The rise in popularity of ebooks has started a debate on how they should be priced versus the print editions. I’ve been interested hearing the viewpoints from the authors themselves (see the article below).

But publishers also say consumers exaggerate the savings and have developed unrealistic expectations about how low the prices of e-books can go. Yes, they say, printing costs may vanish, but a raft of expenses that apply to all books, like overhead, marketing and royalties, are still in effect.

Math of Publishing Meets the E-Book

But I couldn’t reconcile that information with the pricing structure of the Baen
ebooks I’ve been buying (and pimping) for years. Finally an answer in the next article.

Given that Baen is frequently used as a counter-example whenever the matter of printing costs making up a small fraction a a hardcover’s total cost comes up, I thought it would be a good idea to hear from Baen about how it is able to keep its prices so low. Consequently, I arranged this e-mail interview with Toni Weisskopf, Baen’s publisher.

via Interview: Toni Weisskopf, publisher of Baen Books | TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home.