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Monthly Archives: May 2009

E-book Pricing and Denying Reality

I found the NYT article on e-book pricing to be somewhat disheartening, when it comes to the ability of the big publishers to adapt to even relatively minor changes in the marketplace.

Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, says ““The concept that because a book is an e-book it should automatically be priced significantly lower than a paper book is one we don’t agree with. …

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Philosophy of Advances

We pay advances, generally $5000 to $10,000, but occasionally much higher, with the highest we’ve ever paid being $100,000. When the advance exceeds $10,000, there is always some aspect of the deal that reduces or eliminates the risk of the higher advance (i.e. a guaranteed buy).

We often do deals with no advance, …

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Why We Publish (addendum)

I referred in my last post to the many people who have already been helped by The Cure for Alcoholism. An interview with one of them is available here. 

Why We Publish

I started BenBella because I wanted to change my life. I wanted to move from the fast-paced but intangible role of running consulting firms to the slower but more concrete world of books and writing, a world I’ve always loved.

I had no illusions that the world needed another publisher (the world probably needs fewer). …

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