Last week Nathan Bransford wrote about 99 cent ebooks and the tragedy of the commons, where he postulates that although there is downwards pressure on ebook prices, there might be some way in the future to harness price discovery so that popular/good/lucky/whatever authors can make more money.
Recently it’s seemed like the price of fiction is dropping to zero. Aside from one magazine subscription, I almost never pay for short fiction because there’s so much free stuff out there. I could see going that way for books too–and if I’m trying things outside my favorite subgenres, I already do. (Yes, I also use the library.) If I just wanted to read rather than to read a specific book, between author and publisher giveaways I’d never have to buy a book again.
Luckily for the authors I like, I do want to read their specific books. I imagine most of us will pay well over $.99 for a book by an author we value–books aren’t interchangeable objects. The trick would be figuring out a way to charge me $15 for a book I want and $1 for a book I could take or leave, while doing the same for a reader with opposite tastes from mine. Anyone think that’s feasible?