Thirty Bucks???

So last week I was all excited because Pat Conroy's new book South of Broad was released. And as the four of you who follow this blog regularly know, Conroy is pretty much my literary hero. Can do no wrong and even though the reviews of this book have been lukewarm, I didn't care and couldn't wait to get my hands on the book. Dude seemingly writes a new book only about every ten years now and I'd had the date marked on my calendar for awhile. (BTW - every author should take lessons from Conroy on how to greet fans at a booksigning. The one time I met him in Denver when he was signing for My Losing Season, he greeted every single person the same as they came to the table - extended his hand, smiled this huge smile and said "Hi. I'm Pat Conroy. Great to meet you." Every single person. I probably shouldn't have kissed him. It was sort of awkward.)

Anyway, I roar into the bookstore - with, btw, a 40% coupon from One Of Those Stores That Shall Not Be Named. It's right there at the front on it's own special little rack and I grab it, caress it, hug it, wink it, whisper in its ear. Then I opened up the front cover to read the jacket and I stopped cold.

$29.95

WTF????

I mean, really. $29.95??? For a...book????

Yeah, yeah, I know. This practice has been slowly going on for awhile now. Publishers are upping the cover price in order for the bigger stores to be able offer their deep discounts and so everyone can still make money and everyone can walk away happy.

Everyone except the guy who has to drop that kind of money on the book.

After using my second grade math skills and realizing even with my badass coupon, I was still going to be paying in the neighborhood of twenty bucks for the book...I set it back down.

Thirty bucks for a book? I mean, I know I wasn't gonna pay that price, but supporting that price point just felt wrong to me in principle. I couldn't do it. THIRTY BUCKS.

I'm really hoping Mr. Nyren or some of the other publishing professionals who hang around here from time to time can shed some light here on exactly how that price is reasonable, not just for the consumer, but also for the independent bookstores who cannot offer the discount on the book and actually have to try and move it at the cover price. Because I'm just not seeing it. I'm really not.

So I will wait for you, South of Broad. I will wait for you. With longing and lust in my heart, I will wait for you. I will find you at the library or in paperback. I WILL FIND YOU!!!

For thirty bucks, I could take my family out to dinner tonight. Tell me - what else could we do with thirty bucks?
Jeff

BABES IN JOYLAND
Fergie's a babe, right? She counts, right? I guess will.i.am is cute, too. Anyway, I had a special request for this song this morning and you know me. I am here to please you. I am all about you. Really. Seriously. Also - it will help your enjoyment of this song if you picture me dancing to it. Try it. You'll get sick like it.

Comments

[N]

Yeah, see? Didn't I say this a few weeks ago? You're seeing the light. Not worth it. And *guilting* readers into it by explaining why they should be grateful for a price like that (http://mhpbooks.com/mobylives/?p=8621).

Yes, wait for it at the library, at Half Price Books, or pb.

[Patti Abbott]

Conroy can probably afford for you to borrow it from the library. It's beginning authors, or niche authors, or authors with smaller presses that need our bucks. And that's where I spend mine.

[norby]

Wait long enough Jeff it may end up in the Bargain Books section for $5.98-that's where I've been getting quite a few of my bestseller books lately.

[Karen Olson]

We just ordered Julia Child's cookbook, you know the one that's the main event in the new movie? Apparently it's sold out everywhere, so I ordered it online because it was listed at half price, but still it's $22.

and then we found out my in-laws have this very cookbook. That they found in a secondhand store for $2. I believe it's even a first edition.

[AlisonGaylin]

I had a really intelligent comment to make about book pricing ... but now all I can think about is Jeff dancing to Boom Boom Pow.

[Stacey Cochran]

On the other side of this, there's the whole Kindle movement. I've sold upwards of 5,000 units since mid-May by dropping the price point to a buck.

For a book that got rejected by everyone any way, I see no downside of pricing it at a dollar, selling 10,000 units/year, and netting 40-50 reviews on Amazon.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see which way the cultural tide is turning. 30 bucks for a Pat Conroy or a buck for a perfectly capable Stacey Cochran suspense-thriller with blurbs from Sean Doolittle and J.D Rhoades?

I mean even the biggest haters of self-publishing can't say they'd rather shill out 30 bucks for Conroy.

[Mary Stella]

As much as it pains me to pay that much for a hardcover, it's Conroy, the writer who can rip out my heart and make me laugh my head off in the same paragraph, if not the same sentence.

Look at it this way, Jeff. He only publishes a book every decade and a half so the pain is spread out. Unfortunately, we can't amortize the payment. *g*

How do you think us Nora Roberts fans will cope when they start charging $30 for her hardcovers? She writes around 3 a year on top of her paperbacks -- some of which are now released as more expensive trade size.

On the flip side, I was a little pissed off that JA Konrath's Cherry Bomb had a lower price point than expected at Borders. (And that was before the discount.) So, the whole basic economic supply and demand thing applies to publishing, too. Conroy is more established, longer career and infrequently published so they charge more for his books to make back on his assuredly huge advance.

Joe puts out a great book a year but he hasn't been in the game as long, so they price him lower. Hopefully that will help more people make the decision to try out his books so he can build up.

[Mike Dennis]

You're right on the money, Jeff. Thirty bucks is too high for a book. I'm sure, though, that the publisher would tell you that it's necessary because of ungodly increases in the costs of paper and ink (true), steep rises in shipping costs (true), heavier promotional expenses in the face of fewer people in the bookstores (true), and what is undoubtedly a very big advance paid to Conroy.

The book business, as everyone knows, has shifted in recent years toward big advances for a few sure-fire authors who have guaranteed big sales awaiting each book. This of course comes at the expense of lesser-known authors or first-timers (like myuself) who have to scramble for the little bit that's left over, and generally get lost in the shuffle.

You know, the same disease infected the record business a few years back. You had just a few big artists taking down all the big money, with very little opportunity remaining for the up-and-comers. The record companies, in all their short-sighted glory, decided to plunge ahead with the certainty of Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey and overlook all others. Then, along came digitization, and where are the record companies now? Where even are the record stores?

Publishers beware!
--Mike Dennis
Las Vegas