2009 Fall Book Preview With Covers

[BillJ]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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I'm 50 - and at 46 small font didn't worry me. Good luck.

I don't think Pocket is worried about whether you can read the font or not.

[Thrawn]

BillJ wrote:

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Not everyone shops at Amazon! I actually like to inspect my merchandise before purchasing it. Guess that makes me old school. And yes $2.88 is a deal breaker if it is presenting the same amount of material.

So will you boycott any publisher that raises their prices 50 cents?

This seems like an extremely silly attitude to me.

[AN_D_K]

If all books were TPB, then wouldn't we need a bigger size for the books we want to stand out more?

[BillJ]

Thrawn wrote:

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So will you boycott any publisher that raises their prices 50 cents?

This seems like an extremely silly attitude to me.

You're talking apples and oranges and you know it. A fifty cent across the board increase is expected from time to time. Charging $8.99 for one ninety thousand word novel and then charging $16.00 for another ninety thousand word novel is ridiculous.

[JWolf]

AN_D_K wrote:

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If all books were TPB, then wouldn't we need a bigger size for the books we want to stand out more?

ACK!

[Thrawn]

JWolf wrote:

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I'm not saying to stop Star Trek books. but if they go trade where it's not needed, then I do think sales will drop as people who dislike trade will not purchase or not purchase as much. Also given the way eBook prices are at present, trade will increase eBook prices as well. So overall, going trade where trade is not needed is a lose-lose situation overall. I do understand trade when the word count is high enough. But otherwise, forget it.

But it doesn't matter if sales go down a little bit, because they make more money per copy sold. And you only have your guess that the sales will go down too much, with no evidence at all, when a ton of (admittedly circumstantial) evidence shows that trades DO make more money.

So, tough shit. Deal with it.

[Thrawn]

BillJ wrote:

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You're talking apples and oranges and you know it. A fifty cent across the board increase is expected from time to time. Charging $8.99 for one ninety thousand word novel and then charging $16.00 for another ninety thousand word novel is ridiculous.

This is also silly.

Like, I'll pay $75 for a 2-hour concert if it's Dave Matthews Band, because I like them better. But I may only pay $20 for some other band I don't know as well, because I like them less.

You're not paying for the number of words, you're paying for their content.

You may as well complain that Troublesome Minds and Crucible:McCoy were the same price; the latter was something like 4x as long as the former. Do you refuse to purchase Troublesome Minds?

[BillJ]

Thrawn wrote:

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This is also silly.

Like, I'll pay $75 for a 2-hour concert if it's Dave Matthews Band, because I like them better. But I may only pay $20 for some other band I don't know as well, because I like them less.

You're not paying for the number of words, you're paying for their content.

You may as well complain that Troublesome Minds and Crucible:McCoy were the same price; the latter was something like 4x as long as the former. Do you refuse to purchase Troublesome Minds?

So explain to me what is so special about Treason that doesn't apply to Open Secrets?

[Thrawn]

BillJ wrote:

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So explain to me what is so special about Treason that doesn't apply to Open Secrets?

More people buy New Frontier. Or, more accurately, more people consistently buy New Frontier; it has more loyal fans. It is thus a more valuable product to those people. So they charge more. Which is exactly the way every other industry works.

Either way, your position is logically inconsistent. If it's ok with you to pay $8 for a 40,000 word novel, it shouldn't bother you to pay $11 for a 60,000 word novel. You're getting more words per dollar. The fact that you can get other 60,000 word novels for $8 should make you happy, but clearly, your minimum word per dollar rate is 5,000 so you should be willing to buy any book that gives better value than that.

Or you're arguing illogically. Which is your prerogative, I suppose, but what you're annoyed about is not that you get charged more for the same number of words. That's purely nonsense.

[BillJ]

Thrawn wrote:

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More people buy New Frontier. Or, more accurately, more people consistently buy New Frontier; it has more loyal fans. It is thus a more valuable product to those people. So they charge more. Which is exactly the way every other industry works.

Either way, your position is logically inconsistent. If it's ok with you to pay $8 for a 40,000 word novel, it shouldn't bother you to pay $11 for a 60,000 word novel. You're getting more words per dollar. The fact that you can get other 60,000 word novels for $8 should make you happy, but clearly, your minimum word per dollar rate is 5,000 so you should be willing to buy any book that gives better value than that.

Or you're arguing illogically. Which is your prerogative, I suppose, but what you're annoyed about is not that you get charged more for the same number of words. That's purely nonsense.

Let's try this from another angle. What precluded New Frontier: Treason from being published as a MMPB? Other than having Peter David's name on it? Is there any additional content that couldn't be included in a MMPB?

To me this simply comes down to price gouging, and whether other industries do it or not, doesn't make it right.

[BillJ]

Thrawn wrote:

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This is also silly.

Like, I'll pay $75 for a 2-hour concert if it's Dave Matthews Band, because I like them better. But I may only pay $20 for some other band I don't know as well, because I like them less.

You're not paying for the number of words, you're paying for their content.

You may as well complain that Troublesome Minds and Crucible:McCoy were the same price; the latter was something like 4x as long as the former. Do you refuse to purchase Troublesome Minds?

So Pocket is telling me their $8.99 stuff is shit work they think won't sell?

[Thrawn]

BillJ wrote:

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So Pocket is telling me their $8.99 stuff is shit work they think won't sell?

Holy crap.

Is it really that hard to understand charging more for something they expect people to be willing to spend more to buy?

[BillJ]

Thrawn wrote:

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Holy crap.

Is it really that hard to understand charging more for something they expect people to be willing to spend more to buy?

So you agree they are gouging the suckers?

[Thrawn]

BillJ wrote:

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So you agree they are gouging the suckers?

You really love hyperbole.

I love New Frontier. I'm willing to spend $11 for a New Frontier book; hell, I was willing to spend $20 back when they came out in hardcover. Thus, I do. The content is worth the price, so I pay it. I am thus a satisfied customer.

Am I a sucker? Am I being gouged?

[BillJ]

Thrawn wrote:

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You really love hyperbole.

I love New Frontier. I'm willing to spend $11 for a New Frontier book; hell, I was willing to spend $20 back when they came out in hardcover. Thus, I do. The content is worth the price, so I pay it. I am thus a satisfied customer.

Am I a sucker? Am I being gouged?

At least with a hardcover I can see a reason for a premium to be charged and the consumer can still purcahse the material at a later date for a cheaper price if they choose not to purchase the hardcover. I see none of this with the trade paperbacks.