❌OPINIONS PLEASE❌
✨I was talking with my boyfriend about actual book prices VS. the price of the same books, but in Kindle or audiobook form.
✨In my opinion, the price difference (Audiobooks/Kindle/ebooks) between them is absurd & in a way kind of an insult not only to the publishers, but the authors themselves.
✨I'd LOVE to hear your guys thoughts & opinions on this. Personally, I can't read anything but ACTUAL in my hands books!📚
#SundayDebate
swishandflick I do think the price of physical books vs e-books can be a bit odd (though I also think it ultimately balances out since you have so many daily deals on e-books to take advantage of) but with audiobooks, though it's tough that they're pricey, it makes sense to me when you factor in the separate work/time to record it, produce it, etc. It's a whole separate batch of people in addition to the author/publisher who also need to be paid for their work. 7y
DGRachel The price, IMO has less to do with the book, and more to do with the format. Granted, I haven't done the research, so this is all assumption- but aren't ebooks less expensive to produce and distribute than print? I'm all for fair prices for labor & materials, but with print I'm paying for paper and glue and ink, not just the efile, and I'm okay paying a premium for it. Where's the insult to the publisher or author? (edited) 7y
abbsinwonderland @DGRachel how much do they make from ebooks, ect, verses the actual book? I honestly haven't done much research myself, that's why I'm reaching out on here. 7y
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bookloo Hey Abbi! While I agree with you that some Kindle prices can be absurd to the authors, I love my Kindle. The fact that I can get a book immediately from the comfort of my own bed and support my library in the process is a huge selling point to me and a lot of other e-readers. Do I still buy physical books? Of course! But if I desperately need it right then and there, my library doesn't have it, and it's cheaper? I'm getting it on my Kindle. ❤️ 7y
abbsinwonderland @swishandflick that is true for the Audiobooks. I didn't take into consideration the production of them. You're totally right on that. 7y
abbsinwonderland I believe I regret posting this. My apologies. I'll take it down soon. 7y
abbsinwonderland @bookloo that's totally understandable! 7y
swishandflick @abbsinwonderland No worries at all! It's a valid question and one I asked myself before buying my first audiobook 😄 7y
Bette I usually only read actual books as well. I can't comment on what you are saying about personal prices. I purchase our library system's Overdrive ebooks,audio and my rant is that a single title can cost $95.00. When Gone Girl was popular, I had to purchase five copies, approximately 500 dollars, which would equal a huge amount of physical books. And many of our patrons have no idea that a book might cost 28$ and the same digital $95. Thx 4 👂 7y
DGRachel @abbsinwonderland I think it's an interesting question. definitely no reason to apologize or take it down. I'm sorry if I sounded harsh. I'm certainly curious to find out more about how authors are compensated. I know with Kindle Unlimited, authors receive royalties based on the number of people who read the book cover to cover. People are not buying the books, but the author still gets paid if people read. That seems like a good deal for everyone (edited) 7y
abbsinwonderland @Bette OMG! $95!? Wow! Like I stated above, due to my own personal morals, I've never purchased an audiobook, ebook, or anything of the sort. So I probably have no right speaking on this topic since I haven't done much research into those forms, but I just found it interesting. 7y
bookloo @Bette I very recently found this out from an AMA on Reddit for OverDrive, but librarians were still praising it despite the ridiculous prices. Are we the readers supporting our libraries or hurting it by loving OverDrive, in your opinion? 7y
DGRachel @Bette Wow! I knew libraries had to pay a premium for books, but I had no idea it was so much. That's crazy! 7y
abbsinwonderland @DGRachel yes, that's kind of more of what I was getting at, how much the authors are actually compensated. You didn't sound harsh, I just kind of felt for a moment this post may have offended some. 7y
abbsinwonderland @bookloo @bette that's a great question! 7y
abbsinwonderland @MrBook I'm sure you may have an opinion on this? Being as you're a librarian? Or possibly even @BookBabe 7y
Bette @bookloo just my opinion, our patrons want the convenience, we want to give them what they want. I don't think it hurts to love Overdrive, it provides a service and we count the uses in our circulation. The publishers make us jump through hoops, some titles we can buy forever, some we lease for 12 or 24 months, some we lease for 26 circs and make us really pay for all of it. Pubs don't like unlimited folks getting something for a token amount. 7y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I'm like you in that I usually only buy physical books. I love hardcovers and feel like if I'm going to buy something I want to have in my possession! Lol I am old school though! If it's a popular book I will wait it out and buy it from Thriftbooks or Amazon when it when the price goes down. I do have a kindle fire that my husband bought as a birthday gift. I like it and use it some, mostly at bedtime so that he doesn't fuss about the light! 7y
abbsinwonderland @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks yes. Hardcovers are my life. I actually thought about getting a Kindle Fire for that exact same reason. Just because I stay up reading, but my boyfriend also wants me to lay with him when he goes to bed. I might have to look into one of those again, at least for his own comfort while trying to sleep. 7y
MrBook An excellent question! This comes up regularly at the library. I can understand why audiobooks are expensive--having friends who make them for a living, it's very intensive and requires a lot of overhead with equipment and what not. E-books should be much less expensive than they are, it's a matter of the digital format being hardly anything to copy and distribute. I am upset that physical copies--my go-to format--have up-ticked quite a bit. 7y
abbsinwonderland @Bette thank you so much for your insight. I honestly had no idea about most of that and learned alot. So thank you. I appreciate it! 💜 7y
Bette Thanks for listening. 👍💙 7y
abbsinwonderland @MrBook thanks for commenting. Do you have any insight to how much authors and publishers are compensated? 7y
abbsinwonderland @MrBook that's basically my main concern. I feel like, or know really, if they're receiving the compensation that they deserve for their hard work 7y
ferskner @bette @abbsinwonderland Agreed, library patrons have no idea the cost of other formats. I'm a collection development librarian, and I get complaints all the time that we don't purchase more audiobooks/ebooks (we do purchase both, but we only spend so much of the materials budget on it per our board's wishes, blah blah blah I have issues with that). Lots of patrons think we should have all formats of all books, and we can't do that. 7y
bookloo @Bette Like Abbi said, thank you for the response! My friends and I used to get so frustrated at our library for only buying one copy of a popular ebook with over 20 people waiting. We were like, "Why can't they buy 3 copies?!?!" I feel bad, and this definitely changed my perspective. I'll be sure to tell them! ?? 7y
Bette @bookloo @ferskner yep, it's our budget that drives what we can get, it's tough. Bookloo, don't feel bad, we feel bad too. Our system has recently changed our focus and we are buying more duplicates, which limits maybe a wider selection, but we figure the holds indicate what readers want. I think it's a process. What also is hard is that our digital folks aren't across the desk, so it's hard to communicate, I'd like to hear from them. 7y
abbsinwonderland @bette @bookloo @ferskner @MrBook I'd also like to make it known, seeming as I don't use those formats, I've never gotten angry at the librarians for the decisions and choices they make. I also don't check out books from my local library (germs, bugs, ect), but I do donate books to them and purchase a fair share monthly (heavily sanitized and cleaned) to support them that way. 7y
ferskner @abbsinwonderland 👌👍👏 7y
Bette Sweet! We all do what we can. 😊👍 7y
MrBook No, every author has a their own unique deal, and every publisher and platform works out different contracts. It must be mind-boggling 😳. 7y
TongueTiedSLP11 I do see the discrepancy as odd at times. However, the one benefit I do see for having audio books or e-books is that it's more environmentally friendly. But I like both honestly. 7y
CarolynM Both have their place but if I really love something I read as an ebook I have to have a hard copy 7y
abbsinwonderland @MrBook ah I see. I just didn't know if authors and publishers were getting ripped off or not. Thank you for your insight! 7y
MrBook It's an excellent question. I'd love to know too. Unless they make it known, I know nuttin' 😩. V.E. Schwab announced that she made a $1 million deal for her next book. Now THAT's cool! 😎👌🏻 She's definitely earned it. (edited) 7y
abbsinwonderland @MrBook maybe one day we'll have the answers lol. And yes that's awesome! 7y
RebL There is a difference on the consumer end as well. When you buy a physical book, it is yours forever & you can do with it whatever you wish. You can resell it, you can loan it, you can keep it on your shelf forever & no one can take it away from you. This is not true with digital format. You do not buy the book so much as you lease it. Sometimes you can loan them & sometimes your dealer can stop servicing a title & it disappears from your shelf. 7y
abbsinwonderland @RebL what?! Wow. I didn't know that. That's crazy 7y
KathyWheeler @ferskner I'm a reference librarian who may or may not be transitioning to collection development. Even at a university, we get people wanting us to purchase all formats of a title. I got so frustrated with this that once I did a local conference presentation where I talked about the difference in cost. The book I used as an example costs $24.00 in print. If I buy the ebook, which I did because it was our Common Read, the same title cost me $240. (edited) 7y
ferskner @KathyWheeler WOW! That is crazy! 7y
abbsinwonderland 😱😱😱😱😱 7y
KathyWheeler @ferskner To be fair, the access was for unlimited use, but it's still a hefty jump in price and the only difference is that more of our patrons can use the book at the same time. 7y
ferskner @KathyWheeler That makes sense. I used to buy databases for an academic library and the price difference between unlimited and limited use was astounding. 7y
KathyWheeler @ferskner Even the difference between 3-user and unlimited in terms of an ebook is astounding. 7y
bookloo @abbsinwonderland Not angry, just frustrated that over 30 people have to wait 21 days for each person to finish one copy of a book. But now that we know the costs for libraries, it's sorted. We're informed. 👍🏽 7y
abbsinwonderland @bookloo I'm glad this post turned out to be insightful and educational. Thank you everyone. 7y
GlassAsDiamonds Another comment here - I'm Australian and while I live overseas, my "home store" is usually Oz. It is galling beyond belief to see an eBook being sold on US Amazon for $2- but Australian Amazon for $9.99. To my mind, there's no way that's not just immoral price gouging. I prefer physical books anyway but the "Australian" eBook does NOT cost more to make. 7y
abbsinwonderland @GlassAsDiamonds thanks for commenting! I didn't even think about prices for other countries! 7y
GlassAsDiamonds @abbsinwonderland 😊 it makes it really hard. The standard cost of a small paperback is usually around $16-, the argument being transport costs since they're imported but eBooks that stupidly priced and I think it just massively inflates piracy. Anti-piracy studies show that people prefer to legally buy IF the prices are reasonable but we can google so we know when we're being screwed. It's really annoying. Good topic! 😊 7y
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