| > What you're missing is that, from the author's point of view, ebooks are not interchangeable. > we're suppliers of bespoke one-of-a-kind products People who make specialty designer products all think this way, it isn't just authors. I'm well aware of the mindset, I just don't subscribe to it. Many software products are as unique as two different ebooks, however, they meet the same general need/desire for products of that category and are ultimately interchangeable under the right market conditions. > Amazon's proposed $9.99 guillotine on pricing would basically impose a 30% cut in my income if sales volume of my titles remains static. And I haven't seen any evidence that the price elasticity of demand for novels by Charles Stross will respond to crude pricing signals the way that aggregate demands for all books will do across the board. The number of authors I don't buy on price is a very, very small list compared to the majority of my ebook purchases. FWIW, I've never bought any of your books precisely for this reason. So, if you accept Amazon's premise that aggregate demand for all ebooks will increase, that leads to the basic question of: Why should I specifically value the net outcome for Charles Stross over any other author that benefits from the increase in demand? |