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Price Increase for eBooks?


caladancid

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I was checking out the eBooks section, looking to complete the collection, and saw that Vengeful Spirit has gone up from 15.99 to 18.99. Has anyone heard that this will be the new going prices? Seems crazy that BL is continuing to increase eBook prices from the already high mark, I am hoping its been this way for a while and I just missed it.

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I can't view the dollar prices (yet). Do you mean that the eBook used to be cheaper, and is now more expensive? Or that it is more expensive than the book that preceded it?

I always had range from 12 to 18.99 for them in general. Can't see the issue.

In terms of the physical books, 'Vengeful Spirit' was 50% longer than most novels - so much so that in French and German it had to be split into two volumes.

 

Some HH books before that were bumped up to a higher price point, of 25 pounds instead of the usual 20. 'Fear To Tread' was one notable example, I think there were 1 or 2 more? 'VS' was definitely 25 pounds, so 20% more expensive than the norm.

 

However, you'll all be pleased to know that BL have decided to cap the price of HH books at 20 pounds, regardless of length, since the beginning of this year. 'War Without End' was originally going to be 25 but we pulled it back, and set that as a precedent. BL is free to make decisions like this again, since it broke away from the mainline Studio.

 

So, in future you shouldn't have to worry about this.  :)

In terms of the physical books, 'Vengeful Spirit' was 50% longer than most novels - so much so that in French and German it had to be split into two volumes.

Some HH books before that were bumped up to a higher price point, of 25 pounds instead of the usual 20. 'Fear To Tread' was one notable example, I think there were 1 or 2 more? 'VS' was definitely 25 pounds, so 20% more expensive than the norm.

However, you'll all be pleased to know that BL have decided to cap the price of HH books at 20 pounds, regardless of length, since the beginning of this year. 'War Without End' was originally going to be 25 but we pulled it back, and set that as a precedent. BL is free to make decisions like this again, since it broke away from the mainline Studio.

So, in future you shouldn't have to worry about this. smile.png

Thank you Laurie. Your insight is always welcomed!

Yes, thanks for responding to this. I believe that Vengeful Spirit used to be cheaper as an eBook. It certainly is much more expensive right now to buy the eBook versus the paperback. The physical book has always been the same price as far as I know.

 

Just curious, and glad to hear the prices won't be increasing past a certain point.

Hmm, I see what you mean.

 

Try dropping Customer Services a line, and ask them (nicely) if they can explain why the eBook costs so much more than the paperback. We might be missing something, here...

 

(In fact, BL Customer Services should always be the first port of call with questions like this. Replies on a forum thread tend to come from the fan community, rather than someone who ACTUALLY knows the answer - in this forum, I'm probably the most likely to know the actual reason, and even I'm having to bow out and admit I can't explain it easily or quickly!)

Haha that is true, I have just found that BL customer service can sometimes take a while to answer. Forum posts are more like the Bat-signal. And in this case, I did actually get Batman.

 

(fanboy on) Also, can't wait for Giant's Coffin. (fanboy off)

I believe Vengeful Spirit was always a tad more expensive than the others, since launch. Ebook and Hardback.

Not sure this was the exact launch price, but Wayback Machine indicates that it has been $18.99 at least as far back as November 2015 (no snapshots before that).

Haha that is true, I have just found that BL customer service can sometimes take a while to answer. Forum posts are more like the Bat-signal. And in this case, I did actually get Batman.

 

(fanboy on) Also, can't wait for Giant's Coffin. (fanboy off)

 

I hope you enjoy it! 'The Aegidan Oath' certainly lays a lot of groundwork for it... but isn't compulsory reading...

In terms of the physical books, 'Vengeful Spirit' was 50% longer than most novels - so much so that in French and German it had to be split into two volumes.

 

Some HH books before that were bumped up to a higher price point, of 25 pounds instead of the usual 20. 'Fear To Tread' was one notable example, I think there were 1 or 2 more? 'VS' was definitely 25 pounds, so 20% more expensive than the norm.

 

However, you'll all be pleased to know that BL have decided to cap the price of HH books at 20 pounds, regardless of length, since the beginning of this year. 'War Without End' was originally going to be 25 but we pulled it back, and set that as a precedent. BL is free to make decisions like this again, since it broke away from the mainline Studio.

 

So, in future you shouldn't have to worry about this. :)

Out of curiosity, is a writer paid more the larger the book is? I imagine that the editorial costs rise slightly but shouldn't ebooks be very much cheaper to produce? I've self published some educational books and I'm always happy when people buy the e-books because a. It's cheaper for both then and me b. Less headache regarding shipping and bad print jobs.

 

Obviously I don't know what it's like for a large company like you guys but for me paying a only slightly less than a physical book at times makes me buy a lot less. I'm willing to spend more to get more. 3 ebooks for say...20 than 1 for 15.

 

Of course a company dictates it's own pricing in relation to what a consumer I'd willing to pay. Getting an e-book NOW is a huge bonus to the purchaser. So I can see added cost for getting that advantage. Then again, the seller is getting money in their pocket just as fast and they avoid headaches with the printing process.

 

I understand that if you can't provide to many juicy details, however. Also, apologies if you had conversations similar to this one before.

For novels, BL pays an author a flat rate advance - this is generally an ongoing negotiated amount, book to book, varying by author and project. It doesn't account for length, even though a project will be specifically commissioned at 50k, 80k, 90k or 100k words. A book is not approved if it is more than 10% shorter than commissioned length, but the only limit on it being longer is whether or not the editor thinks it detracts from the overall narrative.

 

(For short stories, BL pays 5p-per-word on the commissioned length, up to 20k words. An author is allowed 10% over or under, but will be paid accordingly.)

 

'Vengeful Spirit' is the longest BL novel in the last ten years, at 150k words.

 

The reason the longer HH books used to cost 25 quid is because the old printers we used to use had a significant charge increases on anything over 416 pages, and the decision was made to increase the RRP accordingly. It was only for proper doorstop books, not a gouge on every title.

 

But as I said, we've decided not to do this anymore. From the beginning of 2016, all HH hardbacks have been capped at 20 quid, even though a couple of them have been heavy enough to beat a Warseer forum member to death.

For novels, BL pays an author a flat rate advance - this is generally an ongoing negotiated amount, book to book, varying by author and project. It doesn't account for length, even though a project will be specifically commissioned at 50k, 80k, 90k or 100k words. A book is not approved if it is more than 10% shorter than commissioned length, but the only limit on it being longer is whether or not the editor thinks it detracts from the overall narrative.

(For short stories, BL pays 5p-per-word on the commissioned length, up to 20k words. An author is allowed 10% over or under, but will be paid accordingly.)

'Vengeful Spirit' is the longest BL novel in the last ten years, at 150k words.

The reason the longer HH books used to cost 25 quid is because the old printers we used to use had a significant charge increases on anything over 416 pages, and the decision was made to increase the RRP accordingly. It was only for proper doorstop books, not a gouge on every title.

But as I said, we've decided not to do this anymore. From the beginning of 2016, all HH hardbacks have been capped at 20 quid, even though a couple of them have been heavy enough to beat a Warseer forum member to death.

Amazing explanation! Ty Laurie! Part with Warseer and weight made my day biggrin.png

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