Should ebooks be free or at least much cheaper?

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Anirudh Badri
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Re: Should ebooks be free or at least much cheaper?

Post by Anirudh Badri »

Currently, only a small percentage of a physical book's cost is given to the author. Most of it is taken by the publishing house to cover costs and make profits. Ebooks can do a lot to change this because you no longer need the full bells and whistles of a publishing house to establish yourself as a writer. And as ebooks become more and more important, the price of ebooks will most likely fall because of competition.
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Naval Aulakh
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Post by Naval Aulakh »

According to me the e-books should be very cheap as compared to paper backs
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Rodelyn DE Guzman
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Post by Rodelyn DE Guzman »

I disagree that ebook comes for free , take consideration how convinience of using ebooks in finding books that you really needed.I guess the price of the ebook must be price reasonably because we are not only paying the books...we are also paying our conviniency.
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Maria joraimah
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Post by Maria joraimah »

I agree that ebooks should at least be cheaper and not totally free. Let's consider the authors too. They put out cash when they do ebooks and although it's their passion writing books, it would still be rewarding on their part if they can get even just a little amount out of it. :)
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Post by AKristin »

It should be cheaper because production of it is a lot cheaper.
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Jamesmbugua
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Post by Jamesmbugua »

Should be free
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Buchacha21
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Post by Buchacha21 »

I agree with others in that ebooks should not be free. The author needs to get paid for his/her work. But they should definitely be cheaper. Especially when one considers that if I pay $20 for a paperback, I can then share it with all my friends and family. But if I pay $15 for an ebook version, I'm not allowed to share it. I only ever download free or $5 and under books for my Kindle. If it's a book I really want, I'll buy the paperback. They are often very close in price so I'd rather have a genuine copy I can share with others.
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raikyuu
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Post by raikyuu »

Rodelyn DE Guzman wrote:I disagree that ebook comes for free , take consideration how convinience of using ebooks in finding books that you really needed.I guess the price of the ebook must be price reasonably because we are not only paying the books...we are also paying our conviniency.
The cost of making an ebook is small compared to a paperback. If you're paying a whole lot for an ebook, you must be one generous individual. Whether an ebook should be free or not depends on the publisher and the author.
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busycat
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Post by busycat »

Ebooks seem less tangible than print because the cover and physical pages aren't there. Even though the words and story are the same, it just seems to be a file stuck in a phone or e-reader. So in general, yes, I pay a lot less for e-books and I expect to. But they should be free only for promotions because they do have value. Making them always free is saying they don't have any value and that's just not true.
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LaarraineK
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Post by LaarraineK »

Not free, but definitely cheaper than a hard copy. I bought myself a Kindle last year and I love it. i have read some amazing free books that were a part of a series, which I then purchased the other books in the series to keep reading. Sometimes the price of an ebook is almost as expensive as the hard copy. I think since there is a considerable cost difference in production, they should be less expensive but not free as the author is trying to make a living too.
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Post by Nina Rose »

E-books should be cheaper since it did not involve publishing expenses that much than actually publishing an actual book on paper
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Post by csimmons032 »

I could understand ebooks being cheaper, but I don't agree with books being free unless that's through the author's choice or some sort of promotional deal. The books are still being sold, and an author put in the time and effort to make this book, which is why the books should not be free.
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Violet Riri
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Post by Violet Riri »

I think they should be cheaper to support the seller financially to cover some bills related to selling books online also its a good source of income.
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Post by josjos »

:| they should be more cheaper so that the buyers can opt to buy ebooks instead of hard books free its not good because the author need to get something from his or her work
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Post by raikyuu »

LaarraineK wrote:Not free, but definitely cheaper than a hard copy. I bought myself a Kindle last year and I love it. i have read some amazing free books that were a part of a series, which I then purchased the other books in the series to keep reading. Sometimes the price of an ebook is almost as expensive as the hard copy. I think since there is a considerable cost difference in production, they should be less expensive but not free as the author is trying to make a living too.
I do agree that ebooks should be cheaper. But it's not the readers' decision to say whether a book should be free or not, especially as we're living in this capitalistic society, where even our words have a price tag.
-rk
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