eBook pricing

I've recently read a lot about eBook pricing and whether publisher set prices are too high. Now I guess that depends on whether you're the taking a bigger chunk from the price publisher or the getting the lesser percentage author. I don't think publishers think about readers, though they really should considering without readers, the whole thing crumbles.

Being a reader, I like the lower priced eBooks. If a publisher thinks I'm going to pay $9.99 or higher for an eBook they're crazy. There are lovely brick and mortar places called libraries where I can borrow the book for free and return it for someone else to read and enjoy (or not as the case may be).

I'm not so attached to my Nook that I need to read everything this instant. Though that's a convenience I absolutely adore. Still, if I can show restraint for my physical book purchases then I can show that same restraint for my Nook purchases. Even if there are loads more eBooks I enjoy than print.

Over the summer there was a brouhaha over Harlequin's pricing and the measly percentage their authors get for their eBooks. Now most e-only publishers give between 35% and 40% (give or take a percentage) for sales. Harlequin offers the same rate as on their print books, about 5-8%. This is from Bob Mayer's blog, which I also read reguraly and enjoy. Harlequin, author royalty rates, non-compete: Business reality but is it smart?

Anyone else see the discrepancy there? Plus I've read on Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog, The Business Rusch, a rather informative bit (April 2011) on Royalty Statements Update. This is her personal experience, but read it, read the comments, and laugh over major publisher's wonderment at the changing world of publishing. There are major gaps in the Big Publishers royalty statements.

Then there's this from the Wall Street Journal...and how little it surprised me that 1) it barely made a bleep in the publishing news I read and 2) that it exists at all.

Justice Department Confirms E-Book Pricing Probe
The publishing companies named in the EU investigation included Hachette Livre, owned by Lagardère SCA; News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers Inc.; Simon & Schuster of CBS Corp.; Pearson PLC's Penguin; and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holzbrinck.


What are your thoughts? How much would you pay for an eBook. Now granted, I know there are always exceptions. That favorite author, the best bestseller this year, etc. But for all us voracious readers, what's the eBook pricing limit?

About a year ago

It was about a year ago when I received a contract for my first short story. It was in the Once Upon a Time anthology, entitled Inamorata.

I was thrilled with both the story and the fact that it sold! Now I'm working hard on my second full-length Regency menage, Seduction of a Proper Lady: A Regency Menage Tale. And I'm still thrilled that I'm writing and these stories are selling!