Digital piracy hits the e-book industry (CNN.com) - CrimeSpace2024-03-28T14:10:10Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/digital-piracy-hits-the-ebook?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A225193&x=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=noAuthors/publishers get 70%. I…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-23:537324:Comment:2251932010-01-23T23:04:45.346ZBobhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Bob24
Authors/publishers get 70%. If your book is sold via a publisher your contract dictates your royalty percentage. Random House is pushing to make that 10% of net and is currently offering 17 to 20% of net. Other publishers are offering 25% of net but the pressure is on to reduce that percentage. 20% of 70% = 14% of gross sales paid as royalties to the author. With the stipulations in the amazon offer, the sell price must be 20% lower (if I remember correctly) than any paper copy, so the $9.99…
Authors/publishers get 70%. If your book is sold via a publisher your contract dictates your royalty percentage. Random House is pushing to make that 10% of net and is currently offering 17 to 20% of net. Other publishers are offering 25% of net but the pressure is on to reduce that percentage. 20% of 70% = 14% of gross sales paid as royalties to the author. With the stipulations in the amazon offer, the sell price must be 20% lower (if I remember correctly) than any paper copy, so the $9.99 max price is already pushed down to 20% lower than the $8.99 paperback price, making it a max of $6.20 = 85 cents per copy downloaded. That's a 40% reduction per copy revenue to the writer. Even at the max $9.99 and 25%, the return to the author is no greater than mass market sales revenue. The real hurt is the author receives NO hardcover royalty revenues which are 250% greater than any of the previously mentioned. FYI, Amazon just changed its…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-23:537324:Comment:2251862010-01-23T22:29:49.315ZEric Christophersonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/datahog
FYI, Amazon just changed its royalty scheme. Now instead of 35% authors get 70% if they price their books between $2.99 and $9.99. This kicks in at the end of June. I suspect it's a move in anticipation of Apple's new iPad, or whatever it'll be called, to be announced on the 27th.
FYI, Amazon just changed its royalty scheme. Now instead of 35% authors get 70% if they price their books between $2.99 and $9.99. This kicks in at the end of June. I suspect it's a move in anticipation of Apple's new iPad, or whatever it'll be called, to be announced on the 27th. "The real future of publishin…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-23:537324:Comment:2251852010-01-23T22:14:16.230ZBobhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Bob24
"The real future of publishing, though, does lie in our hands. With the onset of the digital revolution, more and more writers are being published today than ever before. And this number will only increase. These are writers, who just a few years ago would've stood little chance of publication, who are now, thanks to eBooks, eReaders, and POD technology, earning money from their art."<br />
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Yes they do earn money from their art, BUT, I spend more on soda pop in a day than they earn each…
"The real future of publishing, though, does lie in our hands. With the onset of the digital revolution, more and more writers are being published today than ever before. And this number will only increase. These are writers, who just a few years ago would've stood little chance of publication, who are now, thanks to eBooks, eReaders, and POD technology, earning money from their art."<br />
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Yes they do earn money from their art, BUT, I spend more on soda pop in a day than they earn each quarter.<br />
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Ebooks = piracy = reduced revenues for writers to the point that being an author will be a hobby not an occupation. Do the math ... Ebooks offered at 99 cents by apple return 60 cents net to the publisher. The publishers are squeezing the authors to 10% of net on digital sales. That's 6 cents per sale. An average book sells 10,000 copies which equates to $600, less costs, for a year's work. No matter how you look at it, push the percentage to RH 20% and push the digital sale to $6, it's still slave labour for writers. Actually, Jon, Steely Dan (Do…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-09:537324:Comment:2241852010-01-09T00:01:52.935ZChristopher Valenhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ChristopherValen
Actually, Jon, Steely Dan (Donald Fagen and Walter Becker) were in the Twin Cities a couple of months ago. They're touring:)
Actually, Jon, Steely Dan (Donald Fagen and Walter Becker) were in the Twin Cities a couple of months ago. They're touring:) I like used bookstores, but I…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-05:537324:Comment:2237692010-01-05T18:47:21.896ZJon Loomishttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JonLoomis
I like used bookstores, but I dislike Amazon's policy of selling used copies of my books on the same page as the new ones.
I like used bookstores, but I dislike Amazon's policy of selling used copies of my books on the same page as the new ones. You do not buy used books on…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-05:537324:Comment:2237662010-01-05T18:30:00.071ZKevinRegier@BrotherKangsRantshttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/KevinRegierBrotherKangsRants
You do not buy used books on Amazon? So you do not believe in used bookstores or second hand books?
You do not buy used books on Amazon? So you do not believe in used bookstores or second hand books? The publishing business is a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-05:537324:Comment:2237332010-01-05T07:29:56.416ZminervaKhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/minervakoenig
<i>The publishing business is a latter-day plantation system which has outlived its usefulness.</i><br />
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Mike, I am totally quoting you on this one, whenever and wherever I get the chance...
<i>The publishing business is a latter-day plantation system which has outlived its usefulness.</i><br />
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Mike, I am totally quoting you on this one, whenever and wherever I get the chance... I'll know I've made it when p…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-05:537324:Comment:2237182010-01-05T01:04:41.064ZJude Hardinhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/festus
I'll know I've made it when people start stealing my stuff.
I'll know I've made it when people start stealing my stuff. you always refer to the demis…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-05:537324:Comment:2237162010-01-05T00:58:37.101ZJon Loomishttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JonLoomis
<i>you always refer to the demise of the music industry</i><br />
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No, I don't. I'm always careful to differentiate the music industry from the recording industry. If you don't believe that the recording industry is hurting, take a look at this seminal Rolling Stone article from 2007:<br />
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<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/15137581/the_record_industrys_decline/print" target="_blank">http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/15137581/the_record_industrys_decline/print</a><br />
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There's little doubt,…
<i>you always refer to the demise of the music industry</i><br />
<br />
No, I don't. I'm always careful to differentiate the music industry from the recording industry. If you don't believe that the recording industry is hurting, take a look at this seminal Rolling Stone article from 2007:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/15137581/the_record_industrys_decline/print" target="_blank">http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/15137581/the_record_industrys_decline/print</a><br />
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There's little doubt, if you actually look at the numbers, that the recording industry is in dire straits, largely because of illegal downloading and the recording industry's abject failure to respond appropriately when they had the chance. There's still no real evidenc…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-04:537324:Comment:2237122010-01-04T22:26:42.330ZJohn Dishonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/whiteskwirl
There's still no real evidence yet though. You're just assuming that only a few thousand have pirated <i>The Stand</i>. The number could be much higher, and could have been for years. No one knows the figures for that.<br />
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The biggest problem, though, is you're still equating a download with a lost sale. They're not equal. So even if a million people download a book, we have no way of knowing just how much impact that is having on the books sales. Maybe half of those million would never have…
There's still no real evidence yet though. You're just assuming that only a few thousand have pirated <i>The Stand</i>. The number could be much higher, and could have been for years. No one knows the figures for that.<br />
<br />
The biggest problem, though, is you're still equating a download with a lost sale. They're not equal. So even if a million people download a book, we have no way of knowing just how much impact that is having on the books sales. Maybe half of those million would never have bought it to begin with. Maybe on 10%. Who knows?<br />
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It's too soon to fly into panic mode.<br />
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Also, you always refer to the demise of the music industry (referring to a different comment in this thread), but the music industry is still there. What's fallen? Which artists are not making music anymore because they can't make enough money to do it? Maybe some small time musicians who were never making it to begin with. I haven't heard of any major record companies folding either. Yeah, CD sales are down. So are cassette sales. Cassette tapes aren't the preferred format anymore, and neither are CDs. Digital downloads have taken over. Touring has always been the money maker for musicians anyway, so to see how the industry is doing, I would put more stock in touring sales than CD sales.