Posted by bigceebee on January 7, 2012 at 10:20 AM |
I have forever been an avid reader and I've had a TBR backlog for years. Back when books were printed paper things, the backlog tended to be at around forty books at the high end and ten or so at the low end. When I'd reach that low, I'd head to the bookstore and buy a bagful of books because I don't like to run out of stuff.
I just checked my TBR print pile and found I have forty-five novels waiting for my attention. Books by Larssen, Clancy, Cornwell, Koontz and others lay on the shelf, most which have been there for a couple of years or more. You see, we don't buy many print books anymore as both my wife and I prefer using our Ereaders. This preference has led us away from the physical bookshelf and to the electronic one instead which in turn is having a direct impact on authors such as the ones I mentioned above.
The impact I refer to is as follows: Chances are small that any such big name authors' books will end up on our Ereaders because they are overpriced. When I was buying paperbacks at anywhere from $8.99 to $11.99, I was acquiring physical, manufactured products at what I felt were reasonable prices considering resources used to make and distribute them. Today, the same or similar books in Eformat are retailing from $9.99 to $14.99. Do the trees they use to make electronic files cost more than the ones used for paper? Is the Ebook printing process more intricate and costly than offset printing? Do the truck drivers who deliver Ebooks command a higher wage than those who deliver print books? Or is it simply the exorbitant cost of required bits and bytes?
The end result, in this household's case, has been that indies are getting our undivided attention to the detriment of big name authors and I'm sure we're not alone. As time goes by, we continue to discover excellent writers with fascinating stories rivalling those from the traditional side. There is an abundance of talent amongst independent authors offering quality literary works at reasonable prices for the reading public which begs the question, are Ebooks and indies killing big name authors?
I'm an indie thriller writer. Give me a try at a reasonable price: http://amzn.to/jfbH1k
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