Full Retail+ For An eBook? I Don’t Think So
By 
Among the first full books I read on my iPhone using the eReader app was Sail by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. (Good book- good but not great)
It was on sale at the time and while I don’t recall the actual price, it was somewhere below the current price of $18.89 on eReader.
That’s not inexpensive but it IS below the retail price of the book.
Now on Amazon the book is $18.47 in hardcover…
and will be just $9.99 when it is released in paperback next month.
If I want it on my Kindle it is just $12.59 and is delivered in 60 seconds (and redownloadable!).
So would someone PLEASE tell me who is going to pay $27.99 for an iPhone app version of it??????
Don’t get me wrong, I truly believe electronic versions of books, magazines and newspapers are here to stay. I RARELY use dead tree versions any more and am convinced e-versions will be the dominant medium in a very short time.
BUT…
If we want people to make the change, publishers need to make eBooks convenient AND cost-effective.
$10 more for the iPhone version than the hardcopy? You have got to be kidding.
