# The SBHonline Community Daily > Books, Movies, and TV >  >  A Line Crossed- Kindle vs. Hardcover

## stbartshopper

For the first time we have noticed a Kindle edition ($14.99) is priced higher than the hardcover ($14.00)- The Crossing by Michael Connelly. The cost to produce an electronic version is surely cheaper than a hardcover- including shipping and the material and labor? This may be a good thing for the brick and mortar stores if it puts future hardcover books on equal footing. However there is always the problem of getting rid of the bulky thing when you are done with it vs. just a (remove from device) deletion on the Kindle. Selling it at Half Priced Books is a pain and you have to read it fast to get any $ back.

----------


## Dennis

Do you understand how crack dealers work?

----------


## JEK

> Do you understand how crack dealers work?




h2.jpg

----------


## JEK

*Quora User*, Read multiple Kindle books most weeks (often from library)9.2k Views • Quora User is a Most Viewed Writer in Publishing.





Different publishers have different strategies, which is why you're seeing variation.  There are also variations in circumstances which help justify some of the differences.  If a book is available in paperback, hardcover, and kindle version, some will price the kindle version cheaper than the paperback version based on cost, while others will price it between the paperback and hardcover version, on the assumption that some people will prefer the convenience rather than the price difference (if a book is $10 in paperback, and $11 in Kindle, I'll pay the $11 for some books, and the $10 for others).  As some have noted, there is time-based price discrimination as well, where publishers charge more for hardcover books initially, and less for paperback books eventually - I've seen high kindle prices during hardcover releases, and low kindle prices for the same book later (and sometimes I'll buy it early, because I really want it, and other times I'll add it to my wishlist and check it out again later).  Publishers also run increased risks as distribution increases for ebooks - many "cracked" copies of popular books are available for free on P2P sites, while many less popular books are not available for free - lowering the price too much, just based on distribution costs, might decrease profits from that leakage.

----------


## MIke R

Hopper...our sales are still trending up ever so slightly but despite  that we know the end is probably somewhere on the horizon....fortunately for our bookstore it is attached to our toy/hobby store so we would simply take the walls down and expand that.....but there were five independent bookstores within a 25 mile perimeter and now there are just 2...us and one other....very sad for me as  the bookstore is my baby and  the other two shops are my wifes and i have poured my heart into this thing for 15 years..but it is what it is and on we go into the next adventure

----------


## amyb

The plight of the neighborhood bookstores hurts me too. I miss my local shop a lot.

----------


## JEK

I miss the local shop, but don't miss the stack of books everywhere. So tough to travel with a couple 600 page hard copies.

----------


## Grey

> Hopper...our sales are still trending up ever so slightly but despite  that we know the end is probably somewhere on the horizon....fortunately for our bookstore it is attached to our toy/hobby store so we would simply take the walls down and expand that.....but there were five independent bookstores within a 25 mile perimeter and now there are just 2...us and one other....very sad for me as  the bookstore is my baby and  the other two shops are my wifes and i have poured my heart into this thing for 15 years..but it is what it is and on we go into the next adventure



Mike, how are your sales of children's books?  Reading an electronic version of a book to a child doesn't have the same impact as holding a real, live book, IMHO.

----------


## amyb

Yes John. I left CITY ON FIRE on Long Island and it will be my WHEN I GET HOME book. Now I am reading a Western...DOC, a good story of Doc Holliday and the Earps. I forgot Doc was actually a dentist

----------


## MIke R

> Mike, how are your sales of children's books?  Reading an electronic version of a book to a child doesn't have the same impact as holding a real, live book, IMHO.




thats a great question and a good point...childrens books sales are still really strong compared to adult...and early reader and young reader books are still doing well..the adult books are clearly the drag down area here

----------


## MIke R

I love the look of a house with shelves and shelves of books..which coincidentally is what our house looks like

----------


## JEK

We had that look, but at some point one runs out of shelves.

----------


## amyb

I stack and doubble up and try to recycle. Some are very hard to part with. THORN BIRDS, GORKY PARK, THE GODFATHER, SARAH'S KEY, ORPHAN TRAIN, RED TENT, LONESOME DOVE, PRINCE OF TIDES, YOUNG LIONS, THE BRONZE HORSEMAN, THE SHADOW IN THE WIND, etc etc and so forth

----------


## MIke R

> We had that look, but at some point one runs out of shelves.



us too.. so we cull....

----------


## amyb

That's the word I could not come up with CULL. Thanks Mike.

----------


## MIke R

if you guys think you have a lot of books try being us where all we have to do to take a book home is grab it off a shelf and go!....LOL

----------


## Bart -my real name-

> So tough to travel with a couple 600 page hard copies.



Humblebrag.........take shorter trips.  Problem solved!

----------


## jayhawkgirl

I still prefer a paper copy of a book, whether hardcover or paperback.

Even though it is easier to travel with an electronic book, I don't prefer it when it comes to reading.

----------


## amyb

I still like to hold the hardcover and paperback

----------


## JEK

Susie is in two book clubs AND reads a few on her own, so she well over the hold-the-book phase. She also said she would never use an e-reader. Until she tried it :)

----------


## KevinS

There's an interesting point to consider here.  I have a number of favorite authors whose e-books I pre-order on Amazon as soon as their new books are announced.  I presently have eight such books on order.

This is a "fire and forget" exercise, where the e-book usually, but not always, decreases in price between the announcement date and the release date.  Upon release, the book may then intentionally sit in my queue of unread books for months, often with a mental earmark of "vacation book".    During that time, the e-book price sometimes decreases in price after the initial new release purchase rush.  

It would be in my best interest to stop pre-ordering, and to maintain my own list of "books of interest" to purchase.  Overall, I wouldn't save a lot of money.  However, sometimes it's the point that matters, and not the dollar amount.  I see the publishers as "gaming" me to maximize the revenue stream on a new release.  Perhaps I should start gaming them.

----------

