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<blockquote data-quote="Great Mastiff Corp." data-source="post: 1778917" data-attributes="member: 20040">I have been tempted to have the company issue the &quot;Acrohelion Campaign Setting&quot; as a PDF, because of the extremely high printing/distributing/etc. costs of the actual printed books.&nbsp; As a publisher, I can tell you that the electronic format is extremely tempting, because it offers more that a few dollars of profit per copy.&nbsp; However, I and those who advise me also feel that there is a HUGE risk of destroying sales of the print product, because once the PDF is purchased, it can be multiplied endlessly, put up on pirate websites, etc. etc. It is true that someone could scan the book in page by page and do much the same, but why do the work for them? So I think that Wizards is trying to protect themselves. They put a high price on it so that a deliberately small number of people will purchase the book. These people will be a 'control group' to see how honest the purchasers of PDF products are, and whether it's worth it to put more books online.&nbsp; Personally, I think they're sticking their necks out seriously, because the PDF medium has colossal potential for abuse, especially for a major book which requires so many resources to produce to begin with. But they may also have other reasons -- perhaps compelling ones -- to take the risk. (There is another reason for WotC's high MSRP on print books, by the way, but since I'm not certain about the confidentiality of the issue, I will not repeat it here.&nbsp; Before I got into the publishing end of the industry, I always used to fume about Wizards' expensive books. Now that I know some more, I actually sympathize with them ... they aren't seeing very much of that Frostburn price actually coming in to pay the salaries, I can tell you that much.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Great Mastiff Corp., post: 1778917, member: 20040"] I have been tempted to have the company issue the "Acrohelion Campaign Setting" as a PDF, because of the extremely high printing/distributing/etc. costs of the actual printed books. As a publisher, I can tell you that the electronic format is extremely tempting, because it offers more that a few dollars of profit per copy. However, I and those who advise me also feel that there is a HUGE risk of destroying sales of the print product, because once the PDF is purchased, it can be multiplied endlessly, put up on pirate websites, etc. etc. It is true that someone could scan the book in page by page and do much the same, but why do the work for them? So I think that Wizards is trying to protect themselves. They put a high price on it so that a deliberately small number of people will purchase the book. These people will be a 'control group' to see how honest the purchasers of PDF products are, and whether it's worth it to put more books online. Personally, I think they're sticking their necks out seriously, because the PDF medium has colossal potential for abuse, especially for a major book which requires so many resources to produce to begin with. But they may also have other reasons -- perhaps compelling ones -- to take the risk. (There is another reason for WotC's high MSRP on print books, by the way, but since I'm not certain about the confidentiality of the issue, I will not repeat it here. Before I got into the publishing end of the industry, I always used to fume about Wizards' expensive books. Now that I know some more, I actually sympathize with them ... they aren't seeing very much of that Frostburn price actually coming in to pay the salaries, I can tell you that much.) [/QUOTE]

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