I call bullshit on that. If that was true, then the prices would go down when they recovered their cost. And "putting together" an ebook just requires hitting the "covert to PDF" button. Hmpf.

Publishers need to start offering special features. Even with older books or dead authors, you get interviews and essays to include. It's not going to be expensive to add some new content to justify the price.

I will say that for books with expected small sales volume (total including e-books) there are a lot of fixed costs to recover - editing, layout, O&M etc. The marginal costs may zero, but unless total volume is high there are still fixed costs to be recovered. And Amy and I are one of those fixed costs. Don't e-books for non-best sellers replace paperback sales rather than supplment them? It is different if we are talking about a reprint or a book that recovered its fixed costs before going into ebook run. But with short print run recent books a $10 or $15 price may be as low as a publisher can afford for an e-book. And I do understand why a reader might expect a lower price. It is a real dilemma for the publishing industry.

A $5.00 price for Harry Potter would probably be profitable. Not for "Solving the Climate Crisis".

And Amy's suggestion of special features is a great one.

Typo, I agree with your analysis. I'm just annoyed when people lie to me.

Oh dear, this Kindle has ads or some shit! It's SPONSORED or something. But I can pay $40 to get rid of it. NICE GIFT.

I just e-mailed Machine of Death into my Kindle! Neat! But I don't know how to make it download to my Kindle app and Kindle for PC. Aren't they all supposed to sync?

So far the Touch works pretty nicely, touch-style. You can tap to turn pages or swipe. The constant e-ink refresh is kind of annoying, though. It makes me feel like it's broken. It looks like I can turn it off, but...is that bad?

How is battery life on these things?

Also, my Kindle is named Sokka. Because it would like to spend its vacation...AT THE LIBRARY!

But I don't know how to make it download to my Kindle app and Kindle for PC. Aren't they all supposed to sync?

I haven't much tried to get things from my phone to my kindle, but I have done vice-versa--go to "archived" and you find everything you've purchased, and can download any of it.

I assume the Touch is like the older Kindle--if you leave the wifi off mostly, the battery life is amazing. Weeks.

P-C, if you hate it so much I'm sure there are plenty of people who'd be happy to take it off your hands. :)

I gave that same Kindle to a friend recently for her birthday and I hope she's not put off by the ads.

I have not needed to do so for REAMDE. Does that book not have a glossary?

Well, REAMDE takes place in the present-day real world, more or less. Anathem is a parallel universe.

And "putting together" an ebook just requires hitting the "covert to PDF" button. Hmpf.

I've seen too many badly formatted e-books to believe it's quite that easy.

That said, I miss the days when all e-books were 9.99. $10 for a book is a reasonable price to me - it's more than a paperback, but I can buy it lying in bed and start reading right there. Once the price starts creeping up towards $15...is twice the price of a paperback worth the convenience? Less so.

Oh hey, I just noticed this isn't Literary. Heh.

ha! I know.

I have not read Anathem or anything else by Stephenson, so I had no idea there were glossaries.