Book Price Wars
Book Price Wars
Have you ever noticed how when you are searching through the many online book retailers for a specific title, each and every one of them advertise it at different prices?
Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with competing for buyers on the part of the book retailers. However, when they deliberately advertise a title for free to outdo one another, who is the greater loser?
The answer is simple; it is the author who loses out.
Over the past several weeks I have been following the whole giveaway saga with a great deal of interest.
A friend and fellow writer noticed that the sales numbers of specific titles of his were in the ascendant. He quickly realised the reason why – one specific online book retailer was literally giving them away for free.
Great publicity for him you might think – right?
Maybe, but the loss of potential income from royalties to him as the author is quite frankly unforgivable.
Most book titles are spread across the many book sale outlets to advertise them to as many potential readers as possible – a sound business strategy.
But you must remember that the title you decide to purchase is the sum product of many months of agonising over, outlining, planning, writing, editing, proofreading, publishing and advertising by the author and his publisher.
Now I ask you, is it fair that the author should receive little or no financial recompense for all that hard work?
I think not.
While to the reader, seeing a title advertised for free is a good thing, before you snatch it up think about the person responsible for that story.
Most authors these days make very little money out of book sales. For you to pay for that product is to give a tiny bit of recognition for all their hard work.
Please think long and hard about it next time before you obtain a free copy, believing you have a bargain.
Support the author, not the online retailer.
Related articles
- What’s a book worth? by Eric Hellman (teleread.com)
- New Audio Sales Books Drive Sales Success (prweb.com)
- Hitting Online Bestseller Lists Is Key For E-Books’ Success (paidcontent.org)
- And the winner is . . . (madgeniusclub.com)
