Hmmm....

[sleigh]

Y'know, after all the spluttering by amazon that all Kindle books are supposed to be capped at $9.99, I happened to look at my own books....

A MAGIC OF NIGHTFALL, which until the mass market paperback release next month is still available in print only as a hardcover, has a Kindle price of $14.95. A MAGIC OF TWILIGHT, which has a mass market paperback edition, has a Kindle edition selling for $6.39.

Isn't this exactly what Macmillan was wanting? This would suggest that Penguin (the parent conglomerate to which DAW belongs) has the ability to use flexible pricing. It also suggests that all of amazon's whining about this $9.99 cap for all e-books is a bunch of hot air.

Comments

[cathshaffer.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was ever meant to be a "cap." I think Amazon and Macmillan were fighting first and foremost about control of pricing, with Amazon's loss leader pricing on new hardcovers and best sellers as a trigger. It's the bloggers that made this about variable versus fixed pricing.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"It also suggests that all of amazon's whinging about this $9.99 cap for all e-books is a bunch of hot air."

It's MacMillan that's whining about it. Amazon likes it.

B

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

"We have expressed our strong disagreement [to the idea of e-books being priced higher than $9.99] and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books." -- from the Amazon Kindle Team's statement.

That's not whining?

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

From that person, yes. But it seems awfully unfair to call Amazon's position in favor of the price whining and Macmillan's position against the price something else.

B

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I understand your point. But -- in their public pronouncements -- Macmillan has been nothing but politely firm about their position and not whining, while the only official amazon statement that I've seen has been the one from which the above quote was taken... and it's all about whining. I've heard authors whining, but Macmillan hasn't.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

It suggests to me that what we've got here is a pissing match between two big corporations over who's got TEH POWER. If corporate ego is at stake, it may be a long time before they agree on a solution that allows both sides to look like they didn't back down.

Meanwhile, Borders (incl. Borders.com) will get more of my book-buying business.

[jimhines.livejournal.com]

"That person" is Amazon -- that's the *only* official response Amazon has given, as far as anyone's been able to find.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I understand, from the authors blogs I read this morning, that amazon has finally restored the "Buy" buttons for Macmillans print versions, but (according to at least a few of the sources) not yet for the Kindle editions.

Yep. Pissing contest. With the authors sitting in the middle.