some of the blogs I follow and I just don't understand. No, I'm not a writer, I'm an accountant. But for ANYONE to assume that writing, editing, re-editing, re-writing, publishing in electronic AND paper versions is a free/.99/gimme thing have really got their heads on backwards. I want to know what these people were reading before they got their ereaders. Books from the library? Fabulous! Go back to the library or check to see if yours has electronic borrowing (mine does). If they were buying books to read before they got the ereader, than why would they assume that NOW the books are free? That's not the way it works. I buy Kindle Unlimited each year and read tons and tons of books that I am not so sure I'll like (and quite a few become DNF's), but in the end, if I will read it again, I buy it. An expensive ebook for me is over $15. A paper book for me was expensive at the same price point. But I don't walk away, I put it on my "to buy" list and I wait. There are some authors whose books go on the auto buy list and if they are more expensive, so be it, I just plan and budget for it. The whole reason I have an ereader is not so I can read free poorly written and poorly edited trash; I have an ereader so I can carry 300 books with me every where I go and not have to take two suitcases. LOL Oh boy, I got on my soapbox...but this is one of those things that frustrates me. I don't work for free so why should you?

[Andrea Penrose]

Linda, thanks for the very thoughtful points! I agree that the glut of free and $.99 books have really skewed reader expectations, and not in a good way.

My point is authors—and any creative artists—provide something of real value and yet there seems to be a widespread feeling that it ought to be priced very cheaply. There are no easy answers. I think there are reasonable arguments on both sides about pricing. The trouble is, if people want good stories they have to understand that those who can create them (and I think we all agree not everyone can) they have to understand that those who do so have to earn enough to make it worthwhile. It's a very complicated question.

[Sue McCormick]

I agree from the bottom of my heart that writing costs the author (figurative) blood. As a retired copy-editor, I also remember that I sometimes paid literal "sweat", if not "blood and tears" working to get the copy correct.

Most readers fail to understand the overhead that goes into making a book ready for production. And them there is the cost of the physical production. So I don't complain of the costs of the first edition.

BUT, many ebooks, even those from standard publishers, have been scanned in and sent out without ANY proofing of the scan at all. When my copy comes with XXX (in boxes) because of a quote, or because an accent was used), no true overhead has been attached to that ebook!

I refuse to pay hardback prices for an ebook, but my solution is to wait for the paperback and then get the ebook at the paperback prices. (Just as I have always waited for the paperback). If I "Can't Wait", I go to the library and read the hardback while waiting for the lower priced edition.

Personally, I think the ebook should be cheaper than the paperback if there has been no proofreading of the scan. But I will go with the paperback pricing.

[Leigh]

All good points. I appreciate everything you're saying and agree with you.

I feel compelled to bring up a point that seems relevant to the discussion:

Where are the credits for the painting and other images that you use to illustrate your post? Am I missing them somehow in my view of your post on my phone?

Images no less than words are valuable creativity...

[Andrea Penrose]

Thank you for your very articulate response, Stephanie! Needless to say, I appreciate it! But of all, I'm glad that you, like me, are willing to pay for the books that give me great reading pleasure. To me they are worth every penny—and more!

[Andrea Penrose]

Sue, I totally agree on the badly done e-books. There's no excuse for it, especially with the sophisticated software available these days that can take a Word doc and format it it beautifully in no time.

And I do the same thing you do. If I adore a writer, but decide I can't buy the hardcover right away,I'll go to the library and grab it to read right away, then buy the paperback for my keeper shelf later.

[Andrea Penrose]

You have a good point, Leigh. First of all, all of us are very careful to only use images of our own, or ones that are available for common use on museums and wiki commons. We are VERY sensitive to an individual's copyright.

I don't have attribution because, ummm, I"m not tech savvy enough to have figured out how to add them in little type beneath the images. Mostly they are for decorative purposes. But you raise an excellent question. I will try to get better at it!

[Patricia Franzino]

The bottom line is that you have to pay your people as well as yourself. If $11.99 helps you to do that, you must do it. You can't control what readers complain about. Maybe you should direct the letter writer to this blog. She might have a clearer perspective about costs.

I don't believe books are overpriced in relation to other areas of the arts. Ballet, opera, theater and my own training and competing in ballroom dancing are all a lot greater in cost.

I think in the US sports are more valued than the arts. No one has ever heard of a young man or woman going to college on a dance scholarship. Our culture does not put young people in social dance classes. Competitive ballroom is almost always begun by a full adult not a six-year-old. That happens more in other countries who have governments that pour a lot of money into the arts programs. We no longer support the National Endowment for the Arts.

Meryl Street told a story at the 92nd Street Y about her father who told her he would only pay for college if it led to her becoming a doctor. He said he wouldn't pay for her to "prance around the stage." She waited tables and got through Yale Drama School. I wonder what her parents thought when she became so successful?

[Vicki L.]

I'm with Sue and Andrea....hardback at the library, buy the paperback when it comes out. Or if not at the library, possess myself with patience until the paperback comes out.

I use the free/99 cent eBooks to try authors out. I've found a number I like that way that I then went on to read in paperback.

But I never have high expectations at the way cheap price... As well, I don't really read that many eBooks since there are SO MANY paperbacks on my Mt. Everest TBR.

But one must have eBooks in case nothing on paper is interesting or for traveling with. Also, occasionally there are books published by an author I follow that only comes out in eBook.

Yep, those free/99 cent books do make it VERY difficult to get people to realize they really need to pay a more realistic $4 or $5 for an eBook.

I'm guilty as well...there are some pieces of pottery I'd LOVE to buy but I'm not willing to pay $35 for. So I buy something in the $10 range. Sometimes I can talk myself into spending $15 (grin).

Hmmm, interesting...I can spend $15 on a piece of pottery but not on a book. Maybe that is because I see the pottery every day but only read the book once or if it is a keeper 10 times over many years?

Flowers that I get on clearance for $4.00 that last for 2 weeks (29 cents a day) - I do that about once a month. I guess I can talk myself into that because I see them everyday.

Very interesting topic...I'll have to think about it more.

[Andrea Penrose]

So true about sports being VERY valued in this country, as opposed to the arts! I mean, a substitute NBA player who sits on the bench makes . . .about a bazillion dollars. I don't begrudge him—he's gifted in his skills, and as a sports enthusiast, I truly believe you learn a lot of very good life lessons through playing sports. I just wish all of our society would place a higher value on the arts and respect it as important, too.

To be fair, there are scholarships given to dance and music and art, but of course not nearly as many as for sports.

[Andrea Penrose]

LOL on all the choices one parses through, Vicki!

Like you, I started to think about what I spend $10 or $15. and it's a fascinating exercise.Funny on what little quirky ways our brains work concerning what a must-have and what's "too much to pay!"

[Samantha]

There is one thing we don't count the cost of in my family and it is books. From my 5 year old to me if it looks good we will buy it. As your books are always pre-ordered I do not worry about the cost because I know the product will be worth it! I do appreciate the chance to try some new authors at the .99 to 2.00 level but the quality isn't always there although sometimes you find a gem.

I am sometimes startled by the amazon charges on my card, especially since I pre-order so many books and tend to forget, but nothing beats opening my kindle and seeing a new download waiting to be read. I figure if I'm going to have a hobby it should be one I can enjoy over and over. : )

[Vicki L.]

Indeed...and then I thought as I looked out the window just now, oh my gosh...bird seed. I just spent $29.00 for a 20 lb bag of hulled sunflower seeds. So why can I do that but not buy a $35 piece of pottery? or $10 for an eBook.

Amazing....

[Michelle Athy]

$11.99 would be the higher end of a Kindle ebook for me; I tend to wait until things are on sale before I snatch them up if they're usually over $9.99--or at least try a sample before I decide to get the rest of the book. Of course, if it's something I really, really want to read, then I'll grumble a bit if I have to pay a higher price, but I'll do it. I have a degree in publishing; I'm well aware how many people are working to get those products out.

Books, at least, are not as expensive as Broadway tickets. I love Broadway shows and I've seen several just this year, but my friends and I wait until there are deals on them because even the mezz seats are expensive.

But yeah, I think people really do undervalue the arts--including people in the arts, who expect their assistants and people coming into the arts to work for free for "exposure."

[Quantum]

"I don't entirely agree that once the paper book is done, the e-book cost a publisher much less. For one thing, paper book print runs are way smaller than in the past because brick and mortar stores are disappearing. So the traditional business model is changing. The big publishers do need to recoup costs through the e-books."

Andrea, once an e-book is created I think that the supply is infinite, customers can continue downloading for ever at no additional cost to the publisher (other than maintaining the servers). I can understand an attempt to recoup losses on paper sales through the e-book sales but that seems a little unfair to the e-book readers.

Demand is the key here I think. PDF technical books can cost $100 or more but they are specialised with low demand. Romance novels by popular authors have massive global demand. Surely this should be reflected in the price. As the stakes are so high it also seems sensible and economically savy to offer the first book in the series at a bargain price ... to hook the readers.

I think everyone would want an author to receive a fair reward and publishers need profits so a publisher really needs to estimate the demand versus price curve with reasonable accuracy in order to maximise profit.
profit = (Demand x Price -costs)

I guess these thoughts should really be aimed at publishers and are in no way intended as criticism of romance authors .... who are among my favourite people!

[LindaB]

People die from "exposure". :)

[Karin]

Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the authors have any control about when their books go on sale, either the paper or e-books. Unless they are self-published e-books. So you can't blame them for undercutting the prices.

[Andrea Penrose]

LOL, Vicki. I know, I know—we all have our own very specific lists. It's SO interesting.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks for your thoughts, Michelle. I have a friend who's written a show that's on Off-Broadway now, and I know how expensive it is to produce. I wish we could make people more aware of the "work" it takes to be in the arts, and garner a little more understanding that practitioners really need to earn a reasonable fee for their talents.

[Andrea Penrose]

Oh, that's a GREAT comeback!

[Karin]

To be honest, I'm terribly frugal, so if the price of an e-book is over $8 or $10, and I must have it, I'll get the paperback instead. That way I feel like I have something I can hold in my hand. I use the library too, but mostly for best selling authors like Amanda Quick or Nora Roberts, I figure I'd rather direct my money to support the less famous authors I enjoy!
I do have a question though, I have a subscription to Scribd, and I've reread many old favorites there, as well as trying out new authors. But now I'm wondering, do authors get any royalties from their books on Scribd, or is it just going to the publishers?

[suzanne]

I confess, Andrea, I winced at the e-price of your Black Swan series. I think [some]readers still view e-editions as less valuable, not in regard to content, but as in terms of an item that is tangible; re-sellable. There is also the issue of DRM..I have over 150 unread books/romance authors, which I purchased on my Sony e-ereader that I cannot access, unless I pay for them again on Kobo. Which I am not willing to do.

I do think publishers do authors a huge disservice by its high pricing, then telling the authors that, because of low sales, what they are writing is no longer relevant.

[Andrea Penrose]

Oh, Quantum, you are hitting right to the heart of the problem by asking about logical thinking and accurate modeling, etc. One would think that with the sophisticated data mining tools available, and bright, creative MBAs coming out of business schools, publishers should be able to create business plan that work on all levels. But it's frustrating to author and readers that they seem antiquated in their thinking.

Take your question about e-books on an international sales level. The publishers may be multinational, but each territory works on totally different rules. Anne in Australia can't buy a book on U.S. Amazon, even though it's much cheaper than one costs in Australia. Why? Don't ask me! We try to get answers, but we aren't told much, except that the way it is.

I don't want to delve too much into the business part, because I don't understandit well enough to speak with any authority. But I do know when I talk about it to my business savvy friends about it, they just shake their heads in consternation.

It's why a lot of very experienced authors have chosen to go totally indie, because they believe they have a better business model, which benefits both the author and the reader.

It's a huge issue with all authors these days—how to make publishing work better, for there's no question it doesn't seem to be marketing or distributing its product as well as it should be!

Your argument on special technical books vs mass a market is very true in terms of the difference in sales figures . . . the only thing I add, tough, is that most mid-list authors don't have huge international numbers you refer to. It's a small number of authors who have that sort of clout these days.

(P.S. I'm glad you understand we authors have absolutely no say on how traditional publishers price our books!)

[Andrea Penrose]

Suzanne, I totally understand that. It's a huge dilemma for authors. We know that readers wince, but we have no say at all. We've tried to tell them how readers feels . . .I wish they would be more willing to experiment with pricing, and try to find a "sweet spot." I mean, if they dropped the price a few dollars would increased sales actually generate more revenue? We do that as indie authors all the time, but they seem so resistant to trying new things.

And I don't blame you for being upset about not being able to access books you bought. Is there really no way to transfer them? Have you tried contacting tech support at either Sony or Kobo?

[LindaB]

Yes, traditional authors have no control on prices. Indies do. I have nothing against limited time sales. It's the books that are forever low that I object to. As Andrea said above, mid-list authors don't have huge audiences, and they can't make money if they price too low.

[LindaB]

Scribd - it depends on who you distribute with. If an indie distributes with Smashwords, the author receives the full 60% royalty that Smashwords gives for a buy if the Scribd reader reads at least 20% of the book. Less than that, the author gets 1% (I think).

All in all, this is a good deal for authors. I don't know about other distributors.

[LindaB]

Yes, isn't it. I didn't make it up, either, I don't know who did, so feel free to use.

[Andrea Penrose]

that should be though, not tough, in the second to last paragraph. I am a lousy typist!

[Andrea Penrose]

You're right, Karin. With our traditional publishers we really don't have any say on pricing or sales.

Obviously in self-publishing, we do, and many of us do offer occasional sales, and special promos of books within a series.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks to you and your family for being such avid readers! I love hearing that your kids love books!

[Andrea Penrose]

I'm sure I will!

[Lillian Marek]

I have bought many books on sale at $.99 or $1.99 and they have been just fine. I have also bought books that are priced permanently at only $.99 and $1.99, and most of those have been junk—unedited, unproofed, un-anything that equals a professionally produced book.

What else can you buy for $.99? Nothing of any quality, so when authors price their work that low, they are essentially saying that their work is junk.

How can we complain when people dismiss romance as trash if we price it as if it is?

[Patricia Rice]

In Europe, writers are paid by libraries for the number of copies made during a year--not by writer so much as some percentage of copies. Even that would help, but we don't have that here in the US. And anything that hints of "tax" here stirs rebellion. We can barely get voters to pay taxes to support schools and libraries. So while the idea is wonderful, it would take a dictator to impose it.

The book industry as we know it is in sincere danger from the mass production of indie books. Print publishers simply cannot compete in the amount of promotion indie authors use to sell their books, so their market is increasingly smaller. And the places where print can be sold decreases daily. I agree, $11.99 is a dreadful price, but Andrea's publishing house is one of the smarter ones that pay attention to numbers. The price of the ebook will probably come down once the print earns out.

[Patricia Rice]

one hopes, in the long run, this is what the majority of readers will do, so thank you for being smart about your book buying! It will take a while before readers recognize which authors are worth reading and which can keep their books even at 99c. But until readers start resisting the DNF authors (and in KU, there is a building library of piracy) and paying the good authors so they can afford to keep working, the whole industry must struggle along as best we can.

[Patricia Rice]

Oh, Sue, as usual, you strike right to our writerly hearts! I am utterly appalled at the bad formatting and editing of publisher-controlled e-books. It's as if those books and readers aren't important, just a nice gravy train to keep the company going another year. Having seen some of the e-ARCs wench publishers have sent,we've complained fiercely, but publishers really don't understand (or pretend they don't) what we're complaining about. And then the publishers complain when their e-sales are down!

[Patricia Rice]

which really emphasizes Andrea's point--most of our images come from copyright-free sources, which we attribute when we can figure out how to do so. ;) But the internet is full of stolen images for which the creators are never paid. At some point, as Quantum says above, we need to come up with a better system of paying creatives.

[Patricia Rice]

Oh, man, you know how to raise my blood pressure! Look at the cost of sports tickets!!! Look at the fortunes spent on sports memorabilia! And we complain about $11.99 for an entire year of work... OK, I need a cuppa tea now. ;)

[Patricia Rice]

So maybe we need this discussion more often and more publicly, to make us see where our priorities lie! I spend hundreds a month on books, plus borrowing from the library, so I'm not feeling too guilty about the bird seed. ;) And I spend probably the same amount on theater tickets, so I probably shouldn't feel guilty about the pottery either. Guess I'll head over to the Sawdust Festival this week!

[Patricia Rice]

DRM is one of the reasons many of us have turned to indie pubbing. There is no excuse for DRM any longer, except to punish honest readers. There is software free online that can strip the DRM from your old books in a minute, if you're willing to spend the time. It shouldn't be illegal to do so, but because of the prevalence of pirates (most of them in foreign countries), we have few alternatives for protecting copyright. DRM no longer works but publishers keep hoping.

[Patricia Rice]

Having just run my very first free book ad and seen the result, I totally understand why authors put first book in a series at 99c. I cannot quibble with their decision, especially for authors who haven't made a name for themselves in traditional publishing. But even well known authors use this tactic as a promotional tool. It's a sales tactic that NY would do well to learn.

[Teresa Broderick]

A very informative and thought provoking post Andrea. I must confess I never thought of it like that. I see the price on a book and that's as far as it goes. However, I have to admit I would find $11.99 expensive for a book. I love reading and I don't have much of a cash flow for luxuries so I would be inclined to wait and see if the price came down. I'm fortunate enough to have read your book and loved it. So I'll have to start saving for the next one :):)
Reading is better than a movie any day of the week!!

[Andrea Penrose]

Thanks, Teresa!
The price issue is so hard. I wish we had better answers for figuring out the best solution for both authors and readers.

[Pamela Hart]

Actually, Anne (or, in this case,Pamela) can buy a book on Amazon US. What she can't buy is the Australian version of the book

[Pamela Hart]

Wow! For Australian writers, Public Lending Right is a really important source of income - particularly for children's writers, as we also get Education Lending Right, for books borrowed from school libraries. Very few writes could be 'full time' without PLR and ELR.

[Jenny Wilcox]

I understand what you are saying, as I do a lot of craft work, patchwork for one, and I know there is no way I can sell a quilt here in Australia to recoup just the cost of material, let alone the time I have put into it. I do not watch TV and either do craft or read. I do not like e-books very much but will use them to read one of my favourite authors if I can not buy the "hard copy". I have spent a few thousand on books, but will have to cut this down. Here in Australia, books in both formats are more expensive than the States, but what I do not understand, is when the e-book is more expensive than the paperback! Surely, this is not right, is it? I would have thought the costs of printing, etc would make a difference. As for the Indie published books, I have read a few that were free, but in my opinion, most of those authors do not even have a suitable command of the English language to be writing a book and desperately need editors, proof readers, etc. I do wish there was a better solution for it all.

[Patricia Rice]

Exactly. One assumes American writers have a larger audience to pull from, but its a constant struggle for most to pay the bills.

Patricia Rice
http://patriciarice.com