Amazon Kindle Macmillan eBook Pricing Issues
![Amazon Kindle Macmillan eBook Pricing Issues [Amazon Offer a Response: ‘Expressed Our Strong Disagreement’]](http://nexus404.com/Blog/thumbnailimages/alt/Kindle-Macmillion-LogoTFTSThumb220153.jpg)
Just at the end of last week we reported that Amazon had acted to remove Macmillan books for their Kindle Store and now, as the dispute over eBook pricing apparently escalates, Amazon have offered a statement concerning where they stand – and Amazon aren’t pulling any punches.
So, if you’re new to this, what exactly is the issue? In short, Macmillan acted to rise the price of its best sellers to $14.99 a pop and Amazon aren’t happy about it (let’s be honest here, there’s no paper, no printing costs, what gives?). Amazon are, to their credit, defending their customers (that is Amazon Kindle owners) is citing the higher cost as ‘too high’ for an eBook (who would say that’s not a valid point?) and have offered the following statement:
Dear Customers:
Macmillan, one of the “big six” publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.
We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it’s reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don’t believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.
Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!
Thank you for being a customer.
Really, we try to remain on the fence about such disputes, but $14.99 for an eBook? Are Macmillan serious? Macmillan need to get over themselves and realise that consumers aren’t fools. The publishing of an eBook has markedly less associated overheads than publishing a ‘physical’ book.
Our message to Macmillan is simple. Stop taking the piss, take a reality check and respect that we, as consumers, a) weren’t born yesterday and b) have long memories.
Your thoughts welcomed.
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This dispute will be resolved by us, the consumer, who should reject the higher cost by simply not buying the books and thereby sending a message to those other publishers waiting in the wings to raise their prices as well. When they see MacMillans sales tank they will think long and hard before following suit by raising their prices. Lets face it anything more than $10 and it’s worth waiting a few months and buying the book on the bargain racks at Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc. The big benefit of the Kindle is both the convenience and the COST. Take away one and half of Kindles value is gone.
Glad, but not surprised, to see that its not just me who’s got their back up about this. I hope Amazon (continue to) take the high ground on this but, either ways, as you say, consumers will ultimately have the final say.
Actually, Amazon is misreporting the offer that MacMillan made. The actual price range that MacMillan suggested to Amazon was a sliding scale of $5.99-$14.99.
The other thing to keep in mind is that if Amazon consumes the bulk of the profit for a title (generally 70% or more), it’s likely that the author will not sell generate the income needed to make printing the book economically viable for the publisher. Therefore, that author probably won’t get a new book contract in the future and fans won’t get new fiction.
Additionally, if Amazon succeeds in setting both the buy and sell prices for an eBook, they will attempt the same thing for other products. If they are successful at this with MacMillan, they will move on to the other big publishers before hitting the small presses. You’ll see a drastic decline in the number of new novels published by new and midlist writers.
The publishers aren’t just trying to make money, they’re trying to give the reading work creative, innovative, interesting fiction – and in doing so they need to take chances on a wide range of authors, not just King, Rowling, Meyers, etc.