Monday, October 24, 2011

Ponderings


I'm sure there has been much written about this and more times than I can imagine, but I'm looking to add some of my favourite books to either Kindle or Kobo on my IPad so I have them with me always. I LOVE this idea. So far I have Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, Conor's Way by Laura Lee Guhrke (I am looking at you Wendy - heh heh), In the Midnight Rain by Barbara Samuel, the first two books by Pamela Clare, Sweet Release and Carnal Gift.

This is one of the huge pluses to having an eReader. Good books at Great prices. So it is with a great deal of confusion and wit quite a dash of anger thrown in, that there are some that will not be loaded onto my eReaders. And the reason you ask? Simple.

PRICING!!!!

How and why on earth are there many (many) ebooks at Kindle for either the same price or even MORE? How can the publishers possibly justify that? Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas for example, in my top 5 list for years now, is at Kindle for $9.04. Paperback is $7.99. It makes no sense to me why they would charge $1.05 more for an ebook than a paperback. $9.04 seems to be the standard price for ebooks from Avon.

I was looking at getting the ebook of Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis, but it's even WORSE! They are asking $10.24 for the kindle version but only $7.99 for the paperback. It means they actually have the nerve to charge $2.25 more for a book that doesn't cost them in printing or distribution - $2.25 more for a book we can't actually hold in our hands. How can they do that? I looked at a couple more examples and that seems to be the difference in many Berkley books.
And that got me curious about some of the other publishers and how the prices compared from print form to eform. Grand Central (publisher of Elizabeth Hoyt for example) seems to be the same in either format. This is better than charging more and given a choice these days I'd probably go digital.

Now Ballantine's pricing is starting to make sense. Their print books are, on average, $7.99 and their ebooks $6.39, so with a savings of $1.60, digital is definitely the way to go. A few of the more well known authors with them that I've read are Monica McCarty, Christy Reece.

And then we come to Harlequin/HQN. Their prices seem to be all over the map. In my very unscientific poll, I had 3 different price differences for 3 different authors. But as all 3 were over $2.50 LESS expensive for Kindle, my days of buying HQN print books are pretty much over. The exception is Judith James as I love her books so much I buy both - speaking of which - for anyone interested, Broken Wing can be purchased for the Kindle for only $6.15. I know this because I bought it so I can have it with me wherever I go.

Harlequins aren't quite the squeal of a deal that HQN are, but they are still cheaper. And since they are less expensive to begin with than single title books, it's all good.


And I just recently discovered another good reason why ebooks wins out over print books. Say one's basement were to flood and they had several thousand books in the basement. Thankfully they could be up a bit high so they don't get wet. But the bookshelves themselves are toast. That could mean that one might have 35 boxes of books sitting in one's living room when the restoration people the insurance company sends out. These are books that used to be boxed up and then were released, set free as it were, in their very own room, only to be shuffled off when their owner allowed her son to be move back home for a while. The son had promised to rebuild the room the books loved so much and felt so free in, but the son lied and never did rebuild for them.

And now they sit, imprisoned once more. Only this time they are 'boxing in' their fellow books, the upstairs, younger books that are in the upstairs living room book shelves. So right now, the IPad is probably the best place to read books.

17 comments:

Teddypig said...

I love my iPad so much! I will love the iPad 3 even more if it has a sharper screen and you best believe I will be first in that line.

Teddypig said...

Oh and I now recommend not buying the cell phone part with the iPad. Get the cheap one and the Verizon 4g wifi box.

Keep them separated because the plans are all over the place now and it's simply cheaper to buy the wifi only iPad

Lover Of Romance said...

Well I have a nook, and the prices are either the same as printed books or sometimes I can get good deals. Sorry to hear you can't do the same with Kindle, I thought their books were good deals...apparently not though! Hope it gets fixed soon though!! Seems unjustified to me.

Kristie (J) said...

Teddy - that was the best investment I've ever invested! I take it with me EVERYWHERE and have been know to play a game or read a few pages in some of the most unusual places. And the only I device I have is the IPad. I've thought about getting an IPod or IPhone, but I'm totally useless with small electronic devices at the most unusual times. And one of the big ones is cell phones. I don't even know if I can text with the one I have. I've never even really looked. So I'll stay with your advice and with the IPad only *g*

Kristie (J) said...

LoverofRomance: For the life of me I can't understand why they charge more for some ebooks. But since I also have a Kobo app on my IPad, I always compare and if the price is the same or more with both, then I go the old fashioned route and buy paper. Of course, at the moment I can't put them in my bookcases.

Marg said...

It seems as though the e book world is changing so rapidly that it is difficult for them to keep up with what readers want. My biggest issue is with geo-restrictions. So frustrating!

Sorry to hear about your flood issues. 35 boxes of books would take up a lot of room I am imagining!

Kristie (J) said...

Marg: Very (very) thankfully geo restrictions isn't an issue for me. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for those of you living on that side of the world. And in trying to make lemonaide out of a flooded basement, I get to get all new furniture and many new clothes. The downside though is that I only have half a living room at the moment *g*.

little alys said...

The reason why I have yet to get an ereader... >_<

And as much as I use the ipad, my parents kept taking the ones (two) I got so I gave up. One can only spend so much money trying to dabble. lol

Parents *shakes head*

Lynnd said...

Hi Kristie. I'm with you on this one. There are so many books I have not purchased this year because they are more expensive than paper (agency publishers I'm looking at you). I have also noticed that KIndle adds on an extra "international fee" which is why I stick to Kobo. I rarely buy books in paper anymore so unless the book is REALLY special, I won't buy it at all. I will either wait for my library to get it or I just move on to something else (it's not like my TBR pile is lacking material for me to read :-) ) .

Kristie (J) said...

Lynnd: I am SO glad I have both options on the IPad. Every book I get, I compare to see which has the best price. I have to say Kindle is often the best and I've noticed there are a number of books that aren't available for the Kobo. Having said that, Kobo does have some great 20% off codes. In fact earlier today I used my coupon at Kobo to get the newest Elizabeth Hoyt book. It cost me $5 something - which is ever so much better than the print book price.

little alys: They've taken two?? At this point I would have to have a knock down, pound out, drag 'em to the ground rumble with anyone who tried to take my IPad *g*. With that it is more cost effective to stay with print books

nath said...

Ohhh Kristie!! Sorry to hear about the flooding... Gosh, it must be a nightmare... At least, tell me you call the son to bring up the 35 boxes of books up the stairs LOL.

Okay, I'm still confused about Kindle. I know Ames mentioned it as well... the 10.24$ is it for the US too or just "international" (like Canada is really international from them...)? If you have the Kobo app, you should also look into Books on Board and get their epub... Should work.

HQN and Harlequin, it seems to me the books are priced - at least the ebooks - depending on the length and popularity of the authors. That's why you might see such a discrepancy. I love Harlequin because they allow those awesome Kobo coupons to be used!!!

Wendy said...

Oh noes flooded basement!!! Yikes! And I weep just thinking about all your precious lovelies being thrown into cardboard prisons, earning to be free :(

I have the hardest time making that switch to digital with single titles. I just....can't seem to do it. Old habits I guess. But OMG, I'm positively addicted to category romance in digital. Seriously. I can't remember the last print Harlequin I bought.....

Anonymous said...

I thought you had a Nook? Anyway, I think you must be charged more in Canada because at both Amazon and B&N I can get Dreaming of You for 7.99. The price disparity is BS!

So sorry about your basement flood, but at least your books are safe! Whew!

azteclady said...

Yikes! Between flood and mountains of boxes, your life must be very interesting right now.

Glad the damage wasn't worse, though.

Mary G said...

There may not be geo restrictions in Canada but there is geo ripping off. In a group chat I mentioned the price of an ebook on Amazon.com. It was $10.51. One of the American ladies said it was $7.99. We both copied & pasted what we had on our Amazon.com screens. So why the difference? Can they tell by my email address where I am? This was when our dollar was higher too. double rip-off!

Kristie (J) said...

Nath: heh, heh, heh. I didn't have to have him bring them up. The damage was massive so I've put in an insurance claim and they brought them up - as well as take my basement apart down to the studs and insulation. I have to get all new furniture, bookshelves etc.
And I'm not exactly sure what's going on - why ebooks are more expensive at Amazon dot com here in Canada then in the US.

Wendy: I think they survived the flood OK. But their screams of anguish about being imprisoned again are heart rending. And I think it will be a long time before they are released. I shall probably blog about it soon - but big changes are coming up I think.

Jane: Nope - that's the one I don't have. I don't think we can even get the Nook here in Canada since we don't have the support. Kindle is Amazon and Kobo is Chapter/Indigo books but they are the only real book chain so there is no one to sell the Nook.
And yes, I'm VERY relieved about the books. When they were going through the basement wondering what could go, I (very bravely) said anything EXCEPT the books - they are non-negotiable.

AL: SQUEEEAAALLL!!! It's SO good to see you back again. I've missed you even though I've been pretty scarce myself.
The insurance is covering everything except the washing machine itself so I choose to close my eyes to the fact that I loved the furniture downstairs and it wasn't that old. Instead I shall think about the brand new furniture and stuff I can get.

Mary: That's really strange isn't it that there are two different prices at Amazon dot com. I could understand it if we were comparing Amazon dot com and Amazon dot ca - I never get anything at Amazon dot ca. But the fact that there are two different prices at the same place is very wrong.

Hilcia said...

Kristie, first I am sorry to hear about that flood! But, I'm happy to hear that you rescued your books and that the insurance will take care of business for you.

RE: Kindle prices. There are definitely different prices for Canadian customers than there are for US Kindle customers (they are higher for you). I've checked this out for a friend there!

But, please know that the prices ARE all over the map for us too. And, that there are some publishers whose ebooks are more expensive than their print books.

I am an old Kindle customer and have been buying since the beginning (when ebooks were cheaper than print books). I REFUSE to buy ebooks at a higher price! Refuse! So, those books that are OVERPRICED in my opinion, I buy in print and will even go out of my way to buy them USED. In my opinion it's a rip off, I don't care about the convenience etc... Those publishers are taking advantage of their loyal customers in a big way.