The Struggle Within- Worth It?

[Christopher]

The Struggle Within, like all eBook-original Star Trek stories, is a novella, not a novel. No secret was ever made of that fact. Naturally the page count for a novella is much shorter than for a novel, typically around 25-30% the length, and the storytelling commensurately more compact.

 

[RonG]

Christopher - is there a chance TSW will get reprinted somewhere? Did its sales justify reprinting?

I don't own an e-reader device, and I'm not about to try and download it illegally to read on my desktop, plus I'm really partial to "dead-tree" books .. Seems a shame to miss this story

 

[Defcon]

I don't own an e-reader device, and I'm not about to try and download it illegally to read on my desktop,

I know you would prefer a dead tree version, but just to clarify:

You don't have to download it illegally to read it on your desktop. There are free and legal programs to read eBooks on destop PCs, for example the Kindle on PC software for Kindle books, I think there's a similar software by B&N for their nook books or Adobe Digital Editions etc.

 

[RonG]

I don't own an e-reader device, and I'm not about to try and download it illegally to read on my desktop,

I know you would prefer a dead tree version, but just to clarify:

You don't have to download it illegally to read it on your desktop. There are free and legal programs to read eBooks on destop PCs, for example the Kindle on PC software for Kindle books, I think there's a similar software by B&N for their nook books or Adobe Digital Editions etc.

Thanks, Defcon. I was unaware of these e-Reader apps for the Desktop PC.

Although I do still prefer an old fashioned *book* - still, it's good to know. Thanks!

 

[Christopher]

Christopher - is there a chance TSW will get reprinted somewhere? Did its sales justify reprinting?

Sales have nothing to do with it. It's a 25,000-word novella, too short to publish as a standalone volume in print form.

There are other Trek e-books in the works, so it's possible that eventually several of them could be collected in a paperback anthology. But it's far too early to know if or when that will happen.

I don't own an e-reader device, and I'm not about to try and download it illegally to read on my desktop...

You don't need to. There are free downloadable "apps" that let you read e-books in any major format on your PC or Mac (or smartphone or PDA). You can legally buy an e-book and read it on any computer or device that has the suitable software. The only thing you'd have to pay for is the book itself.

Here's the Simon & Schuster page for The Struggle Within, and next to the cover image there's a link that says "How to get our eBooks on to your eReader." That has instructions on how to download reader software for your PC or Mac as well as for other devices.

plus I'm really partial to "dead-tree" books ..

I'm partial to turkey sandwiches, but I still like the occasional ham sandwich. I've never understood how "I'm partial to paper books" translates to "I absolutely refuse to read even a single e-book under any circumstances for the rest of my life." It's not like your paper books will demand a divorce because you cheated on them by reading a single e-book. You can read the occasional e-book and still read paper books most of the time. So really, what's the harm in trying it?

 

[RonG]

I don't own an e-reader device, and I'm not about to try and download it illegally to read on my desktop...

You don't need to. There are free downloadable "apps" that let you read e-books in any major format on your PC or Mac (or smartphone or PDA). The only thing you'd have to pay for is the actual books.

Defcon beat you to it, Christopher I was unaware of such apps, and having the option to read it on my Desktop PC is a plus, and I might try it . However...

plus I'm really partial to "dead-tree" books ..

I'm partial to turkey sandwiches, but I still like the occasional ham sandwich. I've never understood how "I'm partial to paper books" translates to "I absolutely refuse to read even a single e-book under any circumstances for the rest of my life." It's not like your paper books will demand a divorce because you cheated on them by reading a single e-book. You can read the occasional e-book and still read paper books most of the time. So really, what's the harm in trying it?

When I said I was partial to dt books, that's just what I meant. Not that I refuse to, or won't try it, but that I prefer holding a book and turning the pages. Nothing wrong with being old-fashioned - I do the same with comics - I can d/l them on ComiXology (or try and find illegal CBR files) but I prefer a physical copy.

 

[King Bob!]

$5.99 seems really steep for a book that's only 25-30% percent of content compared to a regular novel.

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

At least it's not the same price as the full length novels...

 

[ATimson]

At least it's not the same price as the full length novels...

If I buy four full at once on Amazon, one's free - so that works out to 25% off per book. Bringing them down to $5.99.

So yes, it's the same price as the full-length novels. Which is why I haven't bought it.

 

[Christopher]

Actually if you're getting five books for the price of four, that's only a 20 percent saving. Four for the price of three would be 25 percent.

 

[ATimson]

Actually if you're getting five books for the price of four, that's only a 20 percent saving. Four for the price of three would be 25 percent.

I misphrased that - its four for the price of three.

 

[Defcon]

^ What's your point?

Amazon's promotion is 4 for 3, and I see nothing in Andrew's post indicating otherwise.

ETA: This comment was directed at Christopher's post.

@Andrew How have you misphrased it? You said when you buy four, one is free. I don't see how you could read 5 for 4 out of that.

 

[cdgodin]

@Defcon, you could mistake the "one is free" part as adding another book to the four.

 

[King Bob!]

It seems like the "sweet spot" price point for these novellas would be like $3.99. Six bucks for something I can read in an hour and fifteen minutes seems a bit much. Especially when I can get four times the content for under double the cost.

 

[ATimson]

Defcon - cdgodin got it right. Perhaps "poorly phrased" instead of "misphrased", since my original statement could be parsed correctly? And "misphrased" was itself "poorly phrased" too?

It seems like the "sweet spot" price point for these novellas would be like $3.99. Six bucks for something I can read in an hour and fifteen minutes seems a bit much. Especially when I can get four times the content for under double the cost.

Fortunately, S&S seems to have realized that $5.99 is on the high side, and are listing Dayton Ward's forthcoming eBook (and I think also James Swallow's) at a more reasonable $3.99.

(I still think $1.99 would be ideal in terms of content, but I understand there's also certain fixed costs per title - so four novella may have the same content as one novel but it would cost more to produce. Maybe $2.99 would be a good compromise point?)

 

[Christopher]

It's worth pointing out that a typical comic-book trade paperback these days, which contains significantly less story than a novel (though a lot more pictures), tends to run around 18-20 dollars. Trade paperbacks and hardcovers containing the same amount of content as a MMPB book can range from 16-30 dollars. And a movie on DVD, containing maybe half as much story as an original novel (though a whole lot more pictures and sounds), can run around 30 dollars too. So it could be argued that, taken in context with other formats, MMPBs are actually priced at a considerable bargain. Which could be why e-books don't cost that much less despite being substantially shorter. Maybe MMPB prices are an outlier rather than a baseline.