E-book X-change
Our informal ongoing discussion of e-books has elicited more responses.
Rachel Whang of Atomic Books, Baltimore, Md., writes:
I don't understand why anyone would go to a bookstore to download e-books, as some have proposed. Do people go to record stores to download music? No. People don't go to places to download anything. That's why they like it. And that's why music-selling stores are going away.
And once there's a standardized book file, like MP3s for music, that will be the end of book sales in general.
I'm surprised that publishers haven't paid more attention to the music industry!
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Jodi Kaplan writes:
I'm not a bookstore owner, but I am a consumer and avid reader. I also run a Squidoo lens, arguing that print books are better than e-books.
For print and bookstores to survive, they have to add value. Bring authors in, host book groups, have authors blog on their sites (or connect to the authors' blogs). Send e-mails to loyal customers informing them of new books they might like to read. Invite people into the store to form connections with the store, the authors and other readers.
Don't just sell the book, sell the souvenirs and the experience. Nobody wants to pay for music, but they will pay for unreleased tracks, behind-the-scenes special interviews with the band and the special edition poster with the band's signatures on it.
Approach it that way instead; build an experience around connecting with the author's "tribe."
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Michael Herrmann of Gibson's Bookstore, Concord, N.H., writes:
As not only a bookseller but a booklover, I can see why e-books would be priced lower than real books. Not only do you not have printing, storing and distribution costs at the producer's end, but you also do not have a permanent artifact at the consumer's end. That is to say, e-books are not collectible. They are ephemeral. There is no guarantee that they will be readable or retrievable in two, 10, 50 years. They have less value than a real book. So perhaps they should cost less.
On the issue of Amazon dictating price, Amazon is not releasing sales figures for the Kindle or for downloads. They are bullying suppliers into accepting ridiculously low prices in the name of a consumer demand that they are trying to invent out of the whole cloth. It is more of a religious phenomenon than a business discussion.
If Amazon succeeds in diverting publishers' creative energy into the e-book category, there will be incredible disruption in publishing and in retail. While there is a place for e-books in ephemeral categories and in textbooks, they will never amount to more than 10% of the market. As a technology and as a cultural artifact they are inferior to the printed book. The public will realize that, and e-book sales will eventually find their natural level, beyond all the hype.
Publishers should rededicate themselves to what formerly made their industry prestigious and modestly profitable: their core constituency of real bookstores and their greatest treasure, their backlist. There is no magic bullet for what ails them, whether it be celebrity bestsellers or e-books.
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Dan and Debbie Sullivan of the Book Oasis, Stoneham, Mass., write:
In a world where overall readership is down, the idea of doubling sales through e-books is not realistic. In the short run, publishers may increase sales in the way the music industry saw sales rise when people converted their record collections into CDs. This will not last long term. The solution is to keep releases in the order that has always been used. First release the book in hardcover, then trade, then paperback and finally e-book. That way the publishers and retailers, new and used, would continue to maximize their profitability.
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