Publishers keep backlist ebook prices high to avoid cannibalizing new releases
Hugh Howey · #63 Hugh Howey: Winning at the Self-publishing Game · Aug 6, 2019 · at 1:10:43
Hugh Howey discusses the misalignment of incentives between traditional book publishers and backlist authors regarding ebook pricing and ongoing promotion.
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“I realized that as soon as a publisher owned that ebook, right, they were going to jack up the price to protect their other ebooks. And this is something a lot of authors don't think about your competition for them. Like the people that own your book competes with their latest, greatest thing that they want to do well. So they're not going to promote it as heavily later. They're not going to discount it because they don't want a cheap book of their own to compete with an expensive book they just released. And man, that's an eyeopening realization when these people that you sign your lifetime rights over Don't have your best interest in heart for the entire length and breadth of your career. It's only during that launch window, really.”
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