Monday, April 4, 2011

Just A Thought: Digital Copies

Source: Fast Company
So I was thinking today...

Why don't publisher's give away digital copies of books with the hardcover versions?

What brought this thought upon me: I was thinking about purchasing Where She Went from Amazon.com and then realized that the hardcover edition was cheaper than the e-book! This just doesn't make sense to me... E-books are definitely cheaper to produce, so why are we being charged more in some cases?

Why I Think This Would Benefit Everyone
  • I love my kindle... But I do miss being able to show off my book collection.
  • Some DVDs already come like this. Ex: You buy a blu-ray that comes with a digital copy as well.
  • You have a backup in the case your hard copy gets destroyed.
  • I LOVE BOOK COVERS!
  • Keeps the tradition of paper books alive while at the same time making digital content more known and accessible to the general public. Maybe even assisting e-reader sales?
  • "About 10.8 million e-readers have been sold in the United States so far..." - American Observer. This is just the US alone!

Inside the book there could be a one-time redeemable code for a digital copy. I am by no means a business woman, and they probably have their reasons for not doing this, but as a customer, this is something I would love to see.

What do you guys think? Would you use and support digital copies being given away with hardcover edition books?

-Sarah

3 comments:

  1. I think that it would be a good idea for some books as a promotional thing but I understand why publishers don't do this all the time.
    E-Books have become a huge deal and they make a lot of profit; some people say they're going to be the reason that the publishing industry survives/will survive because they're a large portion profit.

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  2. I agree with you sarah! I mean seriously not everyone wants to read on a e-reader. I don't have an e-reader because I have an IPad and An Iphone so I use the kindle apps or actually the B&N Nook app and it works amazing. However, I have this thing for having a copy of the book in my hand a place for it on my shelf. It would be awesome to be able to buy both like you suggested that way no matter what I have it to read.

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  3. I definitely agree with you Cat! That does make perfect sense. I'd settle even seeing a couple given away as promotional :) It's the same deal with DVD's. Not all of them have digital copies, but quite a few do.

    There's just nothing that compares to having those beautiful covers displayed on my shelf, you know?

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