The problem with ebook windowing
For years, people in the business of publishing content have used windowing to maximize revenue. The most expensive version comes out first, and the die-hard fans who have to have it right away will buy. Lesser fans wait for the the next version, a little cheaper, and the casual fans or not-even-fans wait for the bargain version. This worked because each version was a reasonable substitute for the others. For books, reading a hardcover and reading a paperback are not so different.
But as we move farther in the direction of digital distribution, this substitution goes away. As more people read books on screens instead of paper, the hardcover and the ebook are no longer substitutes. Sometimes they are complements, and sometimes they are completely unrelated. For authors we love, we will read the electronic version and take the pristine hardback to the author’s reading at the local bookstore for a personalized signature. For other authors, more and more people are only going to be interested in the ebook. The hardcover will not be a substitute or a complement – it will be a waste of space in their living room.
Unless we rethink the way windowing is done, and really only window the substitute goods, this practice will only hurt authors and publishers. When goods are complementary or unrelated, holding one back hurts sales, not helps. If you put out the hardcover first, people who want the electronic version will be angry, and are more likely to look for entertainment elsewhere, or turn to filesharing sites who are sure to have nice leaked or scanned copies.
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February 28th, 2010 22:47
Right, which is why you release the electronic version immediately, at a high price, and bring the price down in increments as time passes.
The video game industry has been doing this for years.
March 1st, 2010 13:13
Interesting that you bring up the video game industry. I don’t know much about their pricing structures as I’m not a gamer, but I get the impression that many games are moving towards subscription services where you pay to use their server. The sale of the game itself is secondary to the recurring monthly cost.
There’s not really a good parallel to this model when you talk about books. Playing a video game on a centralized server is a valuable, scarce service. The content, the code that makes up the game itself, is not that important.
For books, there isn’t that experience to sell, at least not for most readers. You hear people talk about “enhanced” ebooks, but I don’t see that catching on. Once you have the content, all the experience you need is an ebook reader, a comfy chair and a reading lamp. This means that the content itself IS important to the process.
And so you’re left with a non-scarce good as the most important part of the process. This is a bad business to be in.