Are publishers aiming for volume sales, rather than profit?

[KC York]

And just as I predicted, this is exactly what was reported last month:
'Screen fatigue' sees UK ebook sales plunge 17% as readers return to print

Except that, bizarrely, the commentary in the Guardian claims this is due to "screen reader fatigue" - rather than due to the pricing model I highlighted above, which clearly favours paperbacks for bestsellers over their digital editions.

The problem with these reports is that they are put together by publishing organizations (e.g. "Publishers Association, which published its annual yearbook on Thursday") which means they do not account for indie publishers and self-publishers who do not belong and therefore do not report sales. I'm far from being one of those "print is dead!" maniacs, but ONLY taking this kind of data from sources who have a vested interest in keeping printed books competitive is unreliable at best. Quite frankly I'll believe DataGuy 100x more than any publishing organization's annual report.

As for prices, I agree with @ralphkern's statements from last year: it is in the publishing industry's best interest to steer people away from ebooks, which while cheaper to produce are also far easier to 1) steal and 2) small press or self publish, thus pulling sales away from trad publishers. They charge more for ebooks than the printed hard copy books, trying to convince readers that they get a better deal buying the hard copy books. Makes perfect sense, really, from their perspective.

I've got no beefs with trad publishers, I have some friends who have made stellar careers in SFF using agents and trad publishers the old fashioned way. But I also work with publishers professionally in my job with a university, and so I see them very clearly for the bottom-line-oriented corporations they are. More to the point, I know that despite their seemingly knee-jerk reactions over the last 15 years to ebooks, the big publishers are very, very aware of the long game. They are trying to get the most out of print publishing until they can find a way to knock down Amazon and take control of ebook production/sales -- this is as true in the college textbook arena as it is for fiction, IMHO. They are running scared and tripping a lot but they view this as a marathon, not a sprint. If they loose a few bucks and short a few authors on the way to another 100 years of industry domination, they will do it.

And yeah, the whole screen fatigue thing is pure bunk. I work with college students. They do EVERYTHING on their phones: class assignments, textbook readings, internet research, library research, entertainment (reading and vids), Wattpad and tumblr and fanfiction (and, I assume, pr0n)...EVERYTHING.

 

[AlexH]

I can't remember who it was, but a year or more ago, an author posted their new hardback was for sale at Amazon, and that he/the publishers made the same amount whatever price the book was sold at. Maybe Amazon do it to encourage customers to add more to their basket, to get free shipping. I added a recent £2.30 DVD to an order recently as it was cheaper to add that than pay for shipping. Amazon are trying to become the only place people shop, which I guess is obvious, but they seem more aggressive than most - because they have the clout I guess. I wouldn't be surprised if they were selling fresh food in 10 years time...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Depending on where you live it is surprising what you can buy from Amazon. Increasingly, my family is doing grocery shopping (including fresh produce) through Amazon. When we were all down with the flu and nobody wanted to leave the house, this was a godsend.

But they do this in cooperation with local shops, not in competition with them. What they are doing to publishers is very worrisome, and will, I think, turn out to be bad for everyone in the long run. Maybe even bad for Amazon itself. They've had setbacks in the past when they over-reached, and this may turn out to be another case of the same sort of thing.

 

[AlexH]

Depending on where you live it is surprising what you can buy from Amazon. Increasingly, my family is doing grocery shopping (including fresh produce) through Amazon. When we were all down with the flu and nobody wanted to leave the house, this was a godsend.

But they do this in cooperation with local shops, not in competition with them. What they are doing to publishers is very worrisome, and will, I think, turn out to be bad for everyone in the long run. Maybe even bad for Amazon itself. They've had setbacks in the past when they over-reached, and this may turn out to be another case of the same sort of thing.

Well - I did think about editing my post and revising my 10 years to something like 5, but they're doing it already! I've checked and "AmazonFresh" is available in the UK, so it's already here too.

I bet they take a profit-boosting commission. I know Amazon UK charge £25 ($32) a month for volume sellers of general products, plus a commision for each item sold.

 

[Parson]

Actually I would guess that this might be a service to the grocery stores. There are a number of local ones who do this already. My son (34) says a lot of his friends order a considerable percentage of their groceries this way. The Local store gets the order, picks it up, and for a fee will even deliver it. Another way modern ideas are transformed old ones. --- If I were a grocer, I might let Amazon take care of the tech side of things while I worked hard a delivering great service and great food.

 

[KC York]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were selling fresh food in 10 years time...

OT but like others have said, that's already happening. I live in a mid-sized town in the US South (North Florida to be exact) and not only can I do all of my "dry goods" shopping via Amazon, I can order fresh food from my local grocery store (Publix, hosana heyyyy!!! <3 ) and get same day or next morning delivery. I don't have a car (by choice) so it's a life saver. I also know a bunch of people with disabilities and this kind of access to food is changing their lives.

There is a surcharge of course and prices are sometimes higher, but as I point out a lot: still cheaper than a car!

 

[Brian G Turner]

IMO it's clear publishers are pushing on selling physical units, and in volume. Outside of the bestseller lists, ebook prices by trad publishers are often ridiculously high, and it's not uncommon for the paperback price to be very similar.

A couple more books came up on my radar today, and as before the ebook was either the same price, or more expensive than, the paperback version. These were not best selling titles.

I wonder if publishers are actively trying to discourage the buying of ebooks, in order to try to claim some ground back from Amazon? But even if ebooks disappeared tomorrow, I just cannot see publishers gaining from this - they will still be dependent on Amazon for sales.

Conversely, I wonder if that's why Amazon are now pushing on allowing second-hand book sellers to own the "buy button"? A way of telling publishers to promote ebooks, else have their paperback profits sidelined completely? That would certainly be one way to encourage publishers to revise their current pricing model which punishes ebook sales channels.

 

[AlexH]

Actually I would guess that this might be a service to the grocery stores.

I've checked it out in the UK and Amazon don't take a monthly fee yet, just a commission - but I guess that would change if/when it becomes popular.

OT but like others have said, that's already happening. I live in a mid-sized town in the US South (North Florida to be exact) and not only can I do all of my "dry goods" shopping via Amazon, I can order fresh food from my local grocery store (Publix, hosana heyyyy!!! <3 ) and get same day or next morning delivery. I don't have a car (by choice) so it's a life saver. I also know a bunch of people with disabilities and this kind of access to food is changing their lives.

I don't know about other countries, but the major supermarkets in the UK do home deliveries anyway, which has been the case for many years for some of them. There are also other services such as Milk and More that do home deliveries, with groceries from local stores. Maybe all of that existing competition is why AmazonFresh doesn't seem so popular in the UK yet.