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FictionWise Gets Secure and Expensive

© Janice Karin

About two years ago I wrote an article about a new eBook seller FictionWise that focused on Science Fiction and Fantasy. In that article I went into some detail on my thoughts about eBook pricing and mentioned that I felt FictionWise was making the correct choice in pricing their books a bit under current paperback prices. Since you can't resell or loan out eBooks, from a consumer standpoint you get less functionality. Since there are no physical construction costs, warehousing costs, transporting costs, retail rent costs, or retail staffing costs the expenses of creating and selling eBooks are lower too and thus a lower price still allows everyone to be paid and profit.

Unfortunately over the intervening years the prices at FictionWise have slowly crept up so that most books are on par with paperback prices and a few even above them. Most short stories have risen too - I rarely see anything under $0.49 these days and it's not uncommon for longer shorts to run in the vicinity of $3. These price increases come without a lessening of the usage restrictions. You still cannot resell or loan out your purchased books. I consoled myself with the fact that Fictionwise still supported a variety of book formats (that flexibility is very nice) and that at least they weren't approaching hardcover prices or exceeding them like Peanut Press/Palm Digital Media.

Well folks, I am sad to say that I can no longer make that last claim. A few weeks ago FictionWise introduced secure eBooks in Mobipocket format and began releasing titles in that format including some titles that cost $24.95, $27.95, and other outrageous prices (there are also titles in the $6.99-9.99 range). FictionWise has joined the "pay more for eBooks than hardcover books" crowd. Granted, these books are generally newer than the books they've traditionally offered, but is the cost worth it? Certainly not to me. They do still sell books in the formats they always have, at the continually increasing prices they've been using lately. It remains to be seen over time what percentage of new books will be secure vs. the traditional formats. I hope FictionWise does continue to add extensively to their normal catalog.

In fairness, FictionWise does offer 15% discounts for new books in the traditional formats and 10% discounts for new secure books (all titles added in a given week). They also offer a small rebate (as a store credit) for new book purchases made the first day of availability. They also have a frequent buyers program where, for $29.95 a year or $44.95 for two years, you get one free eBook per year (upto $10), 15% off all book purchases, rebates for bulk (over $100) purchases, and special offers throughout the year. I must admit that although they help, these programs don't keep pace with the rising costs. I remember a time when I used to recommend FictionWise to all and sundry as a place to get quality inexpensive eBooks. No more.

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