The new e-book pricing level of $12.99-$14.99 agreed to by Amazon recently in a major concession to the power of the big publishing houses is under a grass roots attack by the e-reading public, per “E-Book’s Cost Is Going Up” (NYT 11 Feb 2010). Many committed e-book buyers are balking at this raise from the until-now standard of $9.99 for new issues, showing their displeasure by posting bad reviews & comments on the Amazon & B&N websites, dissing on internet message boards, and returning to their local public libraries for their reading material. It is a battle between the publishing industry’s desire for its (& its authors’) profitability and consumers’ sense of entitlement, fed by the availability of so many other types of free or less expensive divertisement. Industry seems to anticipate that the iPad and its followers will open up a vastly larger audience to e-book purchasing, buyers who will consider a !4.99 price tag a bargain for a $25.00 book, rather than a 33% hike up from the expected $9.99 e-price.

Tags: Amazon.com, Apple, Business, E-book, New York Times, Publishing, Publishing and Printing, Website

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