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Message: <blockquote data-quote="IanArgent" data-source="post: 3871815" data-attributes="member: 21673">Multi-posting becase I don't feel like editing large chunks of my previous post to rebut some of the arguments against Baen. first, Baen is a top-tier speculative-fiction publishing house, with numerous NYTimes bestselling authors, not a fly-by-night outfit.Secondly, they have claimed that the availablility of cheap ebooks (cost less than a paperback) has increased the sales of the hardback books they sell - to the point that they publish a much larger chunk of their books as hardback first.Third, webscriptions is not semi-random; it's the releases for that month in hardback and paperback, plus round-out if that was a short month.The Webscriptions format gets them several bonuses. First, they sell more copies of books on launch because they sell ebooks to people who would otherwise wait for paperback. While this doesn't get them onto the NYTimes best-sellers list quicker (since ebook ssales aren't recorded, I don't think), it does make back the up-front costs quicker. Second, they sell more books to people who wouldn't othersie have picked up the book in question if it wasn't bundled with ones they did want. This got me into at least 2 series I wouldn't otherwise have started, and therefore got me to buy more books. Third, they end up selling multiple copies of the same book to people. I have been known to buy the ARC, the ebook, and the hardback of the same book - that's right around $50 for one book if I buy the ARC, the webscription of the book, and the hardback at launch; of which Baen directly keeps $30 (I have no idea how much of what a book sells for at B&N ends up in Baen's bank accounts). Finally, they sell books topeople who wouldn't buy paper books at all in that volume. I rarely buy paper books any more because I have to find places to store them and time to read them. Ebooks are much more portable for me than a paper book because I have a PDA. I have my entire ebook library in my pants pocket; but the paper copied take up most of a bookshelf.I don't think that the exact style that Baen uses for their ebook strategy is necessarily a good idea for RPG books. But I think a decent go could be made with:Non-unique activation codes in books with a nominal cost to get the ebook. ($5-$10)Allowing a DDI activation on another account for a very nominal sum ($1-$2)"Pure"e-books for 1/3 to 1/2 of cover ($10-$20)An electronic bundle of the month's releases as ebooks for a discount (10%-20%)I would be willing to pay the larger price for activations in lieu of unique activations. I still spend more every time I go to a restaurant for dinner, or out to a theater for a movie, or order in chinese food. At the lower end I pay more for a burger, drink, and fries at a fast food joint. And too cheap and it reduces the sales of pure ebooks; which I want for some products. I won't buy the FR books in dead tree - I have little use for them, less shelf space, and no room in my budget for another full-price gaming book. I would be interested in getting them for a reduced price; though.At the same time, I won't be buying 2 copies of the paper book, or one copy of the paper book and one "pure" ebook for both my wife and I. You've already essentially said we can share the ebook. If I can't activate it again against the DDI multiple times, I probably won't be paying for a second DDI subscription for her...</blockquote>

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