Ebook Sales Of Harry Potter Lead To Increased Physical Sales As Well
from the funny-how-that-works dept
For years, JK Rowling absolutely refused to offer an ebook version of the Harry Potter books, claiming that doing so would lead to piracy. As we pointed out at the time, that was ridiculous, because the books were already widely available in unauthorized forms online, and putting legitimate versions up wouldn't change that -- it would just allow people who wanted to pay to do so. It took years, but when Rowling finally came to her senses on ebooks, she even went further and ditched the DRM (and the middleman). And, while there were some questions about the true value of the setup, overall, it's hard not to consider it a pretty massive success.In the first month alone, it appears that almost $5 million worth of Harry Potter ebooks were sold. But here's the interesting bit. Even with DRM-free books, and plenty of infringing copies being out there, not only did tons and tons of people pony up for the ebook, but it also increased physical book sales as well, even as some worried that it would cannibalize such sales:
The Harry Potter e-books are DRM-free. ”Obviously there were fears piracy would increase as a result of being DRM-free, and that sales of the e-books would cannibalize sales of the physical titles,” [Pottermore CEO Charlie] Redmayne told The Bookseller, “but we were delighted to see sales of the physical books go up, and piracy come down.” He also said that “though there had been an increase in piracy immediately after launch, the community had rejected these illegal versions because of how the e-books were brought to market.”Indeed, it's good to see that Rowling's team figured out ways to add value to get people to buy, but it again highlights some points we've been making for a while. Just because things are available for free, it doesn't mean people will automatically go the infringing route. If you offer something better that people want, they'll buy it. On top of that, the fear of cannibalization may be overblown as well. We've heard similar stories in the past as well, where authors have found that wider ebook infringement also means increased physical sales.
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Filed Under: drm, ebooks, harry potter, jk rowling, pottermore
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Re:
the paradox, hypocrisy and failing of pirate logic never fails to amaze me.
but then again, if you also believe you are going to live forever inside a computer when the "singularity" happens I guess any kind of thinking is possible.
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If you can sell an object at a fixed price, and the replication fee is minimal(you can not duplicate an ebook for free. It takes power, server time, storage space, transaction time, etc etc, likely $0.05) you make more money than when the replication cost is greater(paper, ink, printer cost, shipping, safe to say right about $2.00) for a similar object.
So instead of grossing ~$4.95 a sale on ebooks, only ~$3.00 is grossed for a physical copy. These are total minus pie cuts, but $4.95 give each party a greater portion than the $3.00
Please have a basic understanding of real world economics and how they relate to making money before posting inane replies that have nothing to do with what the original comment was.
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You are correct. Correlation is not proof. But do you have an alternative theory about why an official DRM-free release would increase sales of both ebooks and physical copies as well as reducing piracy?
There are a couple of good reasons in giving some credibility to the correlation being causation in this case.
First, this is not a broad sweeping case of correlation. One example frequently used by the RIAA was that CD sales went down at the same time as Napster started. However, there were a lot of other things going on in the market at that time and there were lots of alternate explanations of why CD sales began to decline at the same time. This is a different case because it is quite a tight correlation, and because there do not appear to be any other events going on at the time that could have caused the uptick in book sales or the decrease in piracy. I am not aware of any other concurrent major events in the Potterverse during that time that would have accounted for the change.
Second, there are two things that happened (increase in physical copies and decrease in piracy) that seemed to happen concurrently. There is also substantial economic-based theory that predicted both of these results as a result of an official DRM-free release of the series.
Discussion is good. I am honestly interested in whether you have an alternative explanation about why the physical sales rose and piracy declined.
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Re: Re: Re:
Too be fair, this one's easy:
Publicity about another release, without regard to the nature of that release (aka, the fact that it was digital without DRM could be independent or have a minimal impact).
However, that actually strikes the point sideways, as the real point is that the release did not hurt sales the way that DRM supporters claim such releases do.
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*facepalm*
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Re:
I have never bought or read a full book. They are rubbish.
FTFY
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Re: JudgeMENTAL
Which part? And who sold you only part of a book??
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Re: Re: JudgeMENTAL
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As long as they are being published as Ebooks and DRM free, I'm thinking this is a way forward and authors, publishers and fans will both benefit wildly!
Publishers need to see the money left on the table by not publishing in Ebook format.
Also, to carry this thread to a slightly off topic, I just tried to pre-order The Avengers movie. I will buy it for my own collection and enjoy it. Sure I could download any of the several on the Internet but, quality is crappy and I want to get the best to watch. So I'll wait.
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Re: Re: Re: JudgeMENTAL
You didn't pay for it?
Dirty pirate.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: JudgeMENTAL
Still, what can you do, once a group decides a word has a new meaning then it has that new meaning.
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Re: Re: Re: JudgeMENTAL
That's a lawsuit.
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This is my favorite kind of stupidity. I won't even touch upon my opinion of the Potter books, but I will point out the pure awesomeness of the following statement:
1. I'm completely ignorant of Subject A because I've never taken any part in it whatsoever and
2. The reason I haven't taken any part in Subject A is because I've decided it's rubbish
If you can't realize how silly that statement is....you should be a politician....
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Re: Re:
I have never bought...
This rubbish site is apparently full of nothing but pirate apologists and the pirates that love them.
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1. I'm completely ignorant of Subject A because I've never taken any part in it whatsoever and
2. The reason I haven't taken any part in Subject A is because I've decided it's rubbish
Yeah, read the comment above. He's not entirely ignorant. He did what I did and borrowed a copy from someone (making us both raporists). He thinks the part he read was crap. I agree.
However, I didn't come here to just to say that what I read was crap. It doesn't matter whether or not I think it's tripe. What matters is what the market thinks. I can't stand Justin Beiber, J.K. Rowling, Gordon Ramsay, Stephen King, or Nickleback but they seem to be doing quite well for themselves. What I initially came here to say was bravo to the author for taking the plunge into DRM-free ebooks, and I'm glad things worked out the way they did for her.
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The series exposed countless young children to the wonderful world of reading and grew together with them forging a whole generation of readers that will most likely pass their habit/hobby to their children.
Also, it single-handledly expanded the editorial market and renewed the intered in the young-adult literature that, after a huge market saturation in the 1970's and 1980's, was loosing steam and declining in the 1990's.
It did more for authors and literature in general in the past 10-years than any "non-rubbish"-works did. Sadly, some people still doesn't seem to capable of appreciating this fact.
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Re: Harry potter books ae rubbish
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Hmmmm
Haven't we heard that somewhere before? Now just where oh where have I heard that?
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Special situation
/sarc
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Re: Special situation
Insert this will only work for... in 3... 2... 1...
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Re: Special situation
Potterville is NOT a special situation, nor is it a new phenomenon - the Baen free library has been in existence since at least October 11, 2000 and is still going strong.
Again, ask yourself why 25 authors would allow their works to be freely distributed if they didn't get any benefit from it?
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Re: Special situation
/sarc
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Re: Re: Special situation
Now, if she charged minimal amounts, she could become a publisher all by herself...
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@ Harry Potter Whiners (pro and con)
The Harry Potter critics and whiners site is that way ->
Please have your pissing contests over there.
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Re: @ Harry Potter Whiners (pro and con)
Sure, go open your mouth.
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back @weneedhelp
End of.
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Re: back @weneedhelp
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new normal
what i find amazing is that in a world that we are told and shown by our leaders is so corrupt, people for the most part are pretty honest and honorable when given the opportunity. more magic from the person who made magic cool again.
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The best part
Imagine that...don't treat your customers like criminals, and they won't be one.
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Re: The best part
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Unable to purchase the English version as opposed to Americanize
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Re: Unable to purchase the English version as opposed to Americanize
1. Get the US version. You could have fun comparing the differences.
2. Pirate it, because they are not giving you what you want.
3. Go without.
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Re: Unable to purchase the English version as opposed to Americanize
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Goddammit.
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Re: Goddammit.
Though when people are reasonable it does save me quite a bit of work.
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A proof of success
Fans of a particular series are often very protective of it: if an adaptation does not meet the expectations that they have expected from a franchise, they'll just shove it under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist. The success of the site is proof enough that they have succeeded in the minds of their fans, and others too.
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too bad pottermore site is confusing
They may be trying to create value. But I just want the book!
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Re: too bad pottermore site is confusing
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1. Get the US version. You could have fun comparing the differences.
2. Pirate it, because they are not giving you what you want.
3. Go without.
Or maybe 4 options perhaps:
Or just go to the library and check it out - for free. :)
Ohhhh, but maybe I shouldn't say that - is that promoting 'piracy'?
Hell, before you know it, they'll be playing music for free on the radio.... errr... wait...
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economics at work
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