E-Books and Prices

In the New York Times, Motoko Rich examines the problems surrounding pricing e-books in an article entitled “Steal this Book (for $9.99). It’s an interesting look at how the publishing industry needs to balance the consumer’s perception that digital literature needs to be dirt cheap with the economic realities of the costs involved in making a book that can be released electronically.

Sarah Weinman probably sums it up the best when she writes, “We all know the answer lies as it did with the music business: the prices will be cheap whether we like it or not.”