The resell catch is a bugger, isn't it? I know what you mean. Though, content value is perception-related, any ebook author can pay to at least provide the best product they can.

I was a sales rep for a publishing company for several years and am not new to the print/publishing arena. It is actually part of the process that I enjoy. I come up with the "concept" for the covers and interior images and have fun doing it. My designer, who is very talented, can capture the theme and "spirit" of what I am trying to convey everytime. I find the images, he puts it all together.

I say that to mention this... writing, self-publishing and guiding a designer are all VERY time consuming efforts. For me, I spent years writing the material in "Ponderings" and finally decided it was time to compile it in once place. The re-writing, getting proper crediting and permissions take massive efforts. Then you must unite them, edit them and get them typeset into a nicely formed product. This is no small task (and shouldn't be). There were still a number of my routines that didn't make into a first compilation because they needed approval for some ideas/methods.

The problem is... the free market is the only accountability for these products. If someone has decent ideas, they have done proper crediting, editing and "due-diligence", then you MAY get reimbursed for your efforts. Sadly, there are poorly produced, uncredited copies and simply poor ideas that get released and then there is only the negative review to "filter" these products. And reviews are person specific, so one review for one person is meaningless to another.

In fact, because I care, I have actually PM'ed people who did not feel my ebook was for them (and offered to have them erase the file and give them their money back). Of course, they had to guarantee that they would not share the file. Some people who have not liked it, but had their PM function turned off, did not get that option. This is all I can do to provide value and service. It is integrity-based agreement that depends on the honesty of the reader. Though this is a largely unspoken guarantee (because I don't want abusers), this is way I respond the inability to unhappy purchasers to resell the work.

I do all I can to ensure that people are happy, but some people would rather espouse a negative view than to speak directly with an author regarding their dissatisfaction (it gives some people a feeling of power to have a contrary view about another person's work). Sometimes, they simply aren't ideas that suit a particular performer. All of these things play into the changing market of ideas and the maze one must negotiate to find quality material. At the end, you may have found a chalice or simply a cup.


Sean

Glad you mentioned this Chris, as some people here think I make a killing selling my eBooks (which range from $6 to $22). I get even less now that I have all my eBooks with Lybrary.com (I get royalties) but I'm happy working with such a great company and helping in the preservation of historical knowledge.




Isn't that the truth ... again, I'm glad someone else is mentioning this.


I will reiterate that I always ask around (others in the field) what I should charge before putting an eBook out. I have a hard time deciding because all the stuff I put out, I use or have used in professional work and in lectures. I perform the stuff, so I find it hard to be objective. I like the material.

Let me add a bit to the quality/value/price discussion, because there are several levels to this:

1) Smart customers do some research, ask around, read descriptions and reviews. The other month I received a 'complaint' about one of the gambling ebooks I am selling. The complaint was that it was too mathematical. If you read the ebook description it explicitly states that it is a highly mathematical work with tables and formulas. I still gave a refund to this customer but it shows that some are not even willing to read the description before they purchase.

At the Lybrary we tackle this in four ways. First, I try to write honest descriptions, even sometimes referring to the gimmick or method used exposing the modus operandi, just to make sure that the description is not misleading. I have also added to a description over time if customers felt it was misleading. Second, we have a review system where anybody can submit a review. We only moderate for quality and length but not to screen out negative reviews. In fact, you can find several scathing reviews on my website. I find this is a good feedback mechanism that is there to inform other potential customers. Third, I expose relative sales data through the best seller lists in each category. Although sales does not always correspond with quality and value, it is correlated to a fairly high degree, and can therefore serve as a proxy for quality and value. And fourth, I do refund a purchase if the customer has a case, or if the customer is a regular customer. This is part of the advantage at the Lybrary. My frequent customers do have special privileges and can easily return an ebook if they didn't like it.

Bottom line, the Internet provides an easy way to ask around and get some opinions if the ebook in question is any good or not.

2) Tastes and values and price points differ widely. What is a bargain for one might be a rip-off for the other. And there is no easy solution. Let me give an example of about 3 years ago. I will not mention title or author, but the story went like this. I received an ebook which I felt was ok but on the lower quality side in my opinion. Then the author wanted to sell it for what I felt was too expensive but I went along. I listed the ebook, it sold quite well, but then I received a few emails stating it was too expensive for the quality, it was really garbage etc. After some contemplation I pulled it from my website because there were too many complaints and I wasn't very impressed myself from the get go. But now I come to the lesson for all. After I had pulled it I received several who complained that I pulled it, that they were planning to buy it, and they were looking for that kind of material for a long time, and would be willing to pay 3x the price etc. In this case I did not re-list it.

The lesson for me as publisher/retailer is that yes we do have a quality control and I do reject manuscripts I don't like, but I also have to allow for a good range of material because even though I might not like it, others will.

3) In magic price is sometimes used to limit access. Sometimes an author does not want to release a certain work to more than say 100 people. With books this is easier, because you only print 100. With ebooks this is harder. Nobody believes that you only sell 100 because it is so easy to copy ebooks. For ebooks price is therefore a very good access limiter. Although one can't absolutely say how many will be sold, making an ebook $100 for example clearly limits it to a few people who really really want it.

We are information-junkies...and those providing the information are dealing within a severely limited market. In our search for the 'Holy Grail of Effects', we have a history of paying exhorbitant prices for manuscripts that are thin, poorly constructed and understandably questionable to an outside observer. Which among us has a family-member who HASN'T raised an eyebrow after we proudly show them a $50 "book" we purchased that is nothing more than a stack of mimeographed sheets stapled in the corner with a construction-paper cover?

If you have information that will improve my show and help me feed my children, I don't care if you write it down with a Sharpie on a roll of toilet paper...I'll pay for it because I NEED it.

When I decided to release my Act-series books, the one consistent criticism I received was that I had seriously UNDERPRICED them at $20 each. They are merely e-books but several guys still encouraged me to raise the price into the $100's. I refused, of course. But, go figure. It comes down to what the market will bear, I suppose.

Best,
Mick

PS: In a moment of raw honesty, I just glanced over at my bookcases and see several well-designed, nicely constructed, hard-bound books that are only collecting dust. I keep them because I paid good money for each one. Content wise? Printing them was a waste of a perfectly good tree.

Just wanted to note that the Lybrary is a wonderful place to do business.

Mick, I agree your eBooks should go for more. Valuable information. At least for me....

Here, here! Indeed. I love the digital bookshelf feature. Anywhere at anytime I have access to all of my downloads and I can pull 'em right up and read them right on the ol' iPhone.

Chris' relationship with authors is amazing as well. Most of the royalties I have earned from lybrary have gone right back into purchases on the site, and Chris even gives authors a discount to authors who use their royalties to make purchases. A class act, that site.

(And yes, Mick's books are way underpriced!)

Alexandre and Don - no, no no...having been advised by a number of people that I should get these, they are on my 'upcoming purchases' hitlist - so if we could morph the word "underpriced" to "undervalued", at least until I'm in a position to get my mitts on some of his work, that would be great.

And I also have only positive things to say about Lybrary, it's been a great resource for me, and very good customer service.

Oooh I hate myself for not being able to find it - where can I look at mick ayres wares please?

E-books will never replace good old fashion stone tablets. That's why I charge so much for mine. The form will go the way of Beta, 8-tracks and walking before long. Restudy those two tablets published by The Amazing Moses. Lot of great effects in those two scant pages. I think there might even be an early take on a Balducci Levitation in there...

Hi guys...THANK YOU for your wonderfully kind comments about my work!

Iain...I am trying my best to update my webpage--it needs serious attention because there are products listed that are no longer available, the prices have changed on a couple of items, and worse of all, there are several newer products that aren't even listed. I'll make it a priority-project and let everyone know when it is up and running.

Thanks again, fellas.

Best,
Mick

I much prefer books any day. However I have got some really excellent ebooks and am grateful to Café members for alerting me to some of the best. Switchcraft, in particular is astounding value - and it seems to be growing.

However there is one aspect of ebooks and publishing which seems to be a happy compromise - a choice between download or hard copy. This is available through services such as Lulu and with two recent purchases - Katterfelto (complete with a free gift of a book test) and Naked Mentalism, I opted to have the hard copy and both are currently gracing my shelves rather than printed out in a rather unsatisfactory way like some of my ebook purchases.

I think if more magical writers offered readers this option - download or hardcopy - it would be appreciated.

Neil

My arms always hurt from holding my computer while reading e-books in bed.

And then when I fall asleep and drop the laptop on my face --- !!!!

*jeep!
--Grandpa (ouch!) Chet

Chet, the laptop hurts a lot less than the desktop PC.

For me ebooks mean I can use Adobe Reader to search them all at once for a concept, but with real books, I can mark them up in the margins and add my own thoughts.

Swings and roundabouts.

At The Magic Nook, we decided to charge $5.00 for each individual effect or concept e-Book, and $40.00 for a collection of 10 (or sometimes more) different effects. We don't calculate the price by the page. I just published Qua-Fiki's "Signed Sit On It" for the Wizards' Journal #16, and it is 12 pages in length. Before that I published Qua-Fiki's "Blendo Ropes" and it is 50 pages in length. Each sells for $5.00. Eventually, The Wizards' Journal #16 will be filled up with 11 e-Book articles, and will sell for $40.00. A Mentalist will have no interest in "Blendo Ropes", but might have an interest in "Signed Sit On It." By selling each e-Article separately, you can go around to the various issues of the Wizards' Journal and find maybe one or two e-Articles related to Mentalism in each one. Others like to get an entire Journal in one shot. Eventually the Journal will be printed in full color paperback by Lulu.com and you can buy it there for $50.00 plus shipping.

Our's is just a different way (philosophy, if you like) to approach the publishing of e-Books. We're not getting rich except in exploring magical ideas with different authors we work with and getting feedback from customers who buy our e-Books and use those ideas.

As for marking up print books and adding your own thoughts in the margins, I do the same thing with e-Books I get from others, only I just put a notepad text file in the same folder as the e-Book, named the same name. On the notepad text file, I indicate the page number and write any comments or ideas I get as I'm reading. It's not the same as writing in the margin, but it works in its own way and one soon gets used to taking and keeping notes that way.

Thank you to all who have contributed to this post, a very good discussion.

I do agree about the merit of ebooks, my question was initially prompted by the thin content of many and high pricing.

So consider this for timing. Marc Paul (I love his AAA work) has just endorsed an ebook by Peter Duffie, detailing effects and routines from some of Britains brightest mentalists, including Marc himself. As for value, you decide. It contains 41 chapters, 58 effects and retails for $25. Review the chapters at: http://www.marcpaul.com/MindBlastersTOC.pdf

I rest my case.

GH

We here in the U.S should do one and charge double.

But balance it out by including half as much content. Hang on a minute...

You rest your case on an irrelevant point, though. I won't go through the trouble of recapitulating the same arguments that were made about books decades ago, videos years ago, online videos the last few years, or this conversation. However, virtually every time this kind of point is raised, the counterargument is that volume does not indicate quality. To equate them is sheer lunacy, IMHO.

Now, to be fair, you did throw in "As for value, you decide" but then added "I rest my case". So, on one hand, you want to be seen as presenting information for evaluation but, in reality, you are making a case. A case which history shows is flawed.

In the end, the market will pay commensurate with demand. The demand is usually based on feedback. The feedback, while taking length into account, usually has more to do with content than volume, though volume is, and should be, one component.

It's funny, let's go ahead and make the exact same argument for cars and see how it holds. We all know it won't but it'll be fun:

Let's compare a Mini Cooper. Small, moderately priced, with a V6 engine, let's say, for $30k. Now let's compare something with a big ole V8 engine, 4-wheel drive, fog lights, etc for $25K. Which is a better value? Can you answer? If you did, what did you base your decision on? Size? Whether you will actually go 4-wheel driving? Where you live?

Size is an issue. One that people are obsessed with. Yet in every possible way, (yes, "there" too), size is only one small factor. To make an argument (which you DID do, hence the "rest my case") relating to size is just silly.

I thought this thread would be pointless, and of course, it was, but I thought that the ample amounts of history relating to this topic (see the beginning to review) would make this null and void. Alas, those who don't know/understand history are doomed to repeat it. And the history that is doomed to repeat more than any other is a complete lack of historical understanding.

Not picking on you, GH, but your post is indicative. From the very first post to the size argument to the "you decide" fascade to the "rest my case" argument closer, nothing useful or original has been discussed.

I feel like I am getting cranky in my old age but it really seems that nobody, even people who should know better, learn ANYTHING over the years. The same topics about the same things with the same pointless and misleading arguments, I guess it's getting to me.

Sorry if this seemed too direct but I'm a direct person and, per usual, I give specific rationale for my point of view. Not that somebody needs to be rational to post here, one would expect a modicum of rationale in a thread/post with the concluding line "I rest my case" as no case has been made, let alone rested.

Or maybe that is just me again, being picky about the words we all use...

-Lem