Book Club

[athenian]

Yes, the prices have increased dramatically.  Partly I suppose because of the big court case involving Ibooks and publishers colluding on price and cutting Amazon out of certain books when Amazon was really discounting ebooks.  I got some credits from Apple in the settlement.  Amazon probably figures to keep safely out of pricing and let publishers take the heat.  Publishing is a really low margin business, and they must think get the profit where they can.

I just thought how many jobs would be lost if most people went to ebooks.

[millieshops]

I read mostly from my public library whether I'm reading on my Kindle Fire or from print.  Once in a while, I actually buy a book, but those are virtually all from the non-fiction category or some mystery costing 25 cents at a yard sale.

The one thing I worry about with Amazon is that given its huge size, it will overrtake the retail world and edge out smaller businesses.  A few weeks ago, there was a line in some financial column which said Amazon is already bigger than Walmart, Bank of America, and Boeing COMBINED.

Imagine the power that gives them and compare it to the days when people were complaining that Walmart was destroying Main Streets all over the country. 

[SXMGirl]

It is true that the publishers set the price, and I have also found that best sellers and well-known authors have e-books that are almost the same price as a hard-back book. I do get the free e-books from Bookbub and the like, and I also use my Kindle for the lending library, which allows one free book per month.

What I do when a favorite author publishes a new book is to wait six months.  Generally, the e-book is reduced by half. 

[rustee]

Of late, I have been buying Patterson's Bookshots and/or Kindle Singles (under $4).  I am an audiobook junkie ~ I love having Alexa read them to me as I follow along in the text version.  

[lainey1]

I think it's because more and more people are reading on their devices instead of an actual book (hardback/paperback). So of course they want to make the most money they can.

When I go to buy a book I now look to see if it's cheaper for the Kindle (device) or the actual book. It's about 50/50. I'm surprised when the actual book is cheaper than the Kindle (device) version. 

[willdob3]

No, I don't buy many Kindle books. Never have. 

I can get plenty of free ones from Amazon, or borrow from the library. I've got Prime so I also get a free book each month, if I am interested in the ones offered.

[gardenman]

There is no reason for an e-book to be priced as high or higher than a print book. I've seen a few e-books that are priced higher than the print version and that's just greed on the part of the publisher. There's no justification for it.

[debic]

Well I'm not sure what books you guys are buying, but I went through every preorder I had and not a single book has the hard backs more than the ebook and only one paperbook was cheaper.   It was a mass market print, which means cheaply done.

What doesn't cost more than it did a couple years ago?   

*ETA*  Personally they're worth more to me.  I can pack 1000 books in one small device.  Also I can make the print larger so I can actually read the book.

[beckyb1012]

My library now offers the Kindle to check out and even has a new feature for your PC to read books that way on-line.  I have not done either.  I would rather go the two blocks from my office to the Library and roam the shelves, old school for me.  Nothing like picking up a new release on Hold or finding something on the shelf that has been there since 1950's or earlier. Cannot beat free!

[sunala]

---

@tansy wrote:

I download virtually all of my fiction books from the library.  

---

Hi @tansy I do the exact same thing! If the book I want isn't on library website, I recommend it and they will order it. There are only a few books that they can't get, in which case I'll borrow the paper book from the library.

I think I've paid for about a half-dozen books in the years I've had the Kindle. But I never ever paid anywhere near $10 for a book! I have over 1000 books on my Kindle right now that I own, from the various ebook websites like bookbub, freebooks.com, robinreads, etc. I have more books than I will read in my lifetime, yet I keep taking out ebooks from the library lol