Re: Ebook Price War Obscures Larger Problem

Every neighborhood needs a bookstore, and every bookstore needs a dog. :)

--- In [email protected], josephHarris <joe9438@...> wrote:
>
> On 30/09/2012 09:17, Chris wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, 29 Sep 2012, Bill Amatneek wrote:
> >
> > > So, there must be some small publishers who are only selling
> > > their e-books through their own websites. It seems to me that
> > > if I wanted a book and it was only available thru the publisher
> > > and not Amazon, that I would go to that publisher and buy it.
> > > Is it that difficult to set up e-book sales through one's own
> > > publishing site?
> >
> > It's quite likely that many small publishers often operate this
> > way. I suspect the advice is more aimed at the large publishers.
> > They, however, have probably always been reluctant to go this
> > route because it places them in direct competition with the
> > bookstores.
> >
> > The small publishers, by contrast, may have some difficulty
> > getting wide distribution in bookstores everywhere, and so will
> > easily move to direct sales.
> >
> > As long as paper books outsell ebooks, I can't see publishers
> > willing to risk alienating the channel that provides the majority
> > of their income. The corollary of course, is that if ebooks ever
> > look likely to reach parity with paper, we might reasonably
> > expect a sudden about face on the part of major publishers.
> >
> > It also seems likely to expect - whether we like the idea or not
> > - a sudden bookstore implosion at such a point. Should it come to
> > pass, it would probably make the bookstore contraction that we
> > have seen up to this point in time seem miniscule in comparison.
> >
> > The article leans more to suggesting that customers have come to
> > expect they can get all books in one place. The problem I have
> > with that idea is that it isn't based on reality -- I *already*
> > cannot get all books in one place. I need to have a variety of
> > book and magazine stores, both physical and online, in order to
> > completely meet my reading material expectations. Of course,
> > there is always the possibility that although that is not the
> > reality, it may actually be the publishers' perception. If *that*
> > is the case, then that would imply they think their books are
> > everywhere, ready to be bought -- but they aren't. In that case?
> > The publishers have a really big problem, and they don't know it!
> >
> > ... Chris
> >
> > : chris smith ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
> > : nihil tam munitum quod non expugnari pecunia possit - cicero :
> >
> > 
> 
> Chris,
> 
> That is very perceptive and insightful  and a valuable contribution to 
> the discussion of this matter. Thank you for it.
> 
> I agree that a lot does hang on the survival of bookshops. One advance 
> made by small publishers - a trend that started in the late 1970s in the 
> UK - was the treatment of other retail outlets for books related to 
> their products. In the UK this probably started with the opening of the 
> great historical houses to public viewing. Indeed some of  those 
> publications, often thin paperbacks, could be found nowhere else.
> 
> There has been a tendency to see the whole publishing business as 
> dominated, controlled by and dependent upon the monster publishers - 
> often thought of as the 'Big Six' in New York. I don't know if this was 
> ever true, but today for certain it is not. Ever since Gutenberg's 
> moveable type the publishing industry has been innovative and adapting 
> as a whole industry. And now, I suppose like the theory of evolution, 
> there are endless variations on the theme, some of which you refer to in 
> your comment, ready to fill the niches that future history, economic 
> experience and (mis)fortune will bring.
> 
> Joseph Harris
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>




------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Post a message:   ebook-community [[at]] *
Unsubscribe:      ebook-community-unsubscribe [[at]] *
Switch to digest: ebook-community-digest [[at]] *
Switch to normal: ebook-community-normal [[at]] *
Put mail on hold: ebook-community-nomail [[at]] *
Administrator:    ebook-community-owner [[at]] *

(* == yahoogroups.com)
-------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    [email protected] 
    ebook-community-fullfeatured-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ebook-community-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/