Penguin eBook Prices Are Outrageous
By Jane • Sep 9th, 2007 • Category: Ebooks, Letters of Opinion, Misc • •Penguin has recently been releasing more ebook versions of its products. Penguin has lagged behind the digital market compared to the other NY publishers such as Harper Collins, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Harlequin. In April, it announced that Genevieve Shore would be the global digital director for Penguin worldwide. Penguin’s ebook website has been sorely outdated. It’s hard to navigate but more importantly it lacks up to date information. There are many Penguin books that are in ebook format that are not found on its ebook site. Since Shore’s arrival, there has been no improvement in the Penguin site, either in look or functionality.
This month, we readers have seen dozens of Berkley, NAL, Signet and ROC books being put out in ebook format. I was really excited and purchased “My Immortal” by Erin McCarthy in eform two weeks ago when it was offered by Fictionwise as one of the books with the 100% micropay rebate. The book was priced $9.99 and I figured that it was a trade paperback. But then I saw “Caressed by Ice” by Nalini Singh in ebook format and was all set to buy it when I saw that it, too, was $9.99.
Further searching brought up more and more ebooks from Penguin with the higher price tag. That’s right, Penguin is charging $2.00 higher for its ebook copy of a mass market paperback. An ebook is an item that is not returnable, cannot be sold, and is subject to draconian digital rights management (DRM) which prevents free portability of a book from device to device. And for this, I have to pay $9.99? I think not.
Miki, an ebook reader, researched several books:
- Tanner’s Scheme (7.99/9.99)
- On the Prowl (7.99/9.99)
- Fall of Knight (7.99/9.99)
- Simon Says (7.99/9.99)
- Here She Lies (7.99/9.99)
- Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light (6.99/9.99)
- Notorious (7.99/9.99)
I called Penguin customer service and no one had an answer for me. I spent 20 minutes on the phone and was transferred from department to department. Finally someone told me that they had no idea what I was talking about and that pricing was determined by the editorial team. I should make my complaints to them. I said I thought that was ridiculous and likely untrue. I related that I had more than a few readers email me about these increased prices and that it was deterring sales, not encouraging sales. I was told to email customer service: customer.service@us.penguingroup.com.
I don’t know if it will do any good to email customer service, but perhaps if enough voices make a stand regarding this outrageous pricing, we ebook readers won’t be treated like shoddy consumers. If anything, I think that this type of pricing not only deters purchases but encourages piracy. Please, Penguin, reconsider what you are doing. Making ebook readers pay a 25% premium on a book is simply wrong.
At this point, I refuse to buy another ebook from Penguin until its pricing is more in line with other ebooks (which is to say below the retail price of the paper version). The Penguin ebook pricing, I assume set up by Ms. Shore, leaves me with a very negative feeling toward Penguin.
I hope other ebook readers will join me in protesting the glutinous ebook pricing scheme by Penguin.
Special thanks to Miki for her ebook pricing research.
Jane is a long time romance reader whose passion is, you guessed it, reading. Jane also does not like to talk about herself in the third person, but apparently this is the way that this biography thing works (although in a true biography, someone else would be writing this blurb). Anyway, currently Jane loves urban fantasy authors Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews. She's really excited about this year's crop of historicals including Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady and Sherry Thomas' Private Arrangements and the upcoming Loretta Chase Her Scandalous Ways.
She's looking for a good contemporary author. Email her with a recommendation!
Email this author | All posts by Jane
Sigh, not to hijack the thread, but I also wonder why the ebooks by Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Kensington, and Harlequin are not for sale for folks outside the USA. I hate waiting for months for the books to show up in Malaysia - and at inflated prices too. It’s actually cheaper for me to buy them in ebook form in US currency.
But yeah, this is the first time I’m hearing someone charging more for ebook than paperback.
I’m not much of an e-reader, but to me that’s nuts(!!!!!) to charge more for an ebook. I’ve always thought lower price was one of their selling points.
Determined by EDITORIAL??
Sorry…I had more to say.
THAT’S RIDICULOUS!
Editorial has no input on pricing…not like this, anyway. That’s determined by Sales, as in the Sales Department, with Marketing and the Accounting people. As a new author for NAL, I’m disappointed about the prices, that’s for sure, and I’ll make sure to let my editor know, but she’ll be shocked when I tell her, I’d better money on it.
Email sent.
What are they drinking in NY these days?
Ridiculous is right. I mean, I’m a huge fan of ebooks, and all, but for the same price, I’d rather have a paper-and-ink book that I can lend to my friends and resell if I’m so inclined. Plus, wouldn’t ebooks cost much less to produce? How much can it cost to format the file? Or are there more costs out there I’m not thinking of?
PS - The little animation? Perfect!
Editorial department setting prices? Don’t bother writing to Penquin’s customer service…I’ve written to them three times and never received a reply back to my question.
I’ve often found that, the bigger the organisation, the less effective their customer service departments are.
By the way Mrs G, I tried to buy an e-book directly from Kensington, and I couldn’t because I don’t live in the US, how messed up is that?
Slightly OT, but I often buy books in hardcover or trade rather than buying the ebook, because it’s the same price. I figure if I’m going to pay full price, I want the “real” book.
I don’t see this inflated pricing strategy working. Hope it gets adjusted, because if the ebook version cost less than the paperback, it might encourage more readers to try not only a new format but a new author.
Message sent to Penguin. Appalling! It’s particularly annoying because of their entire track record showing a lack of responsive to the ebook consumer.
I just sent the following e-mail:
Penguin Customer Service and EBook Departments,
I am writing in response to the information (see below) that you are charging more for the digital (ebook) versions of your books than for the hard copies. I am an avid ebook reader. I have bought approximately 500 ebooks over the past two years. (I started reading ebooks two years ago.) I am also an avid reader in general and have bought many other paperback and (fewer) hardback books over the same period.
I have never–and will never, ever–pay more for the ebook version of a book. In fact, in most cases I will not pay full price for ebook versions of paperback books that I can purchase discounted. (I buy most of my ebooks at the Fictionwise.com web site, where I am a member so receive a discount, and often buy hardcopy paperbacks at such discount vendors as Wal-Mart.)
Ebooks are a convenience for me. They save room on my book shelves. I can read them anywhere. When I am traveling, I have hundreds of books at my fingertips. But I still prefer hardcopy books for the reading experience. Like most people, if I have a choice between a hardcopy book at a certain price and an ebook at a higher price, I’ll buy the hardcopy book.
The ebook industry is still in its early stages. I’ve obviously jumped on the train early and am an enthusiastic supporter. If I won’t pay your prices, who will? The only marketing strategy this policy can serve is one designed to kill your ebook department. I was very disappointed to learn of your pricing policy, as I very much want the ebook industry to succeed, and this is a certain recipe for failure. I strongly urge that you reconsider.
In Penguin’s convoluted thinking, its customers must pay a premium for the convenience of getting the book the moment they want it and not having to leave their home.
I get the feeling Penguin’s powers-that-be do not understand the ebook market or simply don’t care. I think it’s likely both.
Brings out the not-so-nice computer geek in me…
Oh, hell no, Penguin must be out of their mind if they think someone of any intelligence would see more of a benefit in purchasing an ebook for $9.99 rather than purchase the paperback at a cheaper price. I am a ebook reader and I can tell you that I just wouldn’t bother reading their books in paper or ebook form. OUTRAGEOUS. The agenda here is to encourage more readers to the ebook format not DISCOURAGE them. I ask again: what is the problem with publishers and ebooks? I don’t get the logic behind this.
Okay, I’m trying to get into the heads of the PTB at the NY publishers and their attitude towards ebooks.
As a self-professed computer geek, I like the latest and greatest in technology. When I bought my telly, I bought the biggest widescreen LCD on the market at the time. I didn’t care about price. When I bought my laptop, I bought the lightest one on the market with the greatest processing power. Once again, price didn’t factor into my decision.
Look at the loyal Apple users. They stood in line–some overnight–to be the first ones to have the iPhone. They didn’t care about price. They had to have it.
Now–and I agree this is so messed up–the NY publishers might be thinking the ebook market is comprised of the same market–people who love technology and will not care about price. Sadly, they don’t seem to understand that you can’t flash the latest ebook for all to see and envy.
Hell with those prices EC is a bargain and they do not use DRM.
As an ebook author, I think they’re out of their freaking tree.
I also think Ann Bruce has it right — they think that gadget freaks will pay stupid prices for the latest shiny, including a premium over the price of a dead tree edition for the convenience of an ebook even when it’s DRMed to death. And then they’ll wonder why the sales figures are so low.
Jim Baen had it right. Treat your customers like honest people, and offer them a fair price, and most of them *will* be honest people.
I’m definitely not buying any Penguin books until they change the prices. I wanted to buy Silver Master by Krentz as well, but with this pricing, I’m just going to borrow it from a friend. That’s one sale lost for sure. And I really want Caressed by Ice, but again, I’ll be borrowing it from the library.
Once their e-books sales figures come in under budget, they’ll be forced to re-evaluate their ridiculous prices. You just can’t use the same marketing strategies for readers, as you would for the gadget-obsessed folks out there.
I don’t know much about ebooks as a reader of them (I sure would like to hear about how one feels while reading from the reader–is it as nice as a “real” book?). In any case, I did some research on my titles in ebook form. Fictionwise sells my titles Reason to Believe and Believe in Me. Here is the cost:
You Pay: $10.40 $8.84
Micropay Rebate: 7% 7%
Cost After Rebate: $9.67 $8.22
You Save: 7.02% 20.96%
So–is that expensive? It’s a buck less than the Penguin price, or about. Connect books sells Believe in me for 8.32. Mobipocket for 10.32. Books on Board for 7.02. Diesel for 8.48 after a discount and Kensington itself sells the book for 9 dollars.
So my question is this–if Penguin sells for 9.99, isn’t there a way to buy the book elsewhere as with mine? At a lower price?
What I’m now wondering about are my royalties on this! I can’t remember what’s in my contract.
Jessica Inclan
Jessica,
The problem is that the ebook discounted price is still going to be more than the paperback discounted price, to compare apples to apples. For example, Simon Says by Lori Foster costs $9.99 on Fictionwise’s web site, unless you’re a member (requiring an annual fee), when it’s $8.49. I bought the Simon Says paperback from WalMart for $5.97. That’s a big difference when you buy a lot of books. I love ebooks and buy a ton of them, but I won’t pay more than about 50 cents more for the ebook than for a discounted version of the paperback/hardback. (What I really hate is when the paperback version of a book comes out and the ebook price is still the hardcover price. So I can spend $5.97 for it at Walmart, or more than $15 for the ebook, even when discounted. That happens all the time.)
Thanks, Statch. That makes sense, though I feel I need to do a little recon on this whole thing. The good news about Kensington is that the discounted hard copy is cheaper than the ebook there. I will more information as I search through all of this.
Jessica
Imeant–the ebook is cheaprer!
J
Penguin has been a disappointment to me on many fronts — this is just the latest. I’ve been appalled by the copyediting in many a Berkeley book, as well as Putnam hardcovers which really galls. They have the most reader-unfriendly website I’ve ever seen, with virtually no avenues to contact them directly. No way will I pay 10 bucks for a MM equivalent ebook.
Interesting, and I think, an in-your-face rip-off! Letter written - highlighting the ebooks limited costs involved in production, storing and shipping - and sent!
Yeah, I’d noticed that also. Like mentioned in the article, there’s no better way to encourage piracy than pricing your ebooks at $9.99. That’s ridiculous. I’d always respected Penguin because I thought that the romance books they were offerings were of a higher quality than what other publishers made available but they’re losing brownie points fast. There’s no way I’d buy one of their ebooks at that price.
I KNOW!!! I could not believe it when I saw that the ebook version of Tanner’s Scheme was $2 more expensive than the print version. Unreal!
Woo-hoo! Jane, I’m so glad you covered this! I don’t think anything will change unless (maybe) enough of us complain about it - and continue to complain with our wallets!
One thing I didn’t see in the article and I think it’s important to mention is that not all of Penguin’s ebooks are priced higher than the print books. The “trade-sized” paperbacks and the hardbacks are priced the same as the ebooks.
And, not all Penguin’s recently released mass-market paperbacks are priced more, although I didn’t research too deeply into which ones. For example, Thin Air by Rachel Caine was offered at the same price as the print book.
Interestingly, I noticed that, if you could find the ebook listed on Penguin’s site, it listed at the same price as the book. If the site only listed the print book, the ebook was was priced for $2-$3 more than the print version at the online retailers like Fictionwise, eReader, BoB, etc. (before any site-specific discounts). In fact, Fictionwise is listing the “original” price as higher than the $9.99 price for non-members, making it look like they’re giving non-members a “deal” for offering it at $9.99. No wonder they didn’t answer my email about this issue! (Didn’t even get the canned “publishers-set-the-ebook-prices” email I usually get when I ask why they’re still offering MMPB books at hardback prices).
I’ve purchased two of these (thinking they were “trade-sized”) before I caught on. And I’m so ticked off I can hardly stand it!
I will not purchase another of these overpriced ebooks. (Okay, if Fictionwise offers another as a MicroPay rebate, probably I would, because it’d be “free” after I re-used that money to buy other books).
What I can’t decide is whether to not buy them in print, either. I want to support the authors. I want JAK to keep writing Harmony books. I want to see more Erin McCarthy. And I keep thinking I’m going to pick up Nalini Singh’s series one of these days. I know it’s a hard fact that without sales, publishers will drop authors.
But I suspect I’m going to be stubborn about this and pick these books up at the library or UBS, instead of buying them new.
Damn, damn, damn, damn. Include Nora Roberts in the list of books that are more in ebook format eg: Blue Smoke pb price $7.99, ebook price $9.99.
And, from my wantlist of penguin/DAW books:
William Gibson - Pattern Recognition pb price $7.99, ebook price $14.00.
Patrick Rothfuss- Name of the Wind - hardcover/ebook $24.95, amazon $16.47
Wizards anathology (mostly for Gaiman and McKillip) - hardcover/ebook $24.95, amazon $15.00
I’ve gone through my wishlist and put the Penguin books on my request list at the library. I really wanted some of those books but this kind of pricing leaves an ugly taste. I can remember when I used to actively choose the orange and black penguin books; it is sad to see this lack of critical thinking at a once great publisher.
First of all, a big thanks to Miki for doing all this research into ebooks! What I’d like to know is, what’s the royalty situation with them? Any Penguin print authors here? What does your contract say about electronic royalties? Please don’t say they’re 7 or 8% across the board, print and electronic! That would suck big ones and add grievous insult to fatal injury. And does the royalty get calculated on the bigger e-price or the smaller print one? I know, I know, it’s a tangent…but I’m curious.
And why isn’t my *&^%(%!! gravatar showing up?
Jessica, your ebook pricing is fine as those are trade paperback originals. So we readers expect them to be more money than an ebook for a mass market book (we may not like it from a budget standpoint, but it makes more sense). I just bought a few ebooks that are out in trade format for around ten dollars and didn’t think anything of it. BUT, they were still less than me buying the book in trade. Not so with Penguin’s pricing for these ebooks in question. They’re pricing them MORE than the print version. No way in hell am I paying more for an ebook than the print.
Once their e-books sales figures come in under budget, they’ll be forced to re-evaluate their ridiculous prices. You just can’t use the same marketing strategies for readers, as you would for the gadget-obsessed folks out there.
I’m not sure that this will happen. NY publishing seems to be reluctant to jump into the new technological age. Consequently, I’m of the opinion that they will shake their heads and say “You see? It isa bad investment.”
This all interesting to me. Whiskey Creek Torrid Press has ebook and print format. Ebooks are significantly less than the print format and the royalties I receive from an ebook are a higher percentage than the print format. (ebooks 40%, print is 7%). I believe Ellora’s Cave is the same.
But because I read as many ebook as print books these days, I’m paying close attention to what NY pubs are doing in this area. And I’m unimpressed.
I wouldn’t pay $25 for a paperback if the hardbound was also $25. Don’t they get this?
Are penguin crazy. Nalini Singh Caressed by Ice
paperback $6.99, ebook $9.99.
Ebooks cost a fraction of the price of paperbacks to produce.
Who wants to be ripped off?
This is hysterical. I went looking for an e-book version of a Penguin book a little while ago when I hated the first book in a series but really wanted to know what happened to a secondary character in the sequel, but no way in hell I was spending the whole $7.99 PB price for the crappy writing. I was griping because I couldn’t find an e-version. My head would have exploded if it had been available and cost more.
I realize there are many file formats for e-readers, but how hard could it possibly be to convert to them? I can convert a Word document to .pdf in, literally, 2 seconds. Can any other format be much more difficult to create?
I write for Penguin–under Putnam and Berkley/Jove. I honestly can’t remember what my royalty rates are for e-formats of my books, and I’m too lazy right now to go look. In any case, not all contracts are created equal, so not all of those who write for Penguin would earn the same royalty rates, print or e.
I don’t know the thinking in pricing e-format over paper for the same book. Basically, I have no idea what goes into any of this kind of thing, so I’m virtually no help at all.
I don’t know that letters to customer service is the avenue to take. Maybe letters to the digital director (which sounds dirty somehow) would be a more direct route.
Maybe Shore, since she is from the UK, sent out a memo pricing the books in pounds instead of dollars but the US digital team put the price in dollars??? No, probably not.
I agree with Jennifer McKenzie that the worst thing that will happen is no sales will occur so Penguin will say - “oh, failed experiment, let’s not do this anymore.”
The biggest price in ebooks is the DRM. So essentially, Penguin is saying that you should bend over and they want you to pay to be shafted in the ass.
I was cruising Mobipocket and Fictionwise this weekend, and the price for a Charles de Lint ebook astonished me. $25? $14? I. Don’t. Think so.
When I realised the ebooks by my favorite ‘print authors’ were as much (or more) than the Trade Paperback versions of their books, I was thoroughly disgusted.
I’ll stick to buying ebooks from epublishers, I guess, though the idea of having a digital deLint library made my fangirl heart palpitate.
I hate being one of the consumers contributing to the ‘failed experiment’ (since I agree, Jen, that’s exactly how the numbers will be interpreted) however, I just can’t justify bending over, either. :(
It is amazing to me that anyone in business thinks making customers pay through the nose for the most annoying and prone to error part of the whole eBook buying experience, the DRM.
If you know anything about cracking pdfs these locks are easily stripped off.
A fine example of short sighted and useless waste of effort all due to paranoia.
With regard to publishers not selling e-books to readers outside the U.S., is it possible the policy has something to do with rights? I know my contract w/ Bantam is only for North American English rights and Audio rights.
So are publishers afraid of running afoul of territorial rights–which, if not specifically licensed to the publisher, reside with the author–when they choose not to sell e-books overseas?
Doesn’t explain why Amazon.com can ship books to pretty much anywhere in the world (well, I’ve had them ship books to three different continents so far with no issues).
I believe the thinking is that their ebook customers are mainly US residents. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong!)
The Penguin blog is talking about e-books. The current post is by “Jeremy Ettinghausen, Digital Publisher”. I suggest you go comment!
I live in Ireland and have no problem buying ebooks from
ereader and fictionwise. However amazon.com will not allow
me to purchase ebooks. I have not tried to purchase directly
from the publisher.
HA! It took Penguin 3 days to say:
“We appreciate the many questions, comments, suggestions, and ideas that are submitted by our readers and are happy to share them with our Editorial, Publicity, Sales and Marketing departments. Because of the volume of mail received, we cannot guarantee that you will receive a personal response; however, we will certainly forward your comments about our eBook pricing along to the appropriate individuals for review.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us”
And my query has been marked unassigned…oh yes, ebooks have “failed experiment” stamped all over it.
Choke - as I scanned through the new ebooks on Fictionwise today, I noticed that many of the Penguin books have 2 prices: the original and a new price that matches the print cover price. The ebook price is still more that the deeply discounted p-book price from Amazon but what a difference a fortnight makes.
I saw that today LinM. Is it too much to hope that all the letters to customer support made a difference?
[...] for a book and one of our readers, Anji, asked whether it was in ebook form. It is not. Penguin is not ready to release all of its books in ebook format and when it does release the books in ebook format, the price is [...]
[...] a snippet of a little rant at Dear Author about the cost of e-books at Penguin: Penguin is charging $2.00 higher for its ebook copy of a mass market paperback. An [...]
Not only are prices outrageous, but you need to beware if you do purchase a book. I bought a copy of a biography for my Palm TX a while ago. I recently had to do a hard reset of the Palm and reload all my programs. Although i could redownload my purchased Penguin ebook, I couldn’t open it without the credit card number of the card originally used to purchase it. I no longer had the card or account and am not even sure which card i used! I’ll admit maybe I should have been more careful - but I would have expected at least a reply to my query to Penguin Customer Services asking if there was a way round this. After receiving a computer-generated response saying I would have a reply in 5 working days, I’ve had nothing 14 days later. I bought this book!