 |
| The Worship of Mammon (1909) |
| by Evelyn De Morgan |
What's a reasonable price difference between a paperback and a kindle version of a novel. Should the kindle version be half the price, a third of the price? The people at Penguin Classics have some odd ideas about pricing. I enjoyed Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and decided I might like her gothic novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The paperback Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition is $12.80. It includes an introduction and some illustrations. (I'm not certain about the illustrations but an illustrator is listed.) The kindle version of that edition is $12.99. Yes, that's right. The electronic version is 19 cents higher than the paper version. Follow the links if you don't believe me and I wouldn't believe me either but it's true. The version made up of 0s and 1s that can be wirelessly delivered to you and replicated for next to nothing costs MORE than the paper one which costs money to create and deliver. Hmmm. Was there an error somewhere or is this just greed on the part of the publisher? Very, very ugly greed. I think I'll be reading a copy from the library.
I still haven't seen The Hobbit movie. I know. I'm probably the only fan of Tolkien's books that hasn't seen it. I don't like movie theaters and it will drive me nuts to not be able to immediately see the rest of the films after I watch the first one. I finally gave in to curiosity the other day and bought the DVD. I'm holding off on watching it until I finish my novelette. You have to reward yourself once in a while. I laughed when I noticed that the movie is rated PG-13 for "intense fantasy action violence and frightening images." Isn't The Hobbit supposed to be a kid's book?
When I bought King's 11/22/63, I was faced with the same insanity and ended up getting the massive hardcover because it was cheaper than the Kindle edition. In Medias Res
ReplyDeleteA hardcover was cheaper than a kindle? That is insane. I wonder if this is a ploy on the part of the publishers to reduce their warehouse stock of paper copies.
DeleteAs to the Hobbit - yeah, they did amp it up a bit. But my 9 year old certainly enjoyed it. Both times she watched it!
ReplyDeleteMy kids say the pictures on the cover are too scary. They think Gollum is some kind of vampire. They didn't believe my explanation of what he is.
DeleteOut of courtesy or friendship, I've purchased sale-priced (almost free) e-books, but bound copies are still my preference. Although I don't begrudge my fellow writers their living, I don't understand the high price of many e-books, especially considering the low cost of publishing and maintaining them.
ReplyDeleteExactly! You can't blame the writers, though. They don't have much if any say over the price that the publisher sets.
Delete