Neal Asher Dabbles with Self Publishing.

In a possible sign of the future, Neal Asher author of the excellent Polity Books, has self published one of his earlier works "The Parasite." Its a move he and other authors have been looking into recently with the kindle and iPad driving increased eBooks sales. This definitely represents him dipping his toe and seeing if the waters are to his liking.

As I have said before I’ll be interested to see how it does without the editing/marketing that publishers demand such high percentages for. Especially as he has chosen to sell it for around the same price around 30% less than (although he aimed for closer to 40%) his published works are demanding at the moment, (so no skewing of sales due to it being a bargain) hopefully he'll be able to get a real idea if he is getting his moneys worth out of the publishers.

Review to follow.

eBook Prices.

With the fantastic Kindle leading the charge for the eBook reader. Eyes are now falling on price for the eBooks themselves.

In an mind numbingly stupid re-enactment of the music industries baffling reaction to the growth in mp3 players. They have gone for the "fingers in there ears" use the exact same model as you use for the physical version business model. Shortly to be followed by the shock realisation that, given the choice between paying £10 for a book you can source for free illegally just as easily, a lot of their market choose the later. Ending in the realisation (several years down the line) that reduced prices will deter piracy, increase sales and incur no further cost.

The Agency Model

Recently most publishers have adopted an agency model for eBooks. The agency model means that you are actually buying the eBook straight from the publisher, the shop you use are simply the agent, they receive a commission for each purchase. This means that the publisher sets the price and shops get no option to discount etc. While this could mean that smaller shops can get a march on the big boys (amazon and iBooks), in reality each publisher has a preferred agent in each territory.

Tantamount to Monopoly?

Competition brakes down here, from a far you might say the different stores and publishing houses constitute a market. However due to the agency model and the plain fact that books like music are art not products. One publishing house has total control over the price of a particulair book. Leaving customers who want that particulair book with little to no consumer choice. This means the usual market forces that would prevent extortionate prices are effectively absent.

For that reason the EU have recently raided publishers officers to investigate if they are price fixing or if the agency model is an effective monopoly. The answer is yes.

Are the current prices fair.

I'd definitely argue not. The price of eBooks seems to be aligned with the book prices, if only the Hard Back is available it will be about that price, if the paperback is available its around that price. Generally though they will fail to be available at discounted prices, meaning you can normally buy the physical book for less than the eBook. For a product that has no/little overhead per unit, compared to the paper, printing , transport, storage etc costs of real books this seems to defy logic. Next take into account both the problem of piracy (which as i have stated would be reduced by reduced cost.) and the threat of self-published Authors under cutting published authors and it doesn't seem a good time to own shares in the publishing houses. It is worth taking into account the fact that a lot of work goes into editing/promoting/publishing a book and this needs to be compensated but the current model just doesn't work.

All this is a real shame because the Amazon Kindle is an amazing product.

Harry Potter Studio Tour

For those who were baffled by Warner Bros's decision to build a replica Hogwarts and Hogsmeade not only after they'd finished the movies (wtf?) but in sunny (as un British as you can get,) Florida. A little ray of sanity, Warner's have been busy setting up the studios where the films were created, into a show piece of the craft that brought the books to life.

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This new attraction will be at Leavesden studios near watford and will open in 2012 ready to monopolise on the Olympic games tourist boom.

As a big fan and someone who is interested in film, i can defiantly see us making the journey down to see it.

New Tracks off the upcoming Foos Album.

For those of you who are like me and ultra excited about the new Foos album out in April. Here are two tracks off the new album.






Proof if proof need be that Foos are the saviour of music. Forget the crap commercial stuff the radio is awash with pre order the Foos now and save your musical soul.

Spree4 Eye on Technology: iPad 2 Hits Britain's Stores this month!

Just wrote up the excellent news that iPad2 will hit the shops at the end of this month.

Why not have a goosey?

Spree4 Eye on Technology: iPad 2 Hits Britain's Stores this month!: "Around about 2 hours ago and several thousand thousand Miles away. Steve Jobs took the podium..."

PS3s Banned in Britain, and (iPa)D-day looms.

Spree4 Eye on Technology: PS3s Banned in Britain.: "In a rather bizarre turn of events LG have successfully won a ten day import ban on Playstation 3s."

Weird. I guess this makes the argument on if you actually own a PS3 when you buy it moot.

Oh while I'm reposting stuff. Its (ipa)d-day tomorrow.

Spree4 Eye on Technology: Apple Confirms Date of iPad2 event.: "Bringing months of speculation to a close. Apple today have sent out invites to join them on the 2nd March in San Francisco for a very speca..."

Oh Dave....

Foo Fighters long long long awaited album is available for pre-order now.

I can't wait, its been a long time since their last album "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" was released and i've been good and i've not complained to much. That was yesterday though and in a little over a month the waiting will be over. I'm so excited i may wee.