Have You Moved from Print to Electronic?

e-Books: Prices Too High?
by Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, bookseller

There's an interesting discussion about the price (not to be confused with the cost) of e-books on two blogs:

• TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home, "Calculating a fair price for e-books."
• Galleycat, "Expert Explains Why E-Books Are so Expensive."

The essence of the debate is: Is the price is too high when the cost is so low? In this case, price is what the consumer pays to buy the e-book, cost is the financial burden of bringing the e-book to the consumer.

As an avid reader but not a fan of reading on a screen, high cost would be a barrier to my purchasing e-books on a regular basis. I prefer paper. What do you think?

Neopets Gets New Line of Books in 2008

Good news for anyone like my daughter who loves Neopets! According to The Book Standard, “HarperCollins Publishers has teamed up with Neopets, an online pet site for tweens, to create a new line of books based on the company's virtual world of Neopia where users create and care for a "Neopet." According to Neopets, there are more than 40 million registered members of the Neopets website worldwide.”

Their first works will include illustrated novels, puzzle and game books, a how-to-draw book, and a field guide to Neopets, all with links back to the Neopets website. It all debuts in the fall of 2008.

I honestly didn’t think Neopets would last long, coming on the heels of the Pokemon and Digimon fads, but they continue strong today in the online world. It makes a lot of sense for them to expand beyond the Internet into traditional publishing. Neopets fans are dedicated and they spend a long time collecting their favorite Neopets and interacting in the Neopet world. This will help them extend that.

Security Tight for Arrival of New Harry Potter Book

"The release of J.K. Rowling’s last outing with her creation at one minute past midnight on Saturday July 21, will be the culmination of the most fraught operation in publishing history," says The Book Standard. "Boxes have been chained shut, barbed wire has been uncoiled and satellite tracking systems for delivery vans have been double-checked," says London's Times. Book stores across the world probably haven't received their shipments of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet, but when they do their bulky cardboard boxes will likely be padlocked into secure rooms where even staff won't see them until the magical moment of release arrives.

Lest you think you can collar a bookseller the day before the big event -- or even an hour before -- to sneak off with your copy to avoid the crowds, don't even think about it. Booksellers are bound by contract to wait until just after midnight on July 21 to release to the public.

If a store breaks such a contract with a publisher, they face lawsuits and stiff fines -- possibly even blacklisting -- from the publisher! Every big release book comes with what the book industry calls its "lay down date." That's the first date the store can put the book out on public display for view or sale. That's why when you ask your favorite bookseller about an upcoming new book and they tell you it's coming out "tomorrow" and you ask if they will kindly sell it to you today, the answer is always no.

By the way, I see that Amazon.com will allow pre-order of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by noon ET on July 17 for "release-date delivery". Barnes and Noble requires pre-order by July 16 for July 21st delivery in the contiguous 48 U.S. states.