Who the hell buys a grill that costs 1500 dollars? I mean really? Okay, besides the really large grills that are basically an outdoor kitchen, I can’t understand it. I have a grill the same size as a 1500 dollar grill and I bet it does not cook any slower than the 1500 dollar one.
Grills are just way too expensive nowadays. Some have a few cool extra features, but none of them have anything that is worth thousands of dollars. Yet American consumers buy them! Don’t people understand that if they pay what someone asks for a product, no matter how much it really is worth, then everyone else will have to pay that much too? I just don’t get it.
A year ago I was looking at used aluminum boats. I wanted a flat bottom boat for duck hunting and fishing. I had already found one and fixed it up but it is a bit on the skinny side so I wanted one a little wider and was willing to pay a bit extra. Just the bare boat mind you. I paid 150 dollars for the 16 ft 42 inch wide flat bottom Lowe I currently have. Its old and beat up and was not going to be used by the people I bought it from anymore. Perfect.
The same boat today would be about 1200 dollars!!! Of course you’re saying: sell it! Sure, make a profit! Cha ching! But what happens when I want to go duck hunting? Or bass fishing? Cause I sure can’t buy another one for anywhere near what I paid for this one!
Maybe I should feel lucky. Maybe I should be grateful about getting a boat so cheap…. But hey! I put a lot of work into this boat. I had to locate a trailer for it and redo the bunks (and my goodness trailers are even ridiculous now). I had to wire wheel the entire exterior, clean it, prime it with two coats, then paint it how I wanted it. I had to build a deck for fishing and get a motor (that doesn’t run now) and I’m not gonna get rid of it after all that… I like this boat, I just want another one, and I don’t think all the not too bright people that have paid 1200 for the same bare boat are really helping anyone. WHY? How did this start? People just got dumb? Or maybe they got smart and realized what these boats are worth? Either way, I really don’t think I can afford another boat in the near future and that kind of economy change was NOT based on fuel prices or inflation. It was flat out based on what consumers were willing to actually pay for something. So I say to you: STOP IT! Stop overpaying for stuff! You not only hurt yourself, but the rest of us as well!
Hmmm… Makes me think about the price of books now. Equal yet opposite dilemma. Ebooks especially! Self-published Ebooks. Like mine.
Okay, first and foremost I want to say I did fall into the trap, I found that self-publishing is far easier than getting hundreds of rejections from Agents simply because they get hundreds of thousands of queries every year. I realize this is a very difficult issue and they cannot accept every book and yours has to stand out amongst the multitude. I get that. I even understand that my writing is a very general oversaturated genre. And I can even go so far as saying I have quite a few mistakes in my novels when I am “finished” writing them.
However, I know (factually) that there are much worse writers out there who get published all the time. I also am aware that they do so because of socializing with Agents and other Authors at conferences. I personally find this pathetic, but who am I to complain. If I had the money and time (even more time than it took to write the book in the first place) then I might go to these get-togethers and “sling my rock” with the rest of them. Or maybe I would not. I could go on as to why, but the point is I got frustrated and found an easier way. I almost feel like I cheated… Myself. I didn’t really cheat the system, but I kinda did hurt myself doing things the easy way. I have no Agent, no Publisher with large funds for marketing. My works will most likely never see the inside of a book store unless I happen to have a copy with me when I walk into one. I will probably never sell a thousand books, and I will not get rich doing what I love. (because believe me, marketing is something I hate more than picking up dog poo in the back yard.)
However, and this is a BIG “however”, I really think I sold myself short when I priced my Ebooks.
In the 90’s I worked at B Dalton, and Media Play. I saw first-hand when paperback books went from 4.99 average to 6.99 average cost. It really bothered me at the time, but I realize now what a writer’s time and work is worth. I don’t think that books being sold cheaper is really better. But it bothered me back then because I read so much it put a dent in my wallet every month.
So now we have Ebooks and I truly think it was the best and worst thing that could ever happen to the book industry. I think the reasons are obvious… And we now have a very large amount of authors who throw some “flash fiction” or just short stories out there and sell them for .99 cents. There is plenty of junk, yes. But there are plenty of 2 to 5 thousand word shorts that are very good. (And I am just gonna say this cause not many others are bold enough to say it, but I have nothing to lose by saying it: That’s what happens when you allow EVERYONE to publish whatever they want to for free on the internet.)
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am happy I have published my books and I also know they are not as good as John Grisham (everyone uses him as an example for good novels so I am too – not saying he is great or anything, but he sells a ton of books for sure), but they are very good stories. And I know this from the people that have read them and told me so – unbiased people, not just my friends…
On the other hand, I have seen many mistakes and things I want to change and edit and rewrite in my books that I published “because I could”. I truly don’t feel like I write crap, but I do feel like I should have taken the time to edit more than what I have. Don’t get me wrong, I have edited the heck out of these books, but they could use a lot more… and that’s something I would have been forced to do by an Agent, Editor, Publisher, etc… (hence: I sold myself short there as well).
But the multitude of authors putting out shorts and books at 2.99 or less is just… well, … It’s just wrong! First, many of these authors are in fact selling themselves short. Second, it kills the book economy. And third, it makes us look bad!
Would you spend 3 years of your life working on a piece of art to sell it for .99 cents a print? And there is plenty of free art out there as well… (but not if you plan on using it for a book cover!).
I wrote my novels, I created the covers, I did a ton of work and now I am selling them for 2.99 each! What is wrong with me? Well, I can actually justify my price: I know there are mistakes in the books that should be fixed. Small annoying mistakes that some people may not even realize are there. But to me I feel if I had been forced to redo the book a bunch of times as most writers are, I would have these issues fixed. So the cost of a moderately good paperback novel by a not well known author is around 5 bucks. So I have literally discounted my books to 2.99 simply because I know they have mistakes that I could have and should have fixed before publishing them, but was unwilling to take the very long time to do so. I think I will now, and I think I will in the future as well. But I already have them out there for everyone to see, so hey, they are 3 bucks people! Enjoy the story and ignore the minor mistakes!
But maybe I should NOT have priced them at 2.99? Because I feel that it belittles the writing economy and makes everyone with a nook, Kindle or android phone think they should get a ton of books for free and a ton more cheap as heck!
So why is it that consumers will pay 1500 dollars for a grill, but don’t want to pay 2.99 for a novel anymore??? Is is because there are so many .99 cent shorts out there? I don’t know…
One last comment / question: Have we allowed Video to kill the Radio Star with Ebooks and self-publishing? Food for thought.
Grills are just way too expensive nowadays. Some have a few cool extra features, but none of them have anything that is worth thousands of dollars. Yet American consumers buy them! Don’t people understand that if they pay what someone asks for a product, no matter how much it really is worth, then everyone else will have to pay that much too? I just don’t get it.
A year ago I was looking at used aluminum boats. I wanted a flat bottom boat for duck hunting and fishing. I had already found one and fixed it up but it is a bit on the skinny side so I wanted one a little wider and was willing to pay a bit extra. Just the bare boat mind you. I paid 150 dollars for the 16 ft 42 inch wide flat bottom Lowe I currently have. Its old and beat up and was not going to be used by the people I bought it from anymore. Perfect.
The same boat today would be about 1200 dollars!!! Of course you’re saying: sell it! Sure, make a profit! Cha ching! But what happens when I want to go duck hunting? Or bass fishing? Cause I sure can’t buy another one for anywhere near what I paid for this one!
Maybe I should feel lucky. Maybe I should be grateful about getting a boat so cheap…. But hey! I put a lot of work into this boat. I had to locate a trailer for it and redo the bunks (and my goodness trailers are even ridiculous now). I had to wire wheel the entire exterior, clean it, prime it with two coats, then paint it how I wanted it. I had to build a deck for fishing and get a motor (that doesn’t run now) and I’m not gonna get rid of it after all that… I like this boat, I just want another one, and I don’t think all the not too bright people that have paid 1200 for the same bare boat are really helping anyone. WHY? How did this start? People just got dumb? Or maybe they got smart and realized what these boats are worth? Either way, I really don’t think I can afford another boat in the near future and that kind of economy change was NOT based on fuel prices or inflation. It was flat out based on what consumers were willing to actually pay for something. So I say to you: STOP IT! Stop overpaying for stuff! You not only hurt yourself, but the rest of us as well!
Hmmm… Makes me think about the price of books now. Equal yet opposite dilemma. Ebooks especially! Self-published Ebooks. Like mine.
Okay, first and foremost I want to say I did fall into the trap, I found that self-publishing is far easier than getting hundreds of rejections from Agents simply because they get hundreds of thousands of queries every year. I realize this is a very difficult issue and they cannot accept every book and yours has to stand out amongst the multitude. I get that. I even understand that my writing is a very general oversaturated genre. And I can even go so far as saying I have quite a few mistakes in my novels when I am “finished” writing them.
However, I know (factually) that there are much worse writers out there who get published all the time. I also am aware that they do so because of socializing with Agents and other Authors at conferences. I personally find this pathetic, but who am I to complain. If I had the money and time (even more time than it took to write the book in the first place) then I might go to these get-togethers and “sling my rock” with the rest of them. Or maybe I would not. I could go on as to why, but the point is I got frustrated and found an easier way. I almost feel like I cheated… Myself. I didn’t really cheat the system, but I kinda did hurt myself doing things the easy way. I have no Agent, no Publisher with large funds for marketing. My works will most likely never see the inside of a book store unless I happen to have a copy with me when I walk into one. I will probably never sell a thousand books, and I will not get rich doing what I love. (because believe me, marketing is something I hate more than picking up dog poo in the back yard.)
However, and this is a BIG “however”, I really think I sold myself short when I priced my Ebooks.
In the 90’s I worked at B Dalton, and Media Play. I saw first-hand when paperback books went from 4.99 average to 6.99 average cost. It really bothered me at the time, but I realize now what a writer’s time and work is worth. I don’t think that books being sold cheaper is really better. But it bothered me back then because I read so much it put a dent in my wallet every month.
So now we have Ebooks and I truly think it was the best and worst thing that could ever happen to the book industry. I think the reasons are obvious… And we now have a very large amount of authors who throw some “flash fiction” or just short stories out there and sell them for .99 cents. There is plenty of junk, yes. But there are plenty of 2 to 5 thousand word shorts that are very good. (And I am just gonna say this cause not many others are bold enough to say it, but I have nothing to lose by saying it: That’s what happens when you allow EVERYONE to publish whatever they want to for free on the internet.)
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am happy I have published my books and I also know they are not as good as John Grisham (everyone uses him as an example for good novels so I am too – not saying he is great or anything, but he sells a ton of books for sure), but they are very good stories. And I know this from the people that have read them and told me so – unbiased people, not just my friends…
On the other hand, I have seen many mistakes and things I want to change and edit and rewrite in my books that I published “because I could”. I truly don’t feel like I write crap, but I do feel like I should have taken the time to edit more than what I have. Don’t get me wrong, I have edited the heck out of these books, but they could use a lot more… and that’s something I would have been forced to do by an Agent, Editor, Publisher, etc… (hence: I sold myself short there as well).
But the multitude of authors putting out shorts and books at 2.99 or less is just… well, … It’s just wrong! First, many of these authors are in fact selling themselves short. Second, it kills the book economy. And third, it makes us look bad!
Would you spend 3 years of your life working on a piece of art to sell it for .99 cents a print? And there is plenty of free art out there as well… (but not if you plan on using it for a book cover!).
I wrote my novels, I created the covers, I did a ton of work and now I am selling them for 2.99 each! What is wrong with me? Well, I can actually justify my price: I know there are mistakes in the books that should be fixed. Small annoying mistakes that some people may not even realize are there. But to me I feel if I had been forced to redo the book a bunch of times as most writers are, I would have these issues fixed. So the cost of a moderately good paperback novel by a not well known author is around 5 bucks. So I have literally discounted my books to 2.99 simply because I know they have mistakes that I could have and should have fixed before publishing them, but was unwilling to take the very long time to do so. I think I will now, and I think I will in the future as well. But I already have them out there for everyone to see, so hey, they are 3 bucks people! Enjoy the story and ignore the minor mistakes!
But maybe I should NOT have priced them at 2.99? Because I feel that it belittles the writing economy and makes everyone with a nook, Kindle or android phone think they should get a ton of books for free and a ton more cheap as heck!
So why is it that consumers will pay 1500 dollars for a grill, but don’t want to pay 2.99 for a novel anymore??? Is is because there are so many .99 cent shorts out there? I don’t know…
One last comment / question: Have we allowed Video to kill the Radio Star with Ebooks and self-publishing? Food for thought.