I recently came across a post by one of my favorite authors on Facebook that was talking about how they had received complaints by people on the pricing of their eBooks, mentioning how it was not right that a virtual copy should cost the same or only slightly less than the paperback/hardback of the same book.
As a consumer—a sometimes penny-pinching consumer—who purchases, at the very least, one book or eBook every week, I will admit that I’ve had my moments of sticker shock too. BUT, it finally occurred to me to ask the question of myself…What is it I’m actually paying for?
The STORY or a stack of bound paper?
Without the story written on it, that is all a paperback or hardcover book is. A stack of paper bound within a light cardboard cover with a pretty picture on it. To totally misquote a familiar bard-ism, “The Story‘s the thing, wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the Reader.”
“The Story‘s the thing, wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the Reader.”
It’s not the quality of a few hundred sheets of paper and .02 cents worth of cardboard that justify the price for a well written story…it’s the hours upon hours of enjoyment we receive in reading it. Whether the format you choose to partake of this enjoyment comes in a virtual format that you can access from every mobile device imaginable or through the comfort of the familiar ecru colored pages of a bound book…the words you read, the emotions you feel and the sheer pleasure of being swept away to another time filled with romance or into the middle of a compelling mystery…the value of the story doesn’t change.
So, before you balk or complain about the price of your next eBook purchase, think about what you might be missing out on and instead, give thanks to the authors who put so much of their heart, imagination and lots and lots of time into creating a story that is worth every penny, no matter what format it might come in.
