Waxing on About Them Price Fixers

In continued updating on the ebook price-fixing lawsuit, three of the companies have agreed to settle, and their settlements have been accepted by the DOJ. Although the NYT is a nice short bite, a better assessment can be found here at Techdirt.

It should be very interesting when Penguin Group USA, Macmillian, and Apple go to trial next summer for the suit. I don't know how they possibly think they can win, given the DOJ doesn't bring up a suit unless they have irrevocable evidence to support their accusation. The DOJ literally cannot afford to do so otherwise.

Unsurprisingly, Publisher's Weekly has called this settlement acceptance stunning. I suspect it's only stunning to those who are so into the traditional publishing koolaid that they forget the person being jerked around by price fixing are the very consumers who aren't willing to pay $12.99 for a book. I've had countless friends of mine (readers, not writers) complain about the ebook prices soaring. And they're quite happy about the change.

I don't know why people forget that less cost means more books purchased, but it's the basis for why so many cheaply priced books get picked up over higher priced books. Readers don't care who published the book. They don't care if the author is an award winner or a first time novelist (at least, it's not their first basis for picking a book). They pick a book up based on recommendations first and foremost - friends first, reviews next. Then we start getting into such things as marketing and other cold-call tactics.

Marketing does have its place, it's just not as much of a place as a friend saying "Hey, read this book!"

And in the end, that is what writers need to keep in mind. Their ultimate market is readers. Not publishers, not other authors, but readers. It is with them, the consumers of our books, that we must take careful control over our own stories. They're our products.

The eBook Price-Fixing Fiasco and You

I find there's a lot of confusion about the price fixing litigation for ebooks that has come out in the past few months. Specifically, people ragging on Amazon for something that's not their fault.

Amazon did not choose to engage in illegal activity. Ergo, they didn't get hit with the DOJ lawsuit.

This is a good discussion on what happened and why it was illegal.

While I'm hardly a legal expert, I am a consumer, and price fixing is something that is illegal for a reason. It's something every consumer should be wary of and regard with the utmost suspicion. Because if a company can screw you on the price, then the consumer is the one missing out.

There's been a lot of crying out about how the book publishers are special, and they deserve the right to price fix. Don't believe me? Take a look at the responses sent by the Publishers, and the DOJ's counter responses essentially saying their complaints are invalid. This link on Passive Voice has not only the official court documents, but some excerpts highlighted and good discussion on the topic.


In other random news, What sort of reader are you? This gave me a chuckle.