First there was the bitter move by Amazon to remove all Macmillan titles from its digital inventory after Macmillan demanded higher e-book pricing.
Then two more publishing houses publicly denounced Amazon’s dime a dozen approach to pricing e-books at $9.99. Now, in the latest installment in the tug-of-war over e-book prices, publishers have convinced online retailers to sell e-books on a varied scale, ranging from $12.99–$14.99.
But as the diligent New York Times reporters Motoko Rich and Brad Stone reveal, no one knows yet how consumers will react. Even if publishers have reason to celebrate their small triumph in e-book pricing, they will still have to struggle with the American readers’ complacency towards paying much for literature. “The sense of entitlement of the American consumer is absolutely astonishing,” said author Douglas Preston in Rich and Stone’s article. “It’s the Wal-Mart mentality, which in my view is very unhealthy for our country. It’s this notion of not wanting to pay the real price of something.”
Read all sorts of perspectives about this past week’s e-book pricing ordeal by selecting from The Virginia Quarterly Review’s links.
