Stephen Harris ([info]sweh) wrote,
@ 2008-06-26 15:07:00
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Time for another ebook rant
So last night I got my dead-tree (paperback) copy of Halting State from Amazon. It cost me $8. But, really, I want an ebook so I can read it on my Cybook. As previously written, I'd be willing to pay $2 on top of the $8 I already paid to have both editions. Not $24 (diesel-ebooks). Not $25 (ebooks.com, US penguingroup, ereadable). Not even $15 (fictionwise). Even Amazon charge $10 for the Kindle edition.

WTF? I'm not even able to find an ebook version as cheap as the dead tree, let alone at the price I want to pay.

Ridiculous

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[info]sethb
2008-06-26 07:53 pm UTC (link)
It won't help in the general case, but have you tried asking Charlie?

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[info]sweh
2008-06-26 08:43 pm UTC (link)
The idea flitted across my mind, but I discarded it. I don't want to be seen as a leech and even though he sometimes reads this journal it doesn't mean he owes me anything. It might also be considered an imposition on a relationship that doesn't necessarily exist. Heck, he doesn't even know I did buy the book; I could be telling lies.

So, all in all, I didn't think such a request would be appropriate.

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[info]rbradakis
2008-06-26 08:19 pm UTC (link)
I'm completely behind your ranting.

That is some absurd shit.

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[info]dvandom
2008-06-26 09:10 pm UTC (link)
Some publishers either Don't Get It, or are deliberately trying to "prove" that ebooks don't work by pricing them so high that no one will actually buy 'em. For instance, Tor Books wants $15 or more for an ebook copy of Off Armageddon Reef despite the fact it's been out in paperback for months. And despite the fact that just about everything else by that author is available through Baen for $6 or less in ebook form, if not free!

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[info]sweh
2008-06-27 12:55 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, Amazon have that in paperback for $8. Although they do have the Kindle version for $5 (matching their "bargain price" hardback version).

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[info]blarglefiend
2008-06-26 11:37 pm UTC (link)
Hrm, yeah, you won't see me paying that kind of money for an ebook.

It's got to be a publisher thing, because the mob I use (ereader.com) has plenty of cheap stuff. I've been getting the John Birmingham Axis of Time books for ~US$7 each, which is a pretty decent price IMO.

But ereader are also charging ~US$24 for Halting State.

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