Yesterday an article in the New York Times stated that two eBooks were priced higher than the hard covers. These, mind you, are not the bargain bin books, but brand new titles “Fall of Giants” by Ken Follett, published by Dutton (Penguin Group USA), last week. On Amazon.com, the price for the e-book was an astounding $19.99; the hardcover edition was $19.39. Also “Don’t Blink,” by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, published by Little, Brown & Company, cots $14.99 for the e-book. Amazon priced the hardcover at $14.
The Kindle crowd raised a ruckus, only for Amazon to point out that the prices are set by the publisher. They are right to raise their voices, after all we were all sold an eReader based on the premise that books which carry no overhead of printer, ink, paper, trucks, drivers, fuel etc. will be much cheaper.
Of course that didn’t help since the issue is now handled as a second grade school yard fight between Amazon and the publishers with the Kindle users stuck in the middle.
But are they?
I’ve been doing a lot of whining and complaining on the social networks about the high cost of eBooks. We, as consumers, can certainly vote with our wallets and influence the market. If we don’t walk the walk, all the yelling, complaining, whining and bitching in the world won’t help.
As of now, four out of the 10 Kindle bestsellers are over $9.99, “Fall of Giants” is at number 11, down from number 7 a few days ago.
Set. Game. Match.
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