The actual cost to convert a .pdf book file into a tagged XML ePub (or equivalent) file is around $.10 - $.15/page (it's a variable cost due to how complex a page layout might be and how much quality assurance must be performed to ensure that everything's "right" after file conversion has been completed).
For a typical 300-page trade book, that's a cost (to the publisher) of around $30 - $45 per book.
So you might ask, then why can't eBooks be sold through retail sites for next to nothing, if the cost to convert from .pdf to ePub (or whatever) is so little?
The fact is that whether a book is published in print or electronically, the cost to write, edit, compose, and so forth - plus the publisher's profit - remains essentially the same. The variable cost is in how the title is distributed - physically or electronically. And, also, whether a publisher sells the book directly to consumers or if it has to move through a retail channel (like Amazon or B&N whether it's a print or electronic edition).
Even an electronic edition has to be given server space to display content when someone's browsing and, perhaps, a preview of the Table of Contents, some chapters, and so on. Someone needs to do all the input and prep work to make it available on a retail site (plus all the back-end transaction-related things if someone decides to buy a copy).
Even if it's not on a retail site, but rather an eBook portal (which is a retail-like vehicle for publisher or author direct-to-consumer eBook distribution), those things need to be done - and the portal needs to make a profit as well.
So while the cost to convert a .pdf file to an ePub (or equivalent) book is very small, there are many other upstream (creative and editing) and downstream (distribution and website) costs - and profits - that need to be covered.
Regardless, selling eBooks at prices at or near print book prices is goofy; it's like banks charging high ATM fees to dispense money when actual costs are lower to do that than having a teller handle the transaction.
But, apparently the publishers / retailers are establishing prices that they think the market will bear (which is why the Kindle format books, which is a proprietary eBook format that can only be read on the Amazon reader, are a joke to buy). Only time will tell if that's a successful strategy or not - I think prices will fall over time as the market for eBooks matures and more and more authors and independent publishers are able to offer eBooks direct to consumers. Sorry for the LONG post.
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Cost to Produce eBooks
For a typical 300-page trade book, that's a cost (to the publisher) of around $30 - $45 per book.
So you might ask, then why can't eBooks be sold through retail sites for next to nothing, if the cost to convert from .pdf to ePub (or whatever) is so little?
The fact is that whether a book is published in print or electronically, the cost to write, edit, compose, and so forth - plus the publisher's profit - remains essentially the same. The variable cost is in how the title is distributed - physically or electronically. And, also, whether a publisher sells the book directly to consumers or if it has to move through a retail channel (like Amazon or B&N whether it's a print or electronic edition).
Even an electronic edition has to be given server space to display content when someone's browsing and, perhaps, a preview of the Table of Contents, some chapters, and so on. Someone needs to do all the input and prep work to make it available on a retail site (plus all the back-end transaction-related things if someone decides to buy a copy).
Even if it's not on a retail site, but rather an eBook portal (which is a retail-like vehicle for publisher or author direct-to-consumer eBook distribution), those things need to be done - and the portal needs to make a profit as well.
So while the cost to convert a .pdf file to an ePub (or equivalent) book is very small, there are many other upstream (creative and editing) and downstream (distribution and website) costs - and profits - that need to be covered.
Regardless, selling eBooks at prices at or near print book prices is goofy; it's like banks charging high ATM fees to dispense money when actual costs are lower to do that than having a teller handle the transaction.
But, apparently the publishers / retailers are establishing prices that they think the market will bear (which is why the Kindle format books, which is a proprietary eBook format that can only be read on the Amazon reader, are a joke to buy). Only time will tell if that's a successful strategy or not - I think prices will fall over time as the market for eBooks matures and more and more authors and independent publishers are able to offer eBooks direct to consumers. Sorry for the LONG post.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Galghaidhil.
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