For about half a week, a major story in publishing world has been the price war over major bestselling books. How would you like that next Stephen King book for $10? A Koontz book for $9? Sounds good, huh?
.The price war was started by Walmart.com and followed by Amazon. What's the problem? Well, it's a legal one.
.Reuters reports:
.The American Booksellers Association has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a recent price war on books sold online between such retail giants as Wal-Mart Stores Inc,
.Amazon.com Inc and Target Corp ahead of the holidays.
Recent price cuts "constitute illegal predatory pricing that is damaging to the book industry and harmful to consumers," the trade organization's board of directors wrote in letter sent to the department on Thursday.
.Recent price cuts "constitute illegal predatory pricing that is damaging to the book industry and harmful to consumers," the trade organization's board of directors wrote in letter sent to the department on Thursday.
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Now, of interest, the ebook edition of Under the Dome does not follow this trend. Released directly from the publisher, it will have the same price as the hardcover book.
.Simon & Schuster's Adam Rothberg said, "Given the current state of the marketplace and trends in digital book pricing, we believe that this is the most appropriate publishing sequence for this particular 1088 page work of fiction." http://www.gloucestertimes.com/pulife/local_story_294225808.html?keyword=secondarystory
.But wait. . . there's more! What does the King say? A note to the constant reader on King's website says:
.Dear Constant Readers,
Please don't believe the press reports that the e-book reader price for Under the Dome will be $35. This was the result of confusion from a press release from the publisher, what Big Jim Rennie would call a clustermug. It is true that you cannot order the book as an e-download until December 24th, but the physical book, which is a beautiful thing, you can pre-order for less than $9--so who's better than us?
Steve
.Please don't believe the press reports that the e-book reader price for Under the Dome will be $35. This was the result of confusion from a press release from the publisher, what Big Jim Rennie would call a clustermug. It is true that you cannot order the book as an e-download until December 24th, but the physical book, which is a beautiful thing, you can pre-order for less than $9--so who's better than us?
Steve
Interesting that this comes from King himself. Also interesting that he doesn't say how much the ebook will actually cost -- just mentions the low price of the hardcover.
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