Archive for July, 2009
Amazon Kindle Books: Is The Pricing Honeymoon Over?
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in About Publishing on July 24th, 2009
When the Kindle first came out, one of the great selling points was that even first-release “big name” titles were only $9.99 (you know, the ones you’d probably be paying upwards of $20 for in print), and many were appreciably less. On top of that, Amazon generally had a nice discount – usually 20%.
In the last several weeks, as I mentioned in an earlier post, there have been a lot of changes, particularly for independent publishers and authors.
But the latest change that I noticed (and I don’t claim to be the most observant person in the world!) were the prices listed in an ad that Amazon sent around (Amazon Kindle: Best Books of 2009…So Far). Folks, the times – they are a-changin’.
For example, of the eight novels they listed in the fiction category in the flyer, three were $9.99, while the others ranged from $11.99 to $14.82. The interesting thing is how they’re listing all the prices once you go to the catalog page: the actual sale prices are touted as being major discounts – 40% to at least 60% – off of both the print price and digital list price (which for the titles I spot-checked, were the same).
In the non-fiction category, the flyer listed another eight books: one was $9.99, the others ranged from $11.99 to $17.88 – the sale price.
Taking a look at the Kindle Store home page, Amazon tells us that “New York Times® Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise.” All the books they list as of today are $9.99, “discounted” from the digital/print list price of $22.99 to $27.99.
Previously, the digital list price was usually the publisher’s MSRP (which typically topped out at $9.99), and Amazon discounted from that down to, say $7.99; and they generally didn’t list the print price (and when it was, it was – as you would probably expect – significantly higher than the digital list or actual sale prices).
Now, the $9.99 – or quite a bit higher – is the discounted price.
So what does all this hocus-pocus mean? It tells me that Amazon feels they have a large enough Kindle user base that they can start pushing up the prices closer to what you’d typically pay for print books. I’m not going to sit here and complain that this is “evil Amazon” at work. Let’s be honest: as a general rule, the books are still cheaper than what you’d pay for print copies. But, on the other hand, you’re going to have to start paying quite a bit more than we’ve become accustomed to.
The bright side is that, if you don’t want to pay premium prices, there are still tons of books to read, both in and out of the Kindle Store. My personal recommendation – and yes, this is a bit of a sales pitch (just glance to the left)! – is that you give some of the small press and independent publishers a try. Most of their books are a lot less expensive (despite the current discount and pricing bugaboos), and some of them are every bit as good (and, I daresay, in some cases better) than what the major publishers are putting out.
In Her Name Kindle Versions On Sale
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in Book News on July 20th, 2009
Just on a lark – and since it was my birthday yesterday! – I decided to drop the price on In Her Name (Omnibus Edition) and In Her Name: Empire for the rest of the month for readers who might like to check them out but need a little extra enticement (or are just a big short of cash right now, as – alas – many folks are).
For those who’d like to read the print version of In Her Name: Empire, the first novel in the trilogy, here’s a special discount code for a full 20% off the title’s list price: UKMQE547 – just enter that when you check out when it asks you for a promotional code.
Enjoy!
Amazon Kindle Store Prices: Some Big Changes
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in About Publishing on July 18th, 2009
You may have noticed some pretty major changes in Amazon’s Kindle Store over the last several weeks in terms of pricing. Specifically, the removal of discounts from many of the books – particularly those published by independent authors and publishers – while some books from major publishers have been receiving larger than normal discounts (including discounts to $0.00!).
For independent authors and publishers, this is a huge deal, because Amazon shoppers have become accustomed to seeing a discount on the titles they buy, and are much less likely to buy those that don’t have a discount. In some cases, Amazon has even raised the prices for books over what the publisher recommends for the title (in some cases, by a lot).
Now, I don’t begrudge Amazon making a profit, and the terms and conditions of publishing through their services allows them to price titles at whatever they like.
But for some folks this has had a huge negative impact on sales. In my case, for example, sales have slowed down since the discounts were removed from my books, and other authors have seen far more drastic changes in their sales. And I wanted to run a discount for the rest of this month, reducing the prices on In Her Name (Omnibus Edition) and In Her Name: Empire by quite a bit, but Amazon isn’t passing that on to the customers – at least not yet. The net result so far is that customers are still being asked to pay the previous full price for the books, but I’ll get less for any sales because I’m only going to make 35% of the reduced MSRP.
My point here is simply to help you, as a reader, understand that the authors and publishers aren’t trying to gouge you with some of the prices you may be seeing, but in many cases want to offer you a discounted price: we’re totally at the mercy of Amazon’s pricing policies. So please keep that in mind when looking at a book you think you might enjoy, and feel free to add your voice to those of us who have been complaining about this by contacting Amazon’s customer service department.
In Her Name: First Contact – Draft of Chapter 4
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in Book News on July 13th, 2009
Here’s the rough draft of chapter four!
“Lord of All,” McClaren breathed as the alien gently shoved his naked body through the perfectly circular hole, about three meters across, that they’d cut in the side of his ship. He had thought at first that they were going to push him into hard vacuum through some sort of invisible barrier, for there was nothing visible between the Aurora’s hull and that of the enemy vessel that now stood very close alongside. But he had seen that there were warriors at a few spots along the invisible gangway that somehow linked the ships, and that had held his fear in check. Barely.
But my God, the view, he thought as he crossed over the threshold from the metal deck into the void, suddenly leaving the ship’s artificial gravity behind, his stomach momentarily dropping away into weightlessness. He could see down the Aurora’s flank, noting grimly where the enemy warriors had boarded his ship. And then there was the enemy ship – huge! – that didn’t look a thing like any spacecraft ever made by humankind. The smooth metal (he assumed it was metal) of the hull gleamed a deep but brilliant green, with contoured dark gunmetal-colored ports and blisters where he assumed some sort of hatches or weapons were mounted. Unlike a human ship, which was a patchwork of plates, the surface of the alien ship’s hull was as smooth as a still pond: he couldn’t see any joints or welds, rivets, screws or other fastenings as he got closer. It was as if the hull was one gigantic sheet of…whatever it was made of. The craft was all graceful curves, as if it were designed to fly in an atmosphere, with none of the boxy fittings and other angular projections typical of human ships. Looking forward, he saw that giant runes were inscribed along its raked prow, perhaps proclaiming the ship’s name, whatever it might be.
And all around him: the stars. As if his hand had a will of its own, he reached out to touch them. He knew they were billions of miles away, but they seemed so close. The alien sun burned brightly mere millions of miles away, and a star far brighter than the other stars proclaimed itself the planet the four warships had come from. He had been on plenty of spacewalks, but this wasn’t the same. Maybe it was the emotional exhaustion of the last hour or so since the alien ships had been spotted. So little time on the scale of his life, but an eternity for those who had lived through it.
