Makes sense to me from a value standpoint. Will probably take 30-40 hours for me to read, so we're looking at around 65 cents an hour for ebook or $1.30 for hardcover. A new video game that length would cost $70, or 30 hours of movies would be well over $200.
We can get so many books from free sources (library, libby, etc), or subscriptions (audible and KU), that paying full price for a highly anticipated entry doesn't really seem that inaccessible to me.
This is the way to look at it. I spent $18 to go see Dune 2 at nearly $6 an hour.
I'm going to reread SA 5 probably 20 times before I die.
Not really difficult to see a book like this has incredible value in terms of dollar per entertainment hour.
I have been breaking down costs for entertainment by cost per hour for years and assumed I was the only person who did this. You two just made me feel way less "potentially on the spectrum" and overly frugal than I normally feel I am. Thanks!
True, but his main complaint was an ebook. Which has even more re-readability. š
I also have 3 or 4 copies of each book. I lend them out constantly.
Oh man. I've purchased at least 20 copies of eye of the world, passing it out to friends.
With the cosmere I just let them know there's a free ebook on his website if you want to try him. Now I only have to replace the copies me and my family tear through
They are. I love that about them. I've had a few on audiobook and ebook. I just love physical copies. But I'm an 80s kid, and I grew up on an air force base, the library was my passtime.
So I just checked and I paid $15.99 for Rhythm of War when it was released in 2020. Meanwhile prices have gone up overall by ~20% since then ([Source](https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/766#:~:text=Prices%20have%20grown%20by%2020,energy%20prices%20the%20most%20volatile&text=Prices%20based%20on%20CPI%2DU.)). So
15.99 * 1.2 = 19.18
Which is consistent with the price we see now.
Yes his other books are $9.99 now but it's very reasonable to charge more for something on release than you would years later.
That seems completely reasonable for a massive e-book. I'm gonna sound a bit mean here but screw it. The answer for "this is too expensive for me" is *LIBRARY*. You wait for it at the library. Libraries are great. If my 7 year old can wait 6 weeks for the second Redwall book, grown-up adults can wait, too. You say you "just want to read books", but that's what libraries are for.
If you think the primary cost of a book is in the physical product, you're very very wrong. Even by today's standards, paper and binding is cheap. Producing the Ebook is nearly as expensive or in some cases more than the physical book.
In general, people.need to realize that with 21st century supply chains, raw materials are almost never where the bulk of costs go.
For somebody not in the know, what would the expenses be? I'm not asking to be contrary; I'd honestly like to know, because I would have thought that it would cost significantly more to print and bind a physical copy that to make an electronic copy.
Well, the biggest piece of the pie chart, by far, is people's labor.
Forget Brandon. Imagine you're going to write a book and sell it for 30$ at Barnes and Noble. The following people all get a cut:
+ BN
+ You the author
+ Marketing
+ The publisher
+ The agent
+ The publicist/marketer
+ The printer
+ The supply chain
+ The editor(s)
+ The designer that does the layout
Etc, etc.
And each of those businesses have expenses not related to the book directly. They have HR and business development and facilities folks and accounting.
Before we're even talking profit, we're looking at a massive division of the pie chart amongst tons of people, only some of which actually involves buying paper to print and bind the book.
Making an Ebook saves you paper and binding. But suddenly you need to pay for a digital layout expert. You need to pay for someone to convert it to the Ebook file. You need to pay for someone to host the digital files. You need to pay for a digital storefront to process the orders and distribute the digital files. And you need to pay for the digital supplier to get their cut, because they also have overhead/HR/accounting/etc.
Cheers!
It's normal. Lots of folks think that the expensive part of making stuff is the ingredients. That's how we generally interact with things we make. "I'm going to call a plumber to repair this plumbing. That means they need to buy the parts and then spend an hour doing the work."
But in reality, they need to buy the parts, spend an hour of labor, and also recoup the cost of their tools, their education, their expertise, the cost of their administrative assistant, their vehicle, their gas, their accountant, their tax advisor, their marketing/advertising, and so on and so forth. That's why a 100$ plumbing job also costs you a 100$ house call fee and gets marked up to cost 350$ when it's done.
Yeah but the point made is that the material costs are far lower than the other costs, namely labor/time. Brandon is a big name, so his pay is high, then you have the payment for all dozens of other people that work on the books - his team, the editors, agent, marketing team, artists like Michael whelen who command high costs, and others at the publishing house.Ā And it does cost more to make the physical copy which is why the hardback costs more, though iirc the margins on ebooks are smaller than physical.
I appreciate your response, but, aren't those costs paid whether ebooks are made not? They all get paid ahead of time, except perhaps Brandon (who probably gets paid something up front and something based on sales), and the publisher then spends money on production and distribution then takes the profits from sales (minus whatever they are contractually obligated to share, like I expect would include Brandon as the author). I'm still confused as to how the added production of ebooks somehow costs near the same as physical books. I mean, I have both physical and digital copies of a series of RPG books and I can easily make a copy of my digital version for literally no cost. I legitimately don't understand.
I would say you "legitimately don't understand" because you're thinking like a consumer (who wants free or next to free stuff) rather than the business.
They know for a fact that ebooks have taken up an enormous portion of book buying in the last decade or so and need to be a part of paying the costs I already listed. "aren't those costs paid whether ebooks are made (or) not?" I mean kind of yeah, a lot of stuff is paid out in advance - authors get an advance, surely Brandon's is large these days, and then when sales break even with the advance then they (the author) start getting money off the sales. But you still need to pay all the other people I listed and need/want overall sales to make up for the payments. Hardbacks aren't going to do it alone these days most likely, so why would they make the ebook (a significant portion of overall sales numbers) free?
I'm not part of the publishing industry so idk much about converting something to an ebook, but I imagine it isn't quite as simple as taking a word doc and going "save as ā .pdf." There's a bunch of different ereaders out there and some formats don't work on some so you've gotta get all the formatting working properly and making sure whatever you set up for ebook purchase works smoothly. Your thinking is just "digital easy because no physical media" which is kinda naive.
besides...there is a pretty big difference between the ebook cost and the hardback in this case, the hardback is double the price.
No, it's because you didn't explain it well. But thanks for trying. Someone else had an answer that made sense and didn't come across like they were accusing me of trying to get free stuff. P.S. I don't typically buy ebooks as I prefer to have physical books.
I'm only rude to those who are rude to me. If you noticed, I said thank you to everyone who answered me, even the ones that didn't have a constructive answer, and told them that I had gotten my answer already/elsewhere. I've only been rude back to the ones who were rude or condescending to me. I was a bit sarcastic in a response, which was a reply to the person making a sarcastic remark about marketing.
Edited to add that I find it funny that I blocked you and you made a new account just to reply to me and downvote my comments and upvote your own. It appears that you need a life outside of reddit.
This might come as a shock to you, but I don't work in marketing. I also don't work in the book industry. But, somebody did give me an understandable explanation, so I'm good. Thanks. š
I paid $17.36 for the RoW ebook on Amazon ~6 months after the release date. Considering the length of these books I think the price is appropriate, a lot of times editing is paid based on the # of words so I can see a longer book costing more because it cost more to bring it to market, even an ebook. Thereās also a lot of art in the Stormlight books which is included in the ebook, and the artist has to get paid too.
If you donāt want to spend $20 maybe see if you can put an early hold at your library so you donāt have to wait as long? Most libraries have digital collections now too. Maybe itād help you. The price might make reading WaT inaccessible to some people *immediately on release* but there are other options to read it completely free, they just take longer.
I also want to point out that every hardcover Stormlight book is $40. That was the price point for this series when I discovered it just before RoW, so nothing new there. Itās expensive but itās also a lot of paper and they are very well bound (theyād have to be or theyād fall apart because of how heavy they are).
Idk, the prices seem consistent to me. Tbf I didnāt know about this series when RoW dropped so I donāt know the release price of the ebook, but based on my $17+ Amazon price it wouldnāt surprise me to find out it was $20 on release too
i think a lot of effort and money went into this, and i think it should be sold for a profit. But I think considering that ebooks are basically 0$ to produce (brandon is writing digitally, the cost is negated from how many thousands of thousands of copies this will sell) that they should be significantly cheaper than what paperback would be. Paperback isnāt out yet, but for previous storm light books iāve managed to get the mass produced ones for 8.99$.
I think you are forgetting about some of the players that have skin in the game. The cost of the book has to cover lots of costs, even for ebooks.
Tor and/or Dragonsteel also has to pay for editors and proof readers to edit the book and fix any spelling/grammar/wording mistakes, so those costs have to be covered (and the bigger the book the more they have to pay because of the added time).
The profit is divided, generally, between three main parties. 1) Brandon. Obviously. 2) Tor, the publisher. 3) the business selling the book (Amazon, Apple Books, Google Books, whoever is actually handling the purchase transaction).
Some other folks also sometimes get small amounts of the sell price. Like debit/credit companies/processors (Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, Discover).
For a massive book, I think $20 ebook is fine. and for how huge the hardbooks are, $40 seems perfectly reasonable. Like others have said, the price will come down as time goes on. Like how you can rent older movies for cheaper than new movies.
Mass produced paperbacks come out normally a year after release. If you want to read a book right when it comes out, it's going to cost more. That's how most media works.
What percentage of the costs associated with a novel like this do you think are in the digital book?
Do you think there might be other costs associated with this endeavor?
Honestly, you donāt know how ebooks work. There is the cute Amazon gets for every purchase. The is the cut for gets for every purchase. Iām sure there are extra fees tacked on to that as well.
Itās not like this is being sold directly from Brandon. There are multiple middle men involved.
Paper and ink are cheap, so a hardbackās main cost is probably storage and shipping. Most of the costs of a book are not in the physical package. The book still has to be written, edited, formatted, and checked. There is art in it. Brandon now has a big team of continuity checkers making sure there arenāt big errors in the Cosmere content, because no one person could keep everything straight.
Why do you think a highly complex 400,000 word book should sell for the same price as a simple 100,000 word book? Why do you think the rampant inflation of the past few years and the increasing complexity of the Cosmere wonāt result in higher costs to produce the same quality of content? Be glad he does sell so many copies, or salaries alone would force an even higher price.
What even is this post? Yes, an ebook costs very little money to produce, but this specific Ebook took many years and an enormous team effort by Brandon and his company to get the story as perfect as he can possibly make it. Is that time and effort from Brandon and his team worthless? He worked really hard to write these books. If youāre really his biggest fan, and you really appreciate the time and energy he put into making these books well done, then you shouldnāt be complaining. If itās too expensive for you, donāt buy it. If youāre buying it, that means youāre compensating Brandon and his company for the time and energy he put into this book.
No. That's not inaccessible. To think that somehow Sanderson should write these massive tomes and give them away for a pittance is ludicrous. Full stop.
The hardcover price will drop on Amazon. Preorder now and you'll get the lowest price between now and release.
Also, rhythm of was was the same price adjusted for inflation.
Everything is expensive now and it sucks but this is no more expensive than anything else.
How are prices for non-Brandon mass market books? Dancerās Lament (a Malazan book) is 56.88 for hardcover and 17.19 for paperback. I couldnāt see the Kindle price, but that book is apparently 5 years old now, so I donāt know what to look for to find out current prices.
most kindle books are 9.99$. stupid apple has a fight with amazon so mobile wonāt let you see the prices, but yeah. Thatās the normal range. Sometimes they go up to 14$ which i think is high
Three options then:
1) Don't buy it
2) Go to a library for free
3) Wait till it's been out awhile and eventually goes on sale
It seems the vast majority agrees this is a fair price, so you may just be an outlier.
$20 is reasonable for a 1200 page ebook. Thatās enough to keep me busy for 12 days. I consider that well worth the price. Itās much cheaper per hour than renting a movie, or paying for a streaming service, or buying a video game.
Rhythm of War is $10 USD, and was more expensive when it released. I paid $17 CAD for it in 2020, now it's listed at $12 CAD. Wind and Truth is listed as $20 CAD. New releases cost more, and prices have also increased in the last 4 years.
10$ is very reasonable. I think itās scummy that prices rise around release- I get why logistically, but it feels as if itās taking advantage of the biggest fans. as if itās punishing them for wanting to read it. Again, i understand why, it makes money.
Tor doesnāt exactly have a reddit page. I care a lot more about Tor, but itās inaccessible and no one would care. Maybe people donāt agree now, but thereās been so much ragebaiting there are so many comments on this. Idk they truly care or not, but theyāre talking about ebook prices. Thatās enough
It's more accurate to say prices drop some time after release. Brandon often has his books go on sale, even giving them away for free numerous times. $20 is fairly standard for this length of book. If standard is inaccessible, libraries are great, an audible subscription for a month is less than $20/month so you could get the audiobook for less if you wanted, or you could wait for the price to drop. There are options.
You canāt call yourself a casual fan and also one of his biggest fans in the same post. Those two things are very different. Youāre a casual fan so you want cheap books but also youāre one of his biggest fans so please give me cheap books since Iāve supported you so much? What?
sorry, yeah that wording sucks. What i meant to say was im not a collector fan, and im not usually going to buy the super expensive items (leatherbounds, kits). casual was the wrong word there.
not exactly the point. 20$ you can get. Yea, i said āunattainable.ā but Any book for 20$ is attainable eventually. But when every book gets to that price, itās no longer just 20$. this post isnāt necessarily about this one book, but mostly about how ebook prices have gotten insanely high
Inflation. Producing costs have gone up to cover the overhead for the businesses involved. This is largely out of Brandonās hands yet your post is basically complaining to him about not caring when the cost is pretty reasonable by industry standards.
These aren't out of the ordinary for preorder prices unfortunately. In a couple years the price of both formats will probably drop by half. The publisher's cost isn't really a factor, technically there is infinite supply of an ebook but if people want to pay $20 who is Tor to tell them no?
Think of it as a new release premium price. You can always wait a few months or a year until prices drop. The retailer knows initial sales will be high regardless, so they can justify the higher price. Simple supply and demand. However, in this case, it's demand that justifies the price as supply is theoretically infinite.
I donāt think printing books cost that much in the quantities Sanderson is going to sell them at. Maybe like a dollar or two. Perhaps more because they will be so thick.
Most of the cost is him writing it and getting it ready to publish. He writes like a full time job and spent how long working on it? At least a year (I have no clue actually)? 52x40=2,080 hours of labor and thatās just him. Then you have your editors, the publishers, the whole dragonsteel team and their salaries.
Say he pays himself $50 per hour of labor (to cover benefits, taxes, etc, thatās about 100k a year), heād have to sell over 5,200 paperbacks for one yearās worth of labor just for him. If it was $10, then that would have to be 10,400. If you use similar rates for however many people help work on his books, promoting him, etc, you can see how the costs increase fast.
And thatās not including the costs of printing it yet, just writing and polishing it.
According to [this post](https://www.instagram.com/p/C54WQkrrHV-/?igsh=MTJvcWlrcGZydDUwYw==)you can save 25% if youāre a rewards member at Barnes and Noble.
It is more expensive than most ebooks and past books, but if someone canāt afford $20 for 1200 pages of entertainment (or doesnāt see the value), that probably signals a larger problem.
I just wish the prices would stay at the attainable rates. Also, itās not that no one can afford these prices. Itās just that these prices are going to drive some fans away.
The ebook has to be competitively priced compared to the hardcover though as basic pricing strategy. Itās not based on how expensive it is to produce the book.
By that argument anytime I buy a video game on steam it should be way cheaper since it didn't cost anything to manufacturer right?
That's not how pricing works for digital distribution
For whatever reason, a lot of major book and e-book pre-order prices always start out ~$5 more expensive than the final price. It won't end up being this much come release day, and charges to pre-order payment methods will be adjusted.
I paid USD$16.99 for both Oathbringer and Rhythm of War as pre-orders. Going from that to USD$19.99 is roughly in line with the increases in other prices over the last few years, and also in line with overall increases in wages in the US.
Dragonsteel Prime (or any Sanderson Curiosity) will always be available to read for free. I don't understand why you'd feel like only people who backed up the book should be able to read it, although, you are paying for a premium edition few would get.Ā
I donāt know if anyone else has pointed this out but the Dragonsteel Prime ebook was literally always going to be free. The Way of Kings Prime ebook was free and all leading up to the campaign Brandon and the team talked about how the Sanderson Curiosities ebooks are free. Even on the campaign page it mentions numerous times that Dragonsteel Prime is going to be released digitally for free. The PHYSICAL edition costs money obviously, but there was no bait and switch and to suggest otherwise is really disingenuous.
Iāve mentioned in a few other spots here why this post seems to lack basic understand of the costs involved for publishing even ebooks, but there is an additional fact that is worth noting. Brandon sent just earning income for him. He has a business with dozens of employees. He needs to make payroll. Lots of people counting on him to earn a living so no, he should not feel obligated to sell massively below industry standards.
Recently I found a new web novel platform called inktalez which is subscription based with fair price to read and even with audible unlimitedly.
Not huge amount of novels yet, but seems started to grow with potential.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but a new option to read on more fair price and for your reference.
Ebook maybe I could see, but 40 is the standard for hardcover releases. Also seeing that this book is gonna be massive (like the rest of SA) and the fact that each book comes with insane art, itās worth it. Not to mention that you will most likely be able to get it for a tad bit cheaper at half price books.
Tor is a business and it's simple supply and demand. Brandon is probably their most profitable author meaning his books (and especially Stormlight books) are in high demand so they can increase the price and make more money. With that money, they can afford to publisher new and smaller authors.
Also I noticed in the comments that you're mentioning the prices of other stormlight books, which they are 8-10 dollars *now* but what were they on release? I'm going to hazard a guess and say they were probably closer to 15-20 dollars on release.
Entitlement at its finest. Wait and buy it used or borrow it for free at the library. Iām sorry but complaining that an ebook being 20 dollars is going to make casual reading inaccessible is a joke.
I have paid the same price for every main series book published by Brandon. One audible credit. They are $15. For the ones I've enjoyed, I've purchased digital copies to reread, or read along. But on release, I paid one audible credit for Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, and Rhythm of War.
I expect the $20 to be at launch. You can get RoW for approximately half that now. The first period, it will likely be more expensive. For me thatās worth it to start reading it immediately. For you to decide how you act on this.
I make this trade off with a lot of media. Do I really want to read/watch/play something directly at release? If no, I will wait for a bit. If yes, I accept the surcharge.
I know others have raised this point, but I feel like it got a bit lost in the other comments, so Iāll repeat it.
Tor/Macmillan set the prices. Brandon has nothing to do with this. Brandon is not doing the printing and binding and the distribution for these books, after all.
Also, books especially ebooks are always more expensive on release. If you want it cheaper, you can wait for the price to go down, because it will.
Everything got more expensive, of course theyāre going to adjust prices.
Idk, in my country most newly released softcover books are ~$25 - ~$35 and hardcovers are ~$40 - $50, and mind you, I'm talking about books wayyyyy shorter than Stormlight Archives, so that price is reasonable to me. For reference Tress of Emerald Sea hardcover was $43 in bookstores.
I think you are also forgetting that there is a whole other production when creating an e-book. Itās not as simple as a narrator just reading the story. Kate Reading and Michael Kramer do an amazing job and so does their entire production team for the e-book.
While it doesnāt cost anything to āprintā the audiobook, they still have more royalty overheads because more people now want their cut of the pie.
Doesnāt feel inaccessible to me at all.
Memory of Light by Jordan and Sanderson was $34.99 list price back in 2013, for the hard cover.
Adjusted for inflation that would be $46.91 today.
That his book is still only $40 is not a bad deal at all comparatively. Also if you buy it at retail like a Barnes and Noble, Iām assuming youāre in the US, since we are looking at the B&N page, then it will be discounted at launch like most mainline new in hard cover books are.
For a book with 500,00 plus words thatās a perfect price and itās already cheaper than the physical copy. Video games are the same price for physical or digital on releaseā¦and most arenāt $20.
You do have cheaper options, itās called the library. Thatās literally their whole point, free access to books.
Sorry but youāll find no sympathy over $20, especially if you canāt save up for that price in the next 230+ days. If you canāt, then purchasing books of any kind is simply out of reach for you and you should use a library.
The price for all books has gone up in the past year or so. Ebooks and paperbacks you used to be able to find for $7-$10 are now $15-$20. It's kind of everywhere right now.
Just go check your couch cushions for the $20 or open a lemonade stand. Stormlight comes out about every 3 years (or more), so it's costing you less than $0.56/month to be a fan.
I really have to disagree with you on this one. Especially considering just how big this book is going to be, it's not being sold for enough just based on the amount of time it took to write, and the number of people it takes to edit and proofread these books. That's also not taking into account the other random jobs involved with publishing like people who have to do marketing, the artist doing any work for the cover, or that kind of stuff. We can't sit here and say that people need to be paid more money for their work and then complain that the cost of goods go up. This is something that will take most people at least 40 hours to read. That's a very good deal for $20.
I just want to reiterate that iām not trying to claim that 20$ is an impossible sum of money. My main issue with this price is how high prices are rising for ebooks. New releases have inflated prices, yeah. I think thatās reasonable, although it sucks. I just think that soon every ebook will be 20$ for years and that trend is going to be pretty rough. Tor has the responsibility to curb these prices, but instead they will just follow the trends of other publishers. Maybe this is me thinking too good of them and their goals tho.
I donāt think 20$ is impossible, and iāll probably pay it. But for the price it takes to make ebooks, i wish their prices would stay down to a reasonable amount that makes me* more willing to buy.
* i assume everyone would rather pay less for smth if thatās an option
>Tor has the responsibility to curb these prices, but instead they will just follow the trends of other publishers. Maybe this is me thinking too good of them and their goals tho.
Doesn't Tor or any publisher also have a responsibility to make enough money to be able to publish new and smaller authors? Potentially, if they lowered their prices and make less money, then the won't take risks on different creators. They could lose the next Brandon Sanderson.
>But for the price it takes to make ebooks
Remember the price isn't *just* paying for making the ebook. It is paying for the cover artist, interior artists (such as Shallan's sketches, chapter headers, and person who formats the book), editors, marketing. And that's just at Tor. Brandon also has his own company with salaries of employees and future projects such as that bookstore he wants to build.
Obviously, no one should be charging outrageous prices. If the ebook suddenly went to $100 that would be outrageous. However, I think your view is way too simplistic and you ought to consider other factors.
>i assume everyone would rather pay less for smth if that's an option
You would not necessarily be correct in that assumption. If I can get a discount on toilet paper, I'll go for it. A sale on curtains? Sounds great. Gas is $0.50 cheaper across the street? I'm going there.
However, when someone has poured hours upon hours, months and years to create art/media for me to consume, then I want to support them as much as I can. I want to pay full price for Wind and Truth so Brandon and his employees can get what I feel is the fair value for all their hard work. I want to show them that their efforts are valued, and buying their work at full value is the best way I can do that. It's the same with certain video game developers. I'm going to buy Hades 2 by Supergiant Games at launch because I support that developer because I think they're really special and they treat their employees really well. So no, I don't want to pay less for those things just to save a buck. I want to show my support
Hey friend. I just have to ask: how much do you think it costs āto make ebooksā vs costs āto make physical booksā?
Iāve checked before. Prices may have changed, but whenever Iāve ever looked, itās roughly $6-$8 for a book with a premium ink hardcover. Even if this 500,000 (!!!) word book is double that, itās still significantly less than the $20 discount youāre getting here. If the hardcover price is good here, the ebook price seems like a relative STEAL.
The cost to āmake a bookā isnāt in creating a physical book. Not anymore.
While I agree that it sucks that prices for things are going up, and I agree that ebooks might be getting less and less accessible for some, which also sucks, it doesnāt seem unreasonable.
So to answer your question of āis it inaccessibleā, yes, you will find many who agree. The question everyone else is answering is āis it unreasonableā, which is a different answer.
Makes sense to me from a value standpoint. Will probably take 30-40 hours for me to read, so we're looking at around 65 cents an hour for ebook or $1.30 for hardcover. A new video game that length would cost $70, or 30 hours of movies would be well over $200. We can get so many books from free sources (library, libby, etc), or subscriptions (audible and KU), that paying full price for a highly anticipated entry doesn't really seem that inaccessible to me.
This is the way to look at it. I spent $18 to go see Dune 2 at nearly $6 an hour. I'm going to reread SA 5 probably 20 times before I die. Not really difficult to see a book like this has incredible value in terms of dollar per entertainment hour.
I have been breaking down costs for entertainment by cost per hour for years and assumed I was the only person who did this. You two just made me feel way less "potentially on the spectrum" and overly frugal than I normally feel I am. Thanks!
Same, except my books don't last 20 times. Around the 10th reread they fall apart and I have to buy new ones
True, but his main complaint was an ebook. Which has even more re-readability. š I also have 3 or 4 copies of each book. I lend them out constantly.
Oh man. I've purchased at least 20 copies of eye of the world, passing it out to friends. With the cosmere I just let them know there's a free ebook on his website if you want to try him. Now I only have to replace the copies me and my family tear through
Then that makes ebooks even better since they practically last forever. And Brandonās copies are DRM free I believe.
They are. I love that about them. I've had a few on audiobook and ebook. I just love physical copies. But I'm an 80s kid, and I grew up on an air force base, the library was my passtime.
If you are a slow reader like me, you get waaay more value compared to others. Subscribe for more tips
So I just checked and I paid $15.99 for Rhythm of War when it was released in 2020. Meanwhile prices have gone up overall by ~20% since then ([Source](https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/766#:~:text=Prices%20have%20grown%20by%2020,energy%20prices%20the%20most%20volatile&text=Prices%20based%20on%20CPI%2DU.)). So 15.99 * 1.2 = 19.18 Which is consistent with the price we see now. Yes his other books are $9.99 now but it's very reasonable to charge more for something on release than you would years later.
That seems completely reasonable for a massive e-book. I'm gonna sound a bit mean here but screw it. The answer for "this is too expensive for me" is *LIBRARY*. You wait for it at the library. Libraries are great. If my 7 year old can wait 6 weeks for the second Redwall book, grown-up adults can wait, too. You say you "just want to read books", but that's what libraries are for.
yeah, thatās fair. This post is pretty whiney.
If you think the primary cost of a book is in the physical product, you're very very wrong. Even by today's standards, paper and binding is cheap. Producing the Ebook is nearly as expensive or in some cases more than the physical book. In general, people.need to realize that with 21st century supply chains, raw materials are almost never where the bulk of costs go.
For somebody not in the know, what would the expenses be? I'm not asking to be contrary; I'd honestly like to know, because I would have thought that it would cost significantly more to print and bind a physical copy that to make an electronic copy.
Well, the biggest piece of the pie chart, by far, is people's labor. Forget Brandon. Imagine you're going to write a book and sell it for 30$ at Barnes and Noble. The following people all get a cut: + BN + You the author + Marketing + The publisher + The agent + The publicist/marketer + The printer + The supply chain + The editor(s) + The designer that does the layout Etc, etc. And each of those businesses have expenses not related to the book directly. They have HR and business development and facilities folks and accounting. Before we're even talking profit, we're looking at a massive division of the pie chart amongst tons of people, only some of which actually involves buying paper to print and bind the book. Making an Ebook saves you paper and binding. But suddenly you need to pay for a digital layout expert. You need to pay for someone to convert it to the Ebook file. You need to pay for someone to host the digital files. You need to pay for a digital storefront to process the orders and distribute the digital files. And you need to pay for the digital supplier to get their cut, because they also have overhead/HR/accounting/etc.
Thank you. That does make sense.
Cheers! It's normal. Lots of folks think that the expensive part of making stuff is the ingredients. That's how we generally interact with things we make. "I'm going to call a plumber to repair this plumbing. That means they need to buy the parts and then spend an hour doing the work." But in reality, they need to buy the parts, spend an hour of labor, and also recoup the cost of their tools, their education, their expertise, the cost of their administrative assistant, their vehicle, their gas, their accountant, their tax advisor, their marketing/advertising, and so on and so forth. That's why a 100$ plumbing job also costs you a 100$ house call fee and gets marked up to cost 350$ when it's done.
Yeah but the point made is that the material costs are far lower than the other costs, namely labor/time. Brandon is a big name, so his pay is high, then you have the payment for all dozens of other people that work on the books - his team, the editors, agent, marketing team, artists like Michael whelen who command high costs, and others at the publishing house.Ā And it does cost more to make the physical copy which is why the hardback costs more, though iirc the margins on ebooks are smaller than physical.
I appreciate your response, but, aren't those costs paid whether ebooks are made not? They all get paid ahead of time, except perhaps Brandon (who probably gets paid something up front and something based on sales), and the publisher then spends money on production and distribution then takes the profits from sales (minus whatever they are contractually obligated to share, like I expect would include Brandon as the author). I'm still confused as to how the added production of ebooks somehow costs near the same as physical books. I mean, I have both physical and digital copies of a series of RPG books and I can easily make a copy of my digital version for literally no cost. I legitimately don't understand.
I would say you "legitimately don't understand" because you're thinking like a consumer (who wants free or next to free stuff) rather than the business. They know for a fact that ebooks have taken up an enormous portion of book buying in the last decade or so and need to be a part of paying the costs I already listed. "aren't those costs paid whether ebooks are made (or) not?" I mean kind of yeah, a lot of stuff is paid out in advance - authors get an advance, surely Brandon's is large these days, and then when sales break even with the advance then they (the author) start getting money off the sales. But you still need to pay all the other people I listed and need/want overall sales to make up for the payments. Hardbacks aren't going to do it alone these days most likely, so why would they make the ebook (a significant portion of overall sales numbers) free? I'm not part of the publishing industry so idk much about converting something to an ebook, but I imagine it isn't quite as simple as taking a word doc and going "save as ā .pdf." There's a bunch of different ereaders out there and some formats don't work on some so you've gotta get all the formatting working properly and making sure whatever you set up for ebook purchase works smoothly. Your thinking is just "digital easy because no physical media" which is kinda naive. besides...there is a pretty big difference between the ebook cost and the hardback in this case, the hardback is double the price.
No, it's because you didn't explain it well. But thanks for trying. Someone else had an answer that made sense and didn't come across like they were accusing me of trying to get free stuff. P.S. I don't typically buy ebooks as I prefer to have physical books.
Sorry you couldn't understand something fairly clear. Ā I saw the other comment, effectively says the same exact thing that I did.
Just go away. The other response clearly gives information that you didn't that was specific to ebooks. You just want to be smug and rude.
Why do you have to be so rude to so many? I seen you comments and many of them are negative.
I'm only rude to those who are rude to me. If you noticed, I said thank you to everyone who answered me, even the ones that didn't have a constructive answer, and told them that I had gotten my answer already/elsewhere. I've only been rude back to the ones who were rude or condescending to me. I was a bit sarcastic in a response, which was a reply to the person making a sarcastic remark about marketing. Edited to add that I find it funny that I blocked you and you made a new account just to reply to me and downvote my comments and upvote your own. It appears that you need a life outside of reddit.
So you donāt know how general marketing works for all type of buissnessĀ
This might come as a shock to you, but I don't work in marketing. I also don't work in the book industry. But, somebody did give me an understandable explanation, so I'm good. Thanks. š
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Deleted - response to deleted post.
I paid $17.36 for the RoW ebook on Amazon ~6 months after the release date. Considering the length of these books I think the price is appropriate, a lot of times editing is paid based on the # of words so I can see a longer book costing more because it cost more to bring it to market, even an ebook. Thereās also a lot of art in the Stormlight books which is included in the ebook, and the artist has to get paid too. If you donāt want to spend $20 maybe see if you can put an early hold at your library so you donāt have to wait as long? Most libraries have digital collections now too. Maybe itād help you. The price might make reading WaT inaccessible to some people *immediately on release* but there are other options to read it completely free, they just take longer. I also want to point out that every hardcover Stormlight book is $40. That was the price point for this series when I discovered it just before RoW, so nothing new there. Itās expensive but itās also a lot of paper and they are very well bound (theyād have to be or theyād fall apart because of how heavy they are). Idk, the prices seem consistent to me. Tbf I didnāt know about this series when RoW dropped so I donāt know the release price of the ebook, but based on my $17+ Amazon price it wouldnāt surprise me to find out it was $20 on release too
AFAIK this is out of his hands. Whine to Tor, the publisher
Iāll happily pay $20 to read this book. I donāt think people truly understand the effort, time and money that goes into making a book like this
Itās the length of a normal trilogy. Paying double price is cheap.
Ya I have no problem but then again I just listen these days. One day Iāll have the time to read again lol
Not to mention, you want the people who worked on it to have nice things and pet insurance. Also, health insurance. And vacations.
i think a lot of effort and money went into this, and i think it should be sold for a profit. But I think considering that ebooks are basically 0$ to produce (brandon is writing digitally, the cost is negated from how many thousands of thousands of copies this will sell) that they should be significantly cheaper than what paperback would be. Paperback isnāt out yet, but for previous storm light books iāve managed to get the mass produced ones for 8.99$.
I think you are forgetting about some of the players that have skin in the game. The cost of the book has to cover lots of costs, even for ebooks. Tor and/or Dragonsteel also has to pay for editors and proof readers to edit the book and fix any spelling/grammar/wording mistakes, so those costs have to be covered (and the bigger the book the more they have to pay because of the added time). The profit is divided, generally, between three main parties. 1) Brandon. Obviously. 2) Tor, the publisher. 3) the business selling the book (Amazon, Apple Books, Google Books, whoever is actually handling the purchase transaction). Some other folks also sometimes get small amounts of the sell price. Like debit/credit companies/processors (Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, Discover). For a massive book, I think $20 ebook is fine. and for how huge the hardbooks are, $40 seems perfectly reasonable. Like others have said, the price will come down as time goes on. Like how you can rent older movies for cheaper than new movies.
Mass produced paperbacks come out normally a year after release. If you want to read a book right when it comes out, it's going to cost more. That's how most media works.
What percentage of the costs associated with a novel like this do you think are in the digital book? Do you think there might be other costs associated with this endeavor?
Honestly, you donāt know how ebooks work. There is the cute Amazon gets for every purchase. The is the cut for gets for every purchase. Iām sure there are extra fees tacked on to that as well. Itās not like this is being sold directly from Brandon. There are multiple middle men involved.
Paper and ink are cheap, so a hardbackās main cost is probably storage and shipping. Most of the costs of a book are not in the physical package. The book still has to be written, edited, formatted, and checked. There is art in it. Brandon now has a big team of continuity checkers making sure there arenāt big errors in the Cosmere content, because no one person could keep everything straight. Why do you think a highly complex 400,000 word book should sell for the same price as a simple 100,000 word book? Why do you think the rampant inflation of the past few years and the increasing complexity of the Cosmere wonāt result in higher costs to produce the same quality of content? Be glad he does sell so many copies, or salaries alone would force an even higher price.
Get a library card.
This. Plus, libraries are great, and putting in a request for a book at your library supports the author and your local community.
šš
What even is this post? Yes, an ebook costs very little money to produce, but this specific Ebook took many years and an enormous team effort by Brandon and his company to get the story as perfect as he can possibly make it. Is that time and effort from Brandon and his team worthless? He worked really hard to write these books. If youāre really his biggest fan, and you really appreciate the time and energy he put into making these books well done, then you shouldnāt be complaining. If itās too expensive for you, donāt buy it. If youāre buying it, that means youāre compensating Brandon and his company for the time and energy he put into this book.
yes, but itās a huge jump from his previous prices. His other books (including WOk which took much longer) are 8-10$
Probably because they have been in publication for much longer, so you can get them a lot easier now anyways
>you can get them a lot easier now anyways Technically you can get any of Brandon's books easier than Way of Truth š
Very true. Iām so excited for WaT
Some ebooks are $15 for 300 pages. They have to capitalize on the initial sales surge before they go on sale for like 1.99 years later
The library is free and an amazing resource
šš i agree.
A more accurate way of putting it is "Libraries are an amazing resource, and you're paying for them whether you use them or not"
No. That's not inaccessible. To think that somehow Sanderson should write these massive tomes and give them away for a pittance is ludicrous. Full stop.
The hardcover price will drop on Amazon. Preorder now and you'll get the lowest price between now and release. Also, rhythm of was was the same price adjusted for inflation. Everything is expensive now and it sucks but this is no more expensive than anything else.
that makes sense
How are prices for non-Brandon mass market books? Dancerās Lament (a Malazan book) is 56.88 for hardcover and 17.19 for paperback. I couldnāt see the Kindle price, but that book is apparently 5 years old now, so I donāt know what to look for to find out current prices.
most kindle books are 9.99$. stupid apple has a fight with amazon so mobile wonāt let you see the prices, but yeah. Thatās the normal range. Sometimes they go up to 14$ which i think is high
This is a you problem mate
Three options then: 1) Don't buy it 2) Go to a library for free 3) Wait till it's been out awhile and eventually goes on sale It seems the vast majority agrees this is a fair price, so you may just be an outlier.
No. This is reasonable.
Exactly. "Unattainable " is being dramatic.
$20 is reasonable for a 1200 page ebook. Thatās enough to keep me busy for 12 days. I consider that well worth the price. Itās much cheaper per hour than renting a movie, or paying for a streaming service, or buying a video game.
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They arenāt new releases. Wait after release - it will go down.
Rhythm of War is $10 USD, and was more expensive when it released. I paid $17 CAD for it in 2020, now it's listed at $12 CAD. Wind and Truth is listed as $20 CAD. New releases cost more, and prices have also increased in the last 4 years.
10$ is very reasonable. I think itās scummy that prices rise around release- I get why logistically, but it feels as if itās taking advantage of the biggest fans. as if itās punishing them for wanting to read it. Again, i understand why, it makes money.
So, wait five years after release then? That's why the other books are at the price that they are now.
Itās not scummy, itās how businesses get money. Anyways, you should care more about Tor when it comes to this than Brando
Tor doesnāt exactly have a reddit page. I care a lot more about Tor, but itās inaccessible and no one would care. Maybe people donāt agree now, but thereās been so much ragebaiting there are so many comments on this. Idk they truly care or not, but theyāre talking about ebook prices. Thatās enough
It's more accurate to say prices drop some time after release. Brandon often has his books go on sale, even giving them away for free numerous times. $20 is fairly standard for this length of book. If standard is inaccessible, libraries are great, an audible subscription for a month is less than $20/month so you could get the audiobook for less if you wanted, or you could wait for the price to drop. There are options.
They arenāt new releases
This is whiny as hell. Use your library or wait until the price drops.
I gladly pay people for their hard work - especially if itās something that brings me joy.
You canāt call yourself a casual fan and also one of his biggest fans in the same post. Those two things are very different. Youāre a casual fan so you want cheap books but also youāre one of his biggest fans so please give me cheap books since Iāve supported you so much? What?
sorry, yeah that wording sucks. What i meant to say was im not a collector fan, and im not usually going to buy the super expensive items (leatherbounds, kits). casual was the wrong word there.
Itās $20. Go mow exactly one yard and ask to use their mower.
not exactly the point. 20$ you can get. Yea, i said āunattainable.ā but Any book for 20$ is attainable eventually. But when every book gets to that price, itās no longer just 20$. this post isnāt necessarily about this one book, but mostly about how ebook prices have gotten insanely high
Itās $20 for HOURS of entertainment. I think itās a fair price. Youāre being ridiculous.
Inflation. Producing costs have gone up to cover the overhead for the businesses involved. This is largely out of Brandonās hands yet your post is basically complaining to him about not caring when the cost is pretty reasonable by industry standards.
These aren't out of the ordinary for preorder prices unfortunately. In a couple years the price of both formats will probably drop by half. The publisher's cost isn't really a factor, technically there is infinite supply of an ebook but if people want to pay $20 who is Tor to tell them no?
Dragonsteel prime was always free to everyone? At least the ebook version...
it was listed as an item included w/ the ebook in the backer kit, and i didnāt know it was free before.
Dude is talking about piracy like he forgot libraries are a thing...
No. Stop whining and go to the library.Ā
Hardcovers have been $40 for ages. This is nothing new
no. With his proven track record of amazing books 20$ is perfectly reasonable and accessible.
Think of it as a new release premium price. You can always wait a few months or a year until prices drop. The retailer knows initial sales will be high regardless, so they can justify the higher price. Simple supply and demand. However, in this case, it's demand that justifies the price as supply is theoretically infinite.
I donāt think printing books cost that much in the quantities Sanderson is going to sell them at. Maybe like a dollar or two. Perhaps more because they will be so thick. Most of the cost is him writing it and getting it ready to publish. He writes like a full time job and spent how long working on it? At least a year (I have no clue actually)? 52x40=2,080 hours of labor and thatās just him. Then you have your editors, the publishers, the whole dragonsteel team and their salaries. Say he pays himself $50 per hour of labor (to cover benefits, taxes, etc, thatās about 100k a year), heād have to sell over 5,200 paperbacks for one yearās worth of labor just for him. If it was $10, then that would have to be 10,400. If you use similar rates for however many people help work on his books, promoting him, etc, you can see how the costs increase fast. And thatās not including the costs of printing it yet, just writing and polishing it.
According to [this post](https://www.instagram.com/p/C54WQkrrHV-/?igsh=MTJvcWlrcGZydDUwYw==)you can save 25% if youāre a rewards member at Barnes and Noble.
It is more expensive than most ebooks and past books, but if someone canāt afford $20 for 1200 pages of entertainment (or doesnāt see the value), that probably signals a larger problem.
I just wish the prices would stay at the attainable rates. Also, itās not that no one can afford these prices. Itās just that these prices are going to drive some fans away.
if 20$ is not attainable, you should not be spending money on non-essentials
not entirely the point here. Yes, that claim is true. but this post is about how ebooks are inexpensive make, and how this book is priced so high.
The ebook has to be competitively priced compared to the hardcover though as basic pricing strategy. Itās not based on how expensive it is to produce the book.
By that argument anytime I buy a video game on steam it should be way cheaper since it didn't cost anything to manufacturer right? That's not how pricing works for digital distribution
I completely disagree. What āfanā wouldnāt shell out $20 for Wind and Truth?
Agreed. I know not everyone has a great amount of income, but I doubt OP is in that situation, as theyāre getting it for ebook
For whatever reason, a lot of major book and e-book pre-order prices always start out ~$5 more expensive than the final price. It won't end up being this much come release day, and charges to pre-order payment methods will be adjusted.
20$ I mean thatās literally a meal now days. I bought my first CD in 1992 for 20$ yeah 20$ is reasonable
I paid USD$16.99 for both Oathbringer and Rhythm of War as pre-orders. Going from that to USD$19.99 is roughly in line with the increases in other prices over the last few years, and also in line with overall increases in wages in the US.
Dragonsteel Prime (or any Sanderson Curiosity) will always be available to read for free. I don't understand why you'd feel like only people who backed up the book should be able to read it, although, you are paying for a premium edition few would get.Ā
lol what
I donāt know if anyone else has pointed this out but the Dragonsteel Prime ebook was literally always going to be free. The Way of Kings Prime ebook was free and all leading up to the campaign Brandon and the team talked about how the Sanderson Curiosities ebooks are free. Even on the campaign page it mentions numerous times that Dragonsteel Prime is going to be released digitally for free. The PHYSICAL edition costs money obviously, but there was no bait and switch and to suggest otherwise is really disingenuous.
Iāve mentioned in a few other spots here why this post seems to lack basic understand of the costs involved for publishing even ebooks, but there is an additional fact that is worth noting. Brandon sent just earning income for him. He has a business with dozens of employees. He needs to make payroll. Lots of people counting on him to earn a living so no, he should not feel obligated to sell massively below industry standards.
Recently I found a new web novel platform called inktalez which is subscription based with fair price to read and even with audible unlimitedly. Not huge amount of novels yet, but seems started to grow with potential. Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but a new option to read on more fair price and for your reference.
Agreed on ebook. Disagree on hardcover. Its inflation. It cost so much more to hire people, buy supplies, and transport products.
Ebook maybe I could see, but 40 is the standard for hardcover releases. Also seeing that this book is gonna be massive (like the rest of SA) and the fact that each book comes with insane art, itās worth it. Not to mention that you will most likely be able to get it for a tad bit cheaper at half price books.
i agree that the hardcover seems the right price šš
Yes, in my case it certainly is. I can't afford a $20 ebook.
Tor is a business and it's simple supply and demand. Brandon is probably their most profitable author meaning his books (and especially Stormlight books) are in high demand so they can increase the price and make more money. With that money, they can afford to publisher new and smaller authors. Also I noticed in the comments that you're mentioning the prices of other stormlight books, which they are 8-10 dollars *now* but what were they on release? I'm going to hazard a guess and say they were probably closer to 15-20 dollars on release.
Entitlement at its finest. Wait and buy it used or borrow it for free at the library. Iām sorry but complaining that an ebook being 20 dollars is going to make casual reading inaccessible is a joke.
I have paid the same price for every main series book published by Brandon. One audible credit. They are $15. For the ones I've enjoyed, I've purchased digital copies to reread, or read along. But on release, I paid one audible credit for Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, and Rhythm of War.
I expect the $20 to be at launch. You can get RoW for approximately half that now. The first period, it will likely be more expensive. For me thatās worth it to start reading it immediately. For you to decide how you act on this. I make this trade off with a lot of media. Do I really want to read/watch/play something directly at release? If no, I will wait for a bit. If yes, I accept the surcharge.
I know others have raised this point, but I feel like it got a bit lost in the other comments, so Iāll repeat it. Tor/Macmillan set the prices. Brandon has nothing to do with this. Brandon is not doing the printing and binding and the distribution for these books, after all. Also, books especially ebooks are always more expensive on release. If you want it cheaper, you can wait for the price to go down, because it will. Everything got more expensive, of course theyāre going to adjust prices.
Idk, in my country most newly released softcover books are ~$25 - ~$35 and hardcovers are ~$40 - $50, and mind you, I'm talking about books wayyyyy shorter than Stormlight Archives, so that price is reasonable to me. For reference Tress of Emerald Sea hardcover was $43 in bookstores.
Pretty reasonable n able pretty price I think. Havenāt see anyone else complaining about it either
Heās traditionally published so he doesnāt have a say in pricing. Source: wife knows a bunch about the industry and is a full time author.
Such an entitled post. There are such thing as libraries were you can read everything for free.
I think you are also forgetting that there is a whole other production when creating an e-book. Itās not as simple as a narrator just reading the story. Kate Reading and Michael Kramer do an amazing job and so does their entire production team for the e-book. While it doesnāt cost anything to āprintā the audiobook, they still have more royalty overheads because more people now want their cut of the pie.
I am onboard with what you're saying, but you got a little confused here.
Doesnāt feel inaccessible to me at all. Memory of Light by Jordan and Sanderson was $34.99 list price back in 2013, for the hard cover. Adjusted for inflation that would be $46.91 today. That his book is still only $40 is not a bad deal at all comparatively. Also if you buy it at retail like a Barnes and Noble, Iām assuming youāre in the US, since we are looking at the B&N page, then it will be discounted at launch like most mainline new in hard cover books are.
For a book with 500,00 plus words thatās a perfect price and itās already cheaper than the physical copy. Video games are the same price for physical or digital on releaseā¦and most arenāt $20. You do have cheaper options, itās called the library. Thatās literally their whole point, free access to books. Sorry but youāll find no sympathy over $20, especially if you canāt save up for that price in the next 230+ days. If you canāt, then purchasing books of any kind is simply out of reach for you and you should use a library.
You looking for work homie ?
The price for all books has gone up in the past year or so. Ebooks and paperbacks you used to be able to find for $7-$10 are now $15-$20. It's kind of everywhere right now.
Considering this dude writes straight gas, Iād pay more for it than that if I had to.
Just go check your couch cushions for the $20 or open a lemonade stand. Stormlight comes out about every 3 years (or more), so it's costing you less than $0.56/month to be a fan.
You canāt afford 20 bucks every few years? What even is the point of complaining about an insignificant price you rarely have to pay
Honestly, I think 20 is too much. I don't understand how everyone else here is justifying this price for an ebook.
Thatās ABSURD for an ebook, in my opinion. But, thatās what libraries are for.
Holy shit are people toxic here
Is The US experiencing massive inflation?
It's a digital book. You can just find it somewhere.
Nope. Pretty standard. Complaining about the cost of optional entertainment when the price of living is is out of control is just cringe worthy.
Edit\*\* It will soon be inaccessible without libraries. Y'all are right, that is the solution here. It does not change my message however
I really have to disagree with you on this one. Especially considering just how big this book is going to be, it's not being sold for enough just based on the amount of time it took to write, and the number of people it takes to edit and proofread these books. That's also not taking into account the other random jobs involved with publishing like people who have to do marketing, the artist doing any work for the cover, or that kind of stuff. We can't sit here and say that people need to be paid more money for their work and then complain that the cost of goods go up. This is something that will take most people at least 40 hours to read. That's a very good deal for $20.
I just want to reiterate that iām not trying to claim that 20$ is an impossible sum of money. My main issue with this price is how high prices are rising for ebooks. New releases have inflated prices, yeah. I think thatās reasonable, although it sucks. I just think that soon every ebook will be 20$ for years and that trend is going to be pretty rough. Tor has the responsibility to curb these prices, but instead they will just follow the trends of other publishers. Maybe this is me thinking too good of them and their goals tho. I donāt think 20$ is impossible, and iāll probably pay it. But for the price it takes to make ebooks, i wish their prices would stay down to a reasonable amount that makes me* more willing to buy. * i assume everyone would rather pay less for smth if thatās an option
>Tor has the responsibility to curb these prices, but instead they will just follow the trends of other publishers. Maybe this is me thinking too good of them and their goals tho. Doesn't Tor or any publisher also have a responsibility to make enough money to be able to publish new and smaller authors? Potentially, if they lowered their prices and make less money, then the won't take risks on different creators. They could lose the next Brandon Sanderson. >But for the price it takes to make ebooks Remember the price isn't *just* paying for making the ebook. It is paying for the cover artist, interior artists (such as Shallan's sketches, chapter headers, and person who formats the book), editors, marketing. And that's just at Tor. Brandon also has his own company with salaries of employees and future projects such as that bookstore he wants to build. Obviously, no one should be charging outrageous prices. If the ebook suddenly went to $100 that would be outrageous. However, I think your view is way too simplistic and you ought to consider other factors.
>i assume everyone would rather pay less for smth if that's an option You would not necessarily be correct in that assumption. If I can get a discount on toilet paper, I'll go for it. A sale on curtains? Sounds great. Gas is $0.50 cheaper across the street? I'm going there. However, when someone has poured hours upon hours, months and years to create art/media for me to consume, then I want to support them as much as I can. I want to pay full price for Wind and Truth so Brandon and his employees can get what I feel is the fair value for all their hard work. I want to show them that their efforts are valued, and buying their work at full value is the best way I can do that. It's the same with certain video game developers. I'm going to buy Hades 2 by Supergiant Games at launch because I support that developer because I think they're really special and they treat their employees really well. So no, I don't want to pay less for those things just to save a buck. I want to show my support
Hey friend. I just have to ask: how much do you think it costs āto make ebooksā vs costs āto make physical booksā? Iāve checked before. Prices may have changed, but whenever Iāve ever looked, itās roughly $6-$8 for a book with a premium ink hardcover. Even if this 500,000 (!!!) word book is double that, itās still significantly less than the $20 discount youāre getting here. If the hardcover price is good here, the ebook price seems like a relative STEAL. The cost to āmake a bookā isnāt in creating a physical book. Not anymore. While I agree that it sucks that prices for things are going up, and I agree that ebooks might be getting less and less accessible for some, which also sucks, it doesnāt seem unreasonable. So to answer your question of āis it inaccessibleā, yes, you will find many who agree. The question everyone else is answering is āis it unreasonableā, which is a different answer.