Fair warning. I don’t usually post when I’m cranky, but this has to be said.
I’m a self-proclaimed voracious reader and proud of it. I own a kindle and I absolutely love that too. I believe eReaders are a fantastic invention and since I switched I read a wider variety of authors and genres, usually at a faster pace. I find it a great advantage to be able to go from an old favorite to a new escape read to a reference guide with just the touch of a button.
But the more I read on my kindle, the more I expand my own business into the independent market, the more infuriated I get by recent established publisher pricing and packaging.
Let me preface the pending rant by explaining I want authors to make money. As a paranormal romance author, I appreciate the hard work that goes into creating any book of quality. And as an alpha female, take charge author who’s been traditionally published I understand errors in formatting and book design aren’t always within an author’s control.
But I’m damned tired of paying for absolute crap when it comes to ebooks provided by traditional publishers.
When the only options were hardcover or paperback, I would usually wait for paperback, unless it was a favorite or highly anticipated. Then I’d save up, or use the welcome coupons from booksellers. If the book had a few typos I’d be irritated, if it was flat out printed incorrectly, I’d return it.
Now it seems at least two major publishers want me to pay paperback prices, or even higher ‘discount’ hardcover prices, for an ebook they haven’t bothered to proof for formatting errors.
I know mistakes happen in every format. I’m a type-A alpha female author and I embrace editing for the purposes of creating my best work in the story and in the formatting and I groan when some things still slip through. But lately the errors I’ve been forced to endure from the “major” publishers are so glaringly obvious it’s infuriating. If problems turn up in my work, I correct the file. I consider it good customer service.
This latest trend of pricing ebooks over $9.99 is ridiculous. I understand tangible book prices are going up simply because all prices are going up. I want authors to be paid well, because hey, I’m an author too. But I guarantee if publishers put a poorly designed paperback on a bookstore shelf priced at $24.99 it would sit there until the bookstore shipped it back to the warehouse.
There are three different products now. Hardcover, paperback (and trade paperback), and ebook. Each product has different attributes and related expenses, and it doesn’t take a genius to know they should be dealt with differently in both the contract and retail pricing plan. (Konrath addressed this again recently) Ebooks are the least expensive to create and once created – properly – really have no further costs associated with the distribution.
No shipping, no warehousing, and infrequent returns.
As a customer and an alpha female sort of person, I am increasingly offended by what appears to be the assumption that ebook readers don’t care – or worse – don’t deserve a quality product.
Sure the author’s story is there – somewhere. Lousy formatting and style errors interrupt the experience and just piss me off. I really want to support my favorite traditionally published authors, but I can’t justify laying out $14.99 or more for an ebook that I don’t trust to be formatted correctly based on previous experience with that publisher. Thank heaven for libraries to tide me over until quality and pricing improves.
Hey, I understand technology glitches happen, but I also know enough about reading and formatting to recognize sloppy and lazy when it happens.
There. Rant over. The reader’s positive experience with an ebook should be of utmost concern to every publisher and I’m grateful for publishers and indie authors who take the time and care to deliver a quality product.
Live the adventure!
