The Business of Digital Publishing

12

The pricing dilemma

This chapter explores some of the fundamental aspects of the underlying pricing models to show why pricing has become an important issue. It examines, in particular, one of the main areas of controversy that the industry is involved in today in the form of agency and wholesale pricing mechanisms. This issue is not likely to be a lasting one, but it is a good illustration of the sort of problems publishers face as digital business models change the environment in which they do business.

The chapter will look at:

1. Traditional price models for print and how it has been adapted
2. New digital products and consumer perceptions
3. Discounts and intermediaries’ effect on pricing
4. Internet retailers and the price of digital books
5. The ...