I’m really not the type to boycott things, or take much of a stance. I’m a little conflicted over something though, and haven’t really decided if I’m going to boycott it or not. See, in the e-book world, there is an elephant in the room called the Agency Model. Essentially, that means that publishers that choose to use the agency model set their own prices in the e-book marketplace. That typically means book prices are higher. So when I went to purchase a new book this morning by one of my favorite authors, I saw the message “this price has been set by the publisher” on its info page. This stopped me from purchasing the book, not only because of that message, but also because it was $3 more expensive then I was willing to pay. Is $3 really such a big deal?
I’m not sure that in itself, having a 12.99 purchase price is all that different from a 9.99 price. But when it wasn’t what I was anticipating when I looked at the Kindle store this morning, it stopped me short and I carefully considered whether or not it was worth making the purchase. Then I started to think that the last book this particular author wrote wasn’t up to par compared to her others. And then I thought that I could get this book from the library or borrow the hardcover from work.
That measly three dollars just cost Macmillan a sale.