In a rare blog appearance, Macmillan CEO John Sargent wrote a short essay about the publisher’s transition to an agency model and eBook pricing.
Here’s an excerpt: “In the ink-on-paper world we publish new books in different formats (hardcover, trade paperback, and mass market paperback) at prices that generally range from $35.00 to $5.99. In the digital world we will price each book individually as we do today. Generally e-book editions of hardcover new releases will be priced between $14.99 and $12.99; a few books will be priced higher and lower. This is a tremendous discount from the price of the printed hardcover books, which generally range from $28.00 to $24.00. E-book editions of New York Times hardcover bestsellers will be priced at $12.99 or lower while they are on the printed list. E-book editions of paperback new releases will be generally priced between $9.99 and $6.99.”
In February, Macmillan engaged in a week-long standoff with Amazon (AMZN) over the future of eBook pricing. The online bookseller temporarily removed buy direct buttons from Macmillan titles. (Via Pablo Defendini)