Sunday, December 16, 2001

Buyers Reading Cover Price, and Opting Not to Read the Rest
Prices to consumers have risen over the last decade even though printing and binding costs have declined significantly, said Stephen Snyder, executive vice president of the Book Manufacturers Institute. Although paper prices are cyclical, improvements in technology have made manufacturing cheaper. Consolidation in both publishing and printing has lowered prices through economies of scale and stiffer competition, he said.

As a result, manufacturing a hardcover book usually costs a publisher little more than $2 a copy, while producing a high-end paperback costs less than $1 a copy. Longer books and special features like color photographs raise costs, however.

Publishers also need to pay for the cost of unsold copies, typically about 30 percent of the number printed. Publishers typically sell books to stores wholesale for about half the cover price.

But publishers' profit margins remain among the lowest in the media industry. They are spending more for advances for big-name authors and to market their books. Publishers compete fiercely in both areas, fighting to woo authors and readers and squeezing their profits in the process. Bookstores have raised publishers' costs, too, by charging more to promote their books.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/books/16BOOK.html?todaysheadlines&pagewanted=all

No comments:

Post a Comment

con·cept