Price Wars, eReader Wars: Will They Hurt Books?

Yesterday, Barnes & Noble unveiled their new eReader, the Nook. The sleek new model is the latest in a series of new eReaders popping up recently to compete with Amazon's Kindle. Kindle has long held the market on eReaders, but that might not last much longer. On Monday, Spring Design unveiled Alex, the first Google Android-based eReader, and Plastic Logic also announced recently the name of its new eReader, the Que. These new announcements follow last month's unveiling of a US-based iRex eReader, which is powered and backed by Best Buy and Verizon, and which, iRex recently announced, will allow readers access to 1,100 newspapers and periodicals.

The appearance of all these new competitors suggests that Amazon might not own the market for e-books for long, and also that eReaders are coming into the mainstream, with cool new models and legitimate options. The New York Times suggests that the new e-book flurry is benefiting reading as a whole; Amazon

[S]ays that people with Kindles now buy 3.1 times as many books as they did before owning the device.

But are people just gadget-hungry, or is this a real boon for books?

The other war in books this week is in price discounting. Last week, Walmart jumped into competition with Amazon when it announced that certain popular titles -- the blockbusters -- would be available online for $10. This move ignited a price war between Walmart and Amazon, which also started lowering its prices, so that customers can now get these blockbusters for $9 from both sites. The books include only super-popular titles such as Sarah Palin's Going Rogue and Dean Koontz's Breathless, but they are all hardcovers, normally priced for retail between $25 and $30.

On Monday, Target joined the battle when it announced that it too would offer the hottest new books for only $8.99, and it is clear that the wars have not yet come to an end -- after Target's announcement, Walmart dropped down to $8.98. Yesterday, Sears decided to get in on the fun as well, offering their own gigantic discounts. CNN's Money section suggests, however, that it is unwise to compete with Walmart on prices, as they have shown not to have limits when it comes to lowering prices.

How is this war going to affect the book industry? The New York Times details the concerns of publishers and independent booksellers who worry that these moves devalue the hardcover book, as well as take any attention away from non-blockbuster authors and make it extremely difficult for independent bookstores to compete. The Times quotes William Petrocelli, an independent bookstore owner and a blogger for HuffPost Books:

"You have a choke point where millions of writers are trying to reach millions of readers," Mr. Petrocelli said, "but if it all has to go through a narrow funnel where there are only four or five buyers deciding what's going to get published, the business is in trouble."

Book bloggers are also showing consistent concern about the price wars. Yesterday, Pimp My Novel detailed some of the major worries of publishers, and MobyLives pronounces it "capitalism run amok."

Steve Ross, blogging for HuffPost Books, parodied the war on Monday, imagining Amazon to release press statements that said, "Oh yeah?" and Walmart taking on a new position that "if there's going to be a Wal-Mart of the web, it's okay for it to be Amazon." At the bottom of his piece, he offered a call to HuffPost readers:

Where will this pricing war end? Is it in anyone's interests besides the consumers? At what price should inexpensive hardcovers reasonably come -- at the expense of the author's income? The Publisher's ability to stay afloat? The retailer's ability to earn a profit on the transaction? We at the Huffington Post invite -- indeed urge -- you to chime in on this pressing issue.

Amidst all of the wars in the book world this week, who will benefit? What will the new panoply of eReaders do to how we think about and read books? What effect will the price war have on books as we know them, and will the publishing and bookselling world be able to persevere? Let us know what you think!

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Comments

[kdonow]

My living spaces have always been over run by books. It's depressing sometimes, and almost always embarassing. So I bought a Kindle for the purpose of interfering with the sea of books. I am new at it but I am relatively optimistic. One thing that Dayan said clicks. A lot of my work related material is not available on Kindle. Plus, the prices are a bit too high, especially if you compare to well tended used books. But hey! I am trying to keep the tattered edges of my life in line.

[MosheDayanHero]

A price of Kindle can get you about 60 used books. Of which you get to keep 60.
Your books won't become obsolete; don't require re-charging; you can give them to your friends, or sell them on Amazon or Ebay.
If you lose or damage a book, it;s OK you still got 59 left.
If you damage your Kindle, you lost $400, and probably most of you content.
In addition, Kindle is practically useless for serious academic research. Many titles I look at ( different University Presses) are considerably more expensive than even hardbacks..

But all the cons aside, make it $70 bucks and I'll consider it.

[Geoffreys]

I've been an avid reader since I was 4 or 5 and I bought my first kindle last year. I've increased my reading since and I'm preparing to buy one for my 17yo niece.

Anything that gets more people to read or readers to read more is a good thing in my book. : )

Even though I love my kindle and don't intend to switch ereader brands soon, I'm glad there is increased competition coming to the market. As the market grows, better technology will become available along with standardizations of formats and drm ....

[Maliika]

I will stick with regular books... Also I have patience, I can wait and buy books (some can be pretty new) at booksales, i.e. library book sales, and others that usually are for charity. I also donate books after I have read them. That in addition to sharing them with others..
I see no need to waste money on these other things..

[ToHoJo]

I used to read about a dozen books a year, spending an hour a month pacing around the bookstore near my office trying to find something appealing.

Since I got a Kindle about 6 weeks ago, I've finished 4 books, so my reading appetite is up about 3x-4x, and I'm finding all sorts of books that I would never have seen on the shelf of a local book retailer (Byzantine economy? yeah, not top 100 stuff).

Like the App store and the iPhone, eBook readers will benefit from the lower prices and 'buy anywhere,' while the publishers and authors will benefit from the larger marketplace and being able to sell a book for pure profit. The only person getting shafted it seems are the printers.

Won't someone think of the people at the paper mill ;)

[MosheDayanHero]

Most of the people who get shafted are Kindle users.
1.Many of Kindle books are about $10. Savings-- close to zero,

Most of high grade Kindle books are identical in price to hardbacks. At times exceeding the hardback prices.
So much for savings.
Most importantly, giving away personal control of your intellectual property is -always a risky business.

[dmsdzinr]

Heck, if more people can AFFORD to buy a few books, MAYBE we will see a rise in reading and even the Intelligence of America

[shthar]

It'll end when they're free.

Give em the razor, sell em the BLADES!

[jessiaia]

As a bookseller and , more importantly, a lover of the written word I welcome anything that gets people reading, talking and thinking about books. I do hate to see the publishing industry turn into the movie industry where blockbuster crap chokes out the good stuff.

If e readers are getting people to read more, great! Otherwise I think they're a joke. Expensive technology that one will feel compelled to relentlessly upgrade or replace, books that you can't share or resell when you are done with them, and for the publishers and authors-piracy! Seriously, the way people steal music and movies I'm sure ebooks can't be far behind.

[hilaritee]

i am often tempted to buy an ebook device until i remember that they do not allow for book sharing....and that just stops me in my tracks. the next best thing to reading a good book is giving it to someone else after you have finished it. the absence of this just renders those devices cold. if they figure out a way to incorporate sharing then i will bite, but not until then.

[Enigma2008]

Pricing on new releases is going to be the problem with Kindle. I have to pay 9.99 for current titles and more for many new releases---now you can get the hard cover at local stores for less than the non-transferrable Kindle version.

[bzb]

Kindle certainly has changed the way change the way we will be purchasing and reading books. I can't wait to look into some of these new e-readers coming out.

[Kim Stagliano - Huffpost Blogger]

I buy far more books with my Kindle 2 than I would have bought in hardcover (certainly, they are too expensive for my budget) or even paperback. I buy a book a week now and am sampling all sorts of new writers. I used to buy a book a month, tops, but authors I knew I liked. I don't go to the library as much, that I will admit. And that sort of bothers me. I feel a bit traitorous. I love the library. But when I can sample a book and then download it for under $10 instantly, I'm a happy reader.