Is It Greed?

I'm torn, and I know that part of my thinking is due to the fact that I really don't much care for this particular author as a person.  We have never met, but through his interviews and such there is this pompous air about him.  Who knows, if we met I would probably like the guy.

A very successful author (and I do mean very) recently released a book through self-publishing means.  This is a good thing for him, because now he will make the money that he has earned through his success by cutting out the major publishers take.  This also highlights the relevance of the young e-reader in the book world.  Overall this is a good thing for him, for myself and the countless other independents out there, and for the customer.

Through traditional channels, this book would have been north of $15 for an electronic copy.  By bypassing the publisher, this book is available for $8.99.  And this is where I am torn.

While the price point for most Indie's is between $.99 and $5.00, this $9 price seems a bit extreme.  Publishing an electronic book can cost nothing.  Granted, this author probably spent some decent coin on marketing and editing, because he can, in the grand scheme of things that cost is likely negligible.

This book will probably sell close to a million copies because of his track record.  With Amazon, the author pulls in up to 70% of sale.  This author stands to make close to 6 million on this one release.  Divide that in half and it is still a significant amount.  So, is he charging too much?  It is less than what the publisher would charge, so the customer is still getting a decent deal.

Maybe it is the perfect price.  The customer gets a decent deal and the author hits the lottery.

Maybe I'm just jealous?

I don't know that I could charge more than $5 for a book, I think especially if I sold millions.  For myself, $5 is a fair price to ask.  Anything more just seems greedy.  I could be wrong, maybe he has spent millions in promoting this new book.  I just don't know.  I tend to like the path of providing the customer with a quality product at a fair price that benefits both myself and the reader.  Nine bucks just doesn't do it for me.