E-Book of The Talon of Horus Now Available

[Candleshoes]

Title says it all, just need to hit the check out button.

 

Don't forget that today's the day all us normal folk can get our hands on a copy (and at a very affordable cost).

[DarKnight]

FINALLY!!!! Thanks for the heads up

[Thee85]

I wanted to read this one, but I'm not paying $23.99 for an Ebook.  $15.99 is ridiculous, and now its going up again?  Nope, I'm done.

[DarKnight]

I agree but I actually like AD-B and at the very least he should be rewarded for his hard work. Eventually I'll get way more than 23.99 worth of value from it, but the principal is really sucky

[Marshal Rohr]

Well, I have a paper on US-Russia relations due on monday and 200 pages of Angela Stent's book to go before I can write it. 

 

 

But I just bought ToH.

[Bulwyf]

I know ADB has zero point zero control over BL pricing and I know there's a decent chance he sees this thread. So in the off chance he does, please do not take this as a slight towards you.

 

This pricing is insane. There literally is a one dollar difference in the price between the actual hardcover book and the e-book. One fragging dollar. One dollar between a hardcover, not even a soft cover, book you can hold in your hands and an e-book which is nothing but data. I have to question the literal sanity of whoever decided that a price point for an actual hardcover book is worth one dollar more than an e-book.

 

The BL has been raising prices for e-pubs over the last two years and this is getting into the cost prohibitive why even bother range. I am never spending that much money on an e-book that I don't even really own as an actual book. There is no way they can list rising costs of saving a stream of data on  your e-reader as an excuse to raise prices this high.

 

The only way you as a consumer can effectively voice an opinion against a for profit organization is to withhold your business from them. I refuse to buy e-books that cost so much you are better off getting the hardcover. I don't know if the ultimate goal of BL is to kill off their digital customers but from their killing Hammer and Bolter from a reasonable priced e-mag to individually gouging over short stories and novellas to now charging an arm and a leg for an e-book they are certainly sending that message across.

[incinerator950]

I refuse to directly buy from GW and it's affiliated companies, this is one of my many reasons.

[Marshal Rohr]

A DB has fixed chaos, and I'm only 140 pages in.

[A D-B]

I wanted to read this one, but I'm not paying $23.99 for an Ebook.  $15.99 is ridiculous, and now its going up again?  Nope, I'm done.

 

 

I know ADB has zero point zero control over BL pricing and I know there's a decent chance he sees this thread. So in the off chance he does, please do not take this as a slight towards you.

 

This pricing is insane. 

 

I refuse to directly buy from GW and it's affiliated companies, this is one of my many reasons.

 

I have a genuine question, which is less a defence of pricing (like you said, I have no control over it) and more just a need for context. Do you not buy many other hardbacks and/or eBooks released to coincide with the hardback release? Because I buy a few on-release-day eBooks every year, and they always seem to be priced in line with whatever the current physical version is, be it a hardback price or a paperback price. And in this instance, it's close to (and, indeed, a little cheaper) than prices I usually pay for hardback-timed eBook releases.

 

I get that GW's prices are a common complaint, and I'm flattered someone would register on a forum just to complain about it, but I'm honestly confused on this one. It's literally no different from industry standard (like many, many of BL's decisions that attract endless bile and are assumed to be GW-only maliciousness).

 

Again, to be clear here, I'm not saying it's cheap or that anyone has to buy it. It costs, say, the same as 4 beers on a night out in London, which is a lot for some people, me included. I'm not going to weep into my Cheerios if someone doesn't think my work's worth industry standard price for bestselling authors, but it honestly confuses me that it's such a shock to some folks. Is it because you don't buy many hardbacks or eBooks during the hardback period?

[Chaeron]

Cheaper as a UK eBook, and incurs VAT - so unlucky if you lost out on the conversion!

[marine7312000]

I think I'll be holding out for a bit to see if the price on this drops. I personally seldom buy books during the hardback period.

[Bulwyf]

 

I wanted to read this one, but I'm not paying $23.99 for an Ebook.  $15.99 is ridiculous, and now its going up again?  Nope, I'm done.

 

 

I know ADB has zero point zero control over BL pricing and I know there's a decent chance he sees this thread. So in the off chance he does, please do not take this as a slight towards you.

 

This pricing is insane. 

 

I refuse to directly buy from GW and it's affiliated companies, this is one of my many reasons.

 

I have a genuine question, which is less a defence of pricing (like you said, I have no control over it) and more just a need for context. Do you not buy many other hardbacks and/or eBooks released to coincide with the hardback release? Because I buy a few on-release-day eBooks every year, and they always seem to be priced in line with whatever the current physical version is, be it a hardback price or a paperback price. And in this instance, it's close to (and, indeed, a little cheaper) than prices I usually pay for hardback-timed eBook releases.

 

I get that GW's prices are a common complaint, and I'm flattered someone would register on a forum just to complain about it, but I'm honestly confused on this one. It's literally no different from industry standard (like many, many of BL's decisions that attract endless bile and are assumed to be GW-only maliciousness).

 

Again, to be clear here, I'm not saying it's cheap or that anyone has to buy it. It costs, say, the same as 4 beers on a night out in London, which is a lot for some people, me included. I'm not going to weep into my Cheerios if someone doesn't think my work's worth industry standard price for bestselling authors, but it honestly confuses me that it's such a shock to some folks. Is it because you don't buy many hardbacks or eBooks during the hardback period?

 

 

 

If I am being honest, which I tend to be towards one of my favorite authors, then I will purchase the book (from BL so you get full credit just to be clear since a previous post seemed to suggest some level of shenanigans)  because I have yet to read anything from you that when I am finished my head does not slightly nod in a vague direction of Ireland in honest admiration of the work.  So your Cheerios need not be soggy with anything other than milk from my standpoint.

 

My concern is why does an e-book cost almost as much as an actual hardcover. I do not in fact buy any hardbacks sans historical ones like the Land of the Elephant Kings which is an excellent work on the Seleucid Empire.  Which, in that specific example, the hardcover is $40.53 USD currently while the kindle version is $29.99. Whereas with your book, which again I must point out that I realize you have no control over the pricing of said worthy tome, is $24.99 in hardcover but $23.99 in e-book format. I simply do understand why the e-book cost is so much higher than other BL e-book novels.

 

If this is now industry standard then I accept it as a fait accompli in terms of my whinging over the price. I just do not understand the price difference. It is by absolutely no means a criticism of the book or the author.

[Marshal Rohr]

It was 26 USD for me to buy Kissinger's new book last week. The price of the EBook is determined by early access. You pay a premium to get it early.

[Chapter Master Valrak]

Got myself the audio book, ADB + Jonathan Keeble = wet dream.

[Emperors Immortals]

A DB has fixed chaos, and I'm only 140 pages in.

Well, you convinced me. Once I buy the puppy we just have to have now now now daddy please.

 

I know S.Fry recommends the audio format, but I just cannot get into it. Digital though is okay, but still not made from trees like nature intended.

 

Edit - kissinger AND stent? No wonder you need a distraction lol.

[Conn Eremon]

 

 

I wanted to read this one, but I'm not paying $23.99 for an Ebook. $15.99 is ridiculous, and now its going up again? Nope, I'm done.

I know ADB has zero point zero control over BL pricing and I know there's a decent chance he sees this thread. So in the off chance he does, please do not take this as a slight towards you.

 

This pricing is insane.

I refuse to directly buy from GW and it's affiliated companies, this is one of my many reasons.

I have a genuine question, which is less a defence of pricing (like you said, I have no control over it) and more just a need for context. Do you not buy many other hardbacks and/or eBooks released to coincide with the hardback release? Because I buy a few on-release-day eBooks every year, and they always seem to be priced in line with whatever the current physical version is, be it a hardback price or a paperback price. And in this instance, it's close to (and, indeed, a little cheaper) than prices I usually pay for hardback-timed eBook releases.

 

I get that GW's prices are a common complaint, and I'm flattered someone would register on a forum just to complain about it, but I'm honestly confused on this one. It's literally no different from industry standard (like many, many of BL's decisions that attract endless bile and are assumed to be GW-only maliciousness).

 

Again, to be clear here, I'm not saying it's cheap or that anyone has to buy it. It costs, say, the same as 4 beers on a night out in London, which is a lot for some people, me included. I'm not going to weep into my Cheerios if someone doesn't think my work's worth industry standard price for bestselling authors, but it honestly confuses me that it's such a shock to some folks. Is it because you don't buy many hardbacks or eBooks during the hardback period?

I have never seen a price change between hardback and mass-release when it comes to ebooks. Hardbacks are released usually around $30 here in California, and paperbacks can range from $6 - $14 depending on the style and size. Ebooks are released at the same time as the hardbacks, but have prices closer to the paperbacks. You can even predict what the price of the paperbacks will be by the ebook price when released simultaneously with the hardbacks.

 

Black Library is the only publisher I know of that does it differently. But this is based solely on my own purchases of fiction books. I haven't taking the time to actually research anything, so other exceptions might exist. And Black Library is the only publisher I have a tendency to purchase from that I know is primarily based over in the British Isles, so it is possible that it is simply operating on a norm that is not the case for those over here.

 

It is a little irritating, as you have one company that charges more for what is essentially the same product. It'd be like if one bar charges double for their beer.

 

Either way, it's worth it for me. Haven't gotten it yet, because the next three weeks go my mother's birthday, my brother's birthday and rent. But I can't wait until I grab it.

[Lucien Eilam]

There are a couple of things that exaggerate it.

 

BL's ebook prices are set according to the UK price everywhere rather than the local print price, which looks a lot worse in the US - the $1 difference for you is closer to a $5 difference in the UK.

 

And people are used to paying peanuts even for hardback books because of Amazon. The price being relative to the print RRP is small consolation when nobody's had to pay anything close to the RRP for over a decade.

[deathspectersgt7]

Ordered the Regular hardback version  ,but picked up The 5000 year leap & Overfiend, Master of Sanctity. Looking forward to reading Talon.

[Guest]

I have the Audio too And I am loving it ...

I would love to know what type of Daemon the Ragged Knight is I know it is Khorne well I think it was :)

[A D-B]

There are a couple of things that exaggerate it.

 

BL's ebook prices are set according to the UK price everywhere rather than the local print price, which looks a lot worse in the US - the $1 difference for you is closer to a $5 difference in the UK.

 

And people are used to paying peanuts even for hardback books because of Amazon. The price being relative to the print RRP is small consolation when nobody's had to pay anything close to the RRP for over a decade.

 

Good points.

 

 

 

 

I wanted to read this one, but I'm not paying $23.99 for an Ebook. $15.99 is ridiculous, and now its going up again? Nope, I'm done.

I know ADB has zero point zero control over BL pricing and I know there's a decent chance he sees this thread. So in the off chance he does, please do not take this as a slight towards you.

 

This pricing is insane.

I refuse to directly buy from GW and it's affiliated companies, this is one of my many reasons.

I have a genuine question, which is less a defence of pricing (like you said, I have no control over it) and more just a need for context. Do you not buy many other hardbacks and/or eBooks released to coincide with the hardback release? Because I buy a few on-release-day eBooks every year, and they always seem to be priced in line with whatever the current physical version is, be it a hardback price or a paperback price. And in this instance, it's close to (and, indeed, a little cheaper) than prices I usually pay for hardback-timed eBook releases.

 

I get that GW's prices are a common complaint, and I'm flattered someone would register on a forum just to complain about it, but I'm honestly confused on this one. It's literally no different from industry standard (like many, many of BL's decisions that attract endless bile and are assumed to be GW-only maliciousness).

 

Again, to be clear here, I'm not saying it's cheap or that anyone has to buy it. It costs, say, the same as 4 beers on a night out in London, which is a lot for some people, me included. I'm not going to weep into my Cheerios if someone doesn't think my work's worth industry standard price for bestselling authors, but it honestly confuses me that it's such a shock to some folks. Is it because you don't buy many hardbacks or eBooks during the hardback period?

I have never seen a price change between hardback and mass-release when it comes to ebooks. Hardbacks are released usually around $30 here in California, and paperbacks can range from $6 - $14 depending on the style and size. Ebooks are released at the same time as the hardbacks, but have prices closer to the paperbacks. You can even predict what the price of the paperbacks will be by the ebook price when released simultaneously with the hardbacks.

 

Black Library is the only publisher I know of that does it differently. But this is based solely on my own purchases of fiction books. I haven't taking the time to actually research anything, so other exceptions might exist. And Black Library is the only publisher I have a tendency to purchase from that I know is primarily based over in the British Isles, so it is possible that it is simply operating on a norm that is not the case for those over here.

 

It is a little irritating, as you have one company that charges more for what is essentially the same product. It'd be like if one bar charges double for their beer.

 

Either way, it's worth it for me. Haven't gotten it yet, because the next three weeks go my mother's birthday, my brother's birthday and rent. But I can't wait until I grab it.

 

 

Every eBook I've bought on its day/week/month of release that also had a hardback was essentially the same as the hardback in price. George R.R. Martin; Robin Hobb; Stephen King... all of them. They then went down in price when the paperback came around. I've seen it mentioned as a factor in the current 'war' between various publishers and Amazon - but again, I'm not defending any pricing system, or even commenting on it beyond taking note. I see both sides of the argument.

[Conn Eremon]

 

 

There are a couple of things that exaggerate it.

 

BL's ebook prices are set according to the UK price everywhere rather than the local print price, which looks a lot worse in the US - the $1 difference for you is closer to a $5 difference in the UK.

 

And people are used to paying peanuts even for hardback books because of Amazon. The price being relative to the print RRP is small consolation when nobody's had to pay anything close to the RRP for over a decade.

Good points.

 

 

 

I wanted to read this one, but I'm not paying $23.99 for an Ebook. $15.99 is ridiculous, and now its going up again? Nope, I'm done.

I know ADB has zero point zero control over BL pricing and I know there's a decent chance he sees this thread. So in the off chance he does, please do not take this as a slight towards you.

 

This pricing is insane.

I refuse to directly buy from GW and it's affiliated companies, this is one of my many reasons.

I have a genuine question, which is less a defence of pricing (like you said, I have no control over it) and more just a need for context. Do you not buy many other hardbacks and/or eBooks released to coincide with the hardback release? Because I buy a few on-release-day eBooks every year, and they always seem to be priced in line with whatever the current physical version is, be it a hardback price or a paperback price. And in this instance, it's close to (and, indeed, a little cheaper) than prices I usually pay for hardback-timed eBook releases.

 

I get that GW's prices are a common complaint, and I'm flattered someone would register on a forum just to complain about it, but I'm honestly confused on this one. It's literally no different from industry standard (like many, many of BL's decisions that attract endless bile and are assumed to be GW-only maliciousness).

 

Again, to be clear here, I'm not saying it's cheap or that anyone has to buy it. It costs, say, the same as 4 beers on a night out in London, which is a lot for some people, me included. I'm not going to weep into my Cheerios if someone doesn't think my work's worth industry standard price for bestselling authors, but it honestly confuses me that it's such a shock to some folks. Is it because you don't buy many hardbacks or eBooks during the hardback period?

I have never seen a price change between hardback and mass-release when it comes to ebooks. Hardbacks are released usually around $30 here in California, and paperbacks can range from $6 - $14 depending on the style and size. Ebooks are released at the same time as the hardbacks, but have prices closer to the paperbacks. You can even predict what the price of the paperbacks will be by the ebook price when released simultaneously with the hardbacks.

 

Black Library is the only publisher I know of that does it differently. But this is based solely on my own purchases of fiction books. I haven't taking the time to actually research anything, so other exceptions might exist. And Black Library is the only publisher I have a tendency to purchase from that I know is primarily based over in the British Isles, so it is possible that it is simply operating on a norm that is not the case for those over here.

 

It is a little irritating, as you have one company that charges more for what is essentially the same product. It'd be like if one bar charges double for their beer.

 

Either way, it's worth it for me. Haven't gotten it yet, because the next three weeks go my mother's birthday, my brother's birthday and rent. But I can't wait until I grab it.

Every eBook I've bought on its day/week/month of release that also had a hardback was essentially the same as the hardback in price. George R.R. Martin; Robin Hobb; Stephen King... all of them. They then went down in price when the paperback came around. I've seen it mentioned as a factor in the current 'war' between various publishers and Amazon - but again, I'm not defending any pricing system, or even commenting on it beyond taking note. I see both sides of the argument.

*shrug* I'm going to go with regional differences then. Winds of Winter was, if I am remembering right, about half the price of Talon upon its initial hardback release, when I purchased it as an ebook. Looking it up now, it's currently $5 for the ebook.

 

I'm not saying this to attack or defend anything, I'm just pointing out that there is a difference in pricing from where I stand.

[Thee85]

 

I wanted to read this one, but I'm not paying $23.99 for an Ebook.  $15.99 is ridiculous, and now its going up again?  Nope, I'm done.

 

 

I know ADB has zero point zero control over BL pricing and I know there's a decent chance he sees this thread. So in the off chance he does, please do not take this as a slight towards you.

 

This pricing is insane. 

 

I refuse to directly buy from GW and it's affiliated companies, this is one of my many reasons.

 

I have a genuine question, which is less a defence of pricing (like you said, I have no control over it) and more just a need for context. Do you not buy many other hardbacks and/or eBooks released to coincide with the hardback release? Because I buy a few on-release-day eBooks every year, and they always seem to be priced in line with whatever the current physical version is, be it a hardback price or a paperback price. And in this instance, it's close to (and, indeed, a little cheaper) than prices I usually pay for hardback-timed eBook releases.

 

I get that GW's prices are a common complaint, and I'm flattered someone would register on a forum just to complain about it, but I'm honestly confused on this one. It's literally no different from industry standard (like many, many of BL's decisions that attract endless bile and are assumed to be GW-only maliciousness).

 

Again, to be clear here, I'm not saying it's cheap or that anyone has to buy it. It costs, say, the same as 4 beers on a night out in London, which is a lot for some people, me included. I'm not going to weep into my Cheerios if someone doesn't think my work's worth industry standard price for bestselling authors, but it honestly confuses me that it's such a shock to some folks. Is it because you don't buy many hardbacks or eBooks during the hardback period?

 

 

No, I don't buy many on-release-day Ebooks, other than release day stuff I've bought off of BL in the past.  I didn't know release day pricing like this was a common industry standard.  IF they actually lower the price at some point then I will gladly buy it. 

 

I realize that $23.99 isn't all that expensive in relation to many other forms of entertainment.  It costs that much, if not more, for 4 beers here in the U.S too (you'd be lucky to get 4 in some places).  My frustration comes from the fact that BL's Ebook prices were around $8.99 two or three years ago.   Now you're lucky to get a novella for that much.  I want to know the reason for the huge jump in price in the last couple of years?  Are they paying you guys more, or using that money to find new talent?  If so, that's fine, I have no problem paying a little (or a lot more) if it means more high quality stuff is being produced.  That doesn't seem to be the case though.  You and Dan Abnett (and maybe Chris Wraight) are good enough writers to justify the current prices.  No one else is even close in my opinion, yet they charge the same pretty much across the board. 

 

Hopefully its apparant that none of what I'm saying is meant as an attack or to devalue your work? I know you have absolutely nothing to do with pricing, and obviously I enjoy your writing or I wouldn't have registered on a forum just to complain about the cost of your latest release.  I just feel like a jump of $15 on Ebook prices in less than 3 years is a little ridiculous.

 

Edit:  I just realized I actually registered on this forum in 2010.  I've been a long time lurker, I just never really had anything to say until now.  I also took out the Kyme bashing, I've certainly read worse.

[Lucien Eilam]

I want to know the reason for the huge jump in price in the last couple of years?

 

Three years ago they didn't sell hardback books. I don't think the Night Lords trilogy was ever released in hardback, for example.

 

Standard industry practice (outside Amazon) is to charge the price of the print edition less 10-15%. I'm not sure if it's still the case after all the lawsuits, but when the iBookstore launched you gave them the price of your print edition and they set the ebook at ~85% of that price. There was no option to charge anything else.

 

Now they're releasing pretty much everything as hardback first. In the UK, hardbacks cost anywhere up to about £20, whereas paperbacks are usually in the £5.99 - £7.99 range. So they can charge more than twice as much for the ebook.

 

With no shipping there's no disincentive to comparing prices in different currencies, so there's no point in charging different prices in different countries. Everywhere in the world gets the UK price. Print prices still vary - the $ price for print is generally less than the the equivalent in £. This makes the price difference between print and digital for US customers much smaller than the difference in the UK.

 

I mean, the simple answer is "because they can, welcome to capitalism", but that's how they've arrived at the prices they have.

[Thee85]

 

I want to know the reason for the huge jump in price in the last couple of years?

 

Three years ago they didn't sell hardback books. I don't think the Night Lords trilogy was ever released in hardback, for example.

 

Standard industry practice (outside Amazon) is to charge the price of the print edition less 10-15%. I'm not sure if it's still the case after all the lawsuits, but when the iBookstore launched you gave them the price of your print edition and they set the ebook at ~85% of that price. There was no option to charge anything else.

 

Now they're releasing pretty much everything as hardback first. In the UK, hardbacks cost anywhere up to about £20, whereas paperbacks are usually in the £5.99 - £7.99 range. So they can charge more than twice as much for the ebook.

 

With no shipping there's no disincentive to comparing prices in different currencies, so there's no point in charging different prices in different countries. Everywhere in the world gets the UK price. Print prices still vary - the $ price for print is generally less than the the equivalent in £. This makes the price difference between print and digital for US customers much smaller than the difference in the UK.

 

I mean, the simple answer is "because they can, welcome to capitalism", but that's how they've arrived at the prices they have.

 

That's actually very enlightening, thanks for posting.  The only other place I've ever bought ebooks from is Amazon, so I tend to compare BL's prices to their's and think, ":cuss...".  I guess that's not a fair comparison, which I didn't realize.  I was a little confused by A D-B's "industry standard price for bestselling authors" comment, since my experience is primarily based on Amazon, and very few Ebooks on their website (that I've seen) even approach $23.99.  It makes more sense now.

 

I'm sure my original post came across as a tantrum, and I probably should have thought it out a bit more before I wrote it.  I was admittedly pretty frustrated when I posted.  Like most others on this board, I was really excited for ToH.  I'm just not paying that much for an Ebook, regardless of how much I like the author. 

[Lucien Eilam]

Amazon are a special case. They want every book to be sold for $9.99 or less, and don't care who loses their job in the course of making that happen. It's probably a sustainable price point for the J K Rowlings, Stephen Kings and Dan Browns of the literary world, but most novels only ever sell a few thousand copies and there's no way they'll ever make up the difference in quantity. Hence BL, and quite a few other smaller, niche publishers, aren't available on Kindle, and Amazon's various attempts to bully publishers into line.

 

I'm sure my original post came across as a tantrum, and I probably should have thought it out a bit more before I wrote it.

 

Not at all. There's no reason for most people to know most of this stuff, and the publishing companies certainly don't do a great job of justifying it.