This sucks, and I'm sorry this misrepesentation of the market is getting so much play.
Part of the problem is mistaking duplication costs for creation costs. Yes, once a book is created and layed out, the incremental cost of creating another ebook copy is zero. This doesn't mean the retail price should be zero. The retail cost of a hardback or paperback is much higher than the incremental cost of printing that one copy, too - because of the reasons you outline, in terms of layout, design, artwork, salaries, and oh yeah throwing the author a pittance.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-02-12 11:33 pm (UTC)Part of the problem is mistaking duplication costs for creation costs. Yes, once a book is created and layed out, the incremental cost of creating another ebook copy is zero. This doesn't mean the retail price should be zero. The retail cost of a hardback or paperback is much higher than the incremental cost of printing that one copy, too - because of the reasons you outline, in terms of layout, design, artwork, salaries, and oh yeah throwing the author a pittance.