About eadams

Travel books and cookbooks

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• Comment on Sphinx's answer…

  1 0 The main cost issue is that physical book production and distribution make up a relatively small portion (10-12%)of the cover price. My assumption is that this is the case regardless of format (hardcover v. paperback). Also, there are specific, unique costs involved in transferring content into the various ebook formats - it's not just another button to push. I don't know anything about what's involved in that, but I gather that it involves programmers or other tech-types, who don't exactly work for peanuts. I have heard that there are some pretty poor examples of ebook transfer out there, and from what I hear, that's because there is little to no quality control screening once the format transfer has happened. I would guess that publishers don't want to put more resources into this, but perhaps that would appease the buyers somewhat. To me this is an advantage to buying physical books in a store - you can at least flip through the book and be relatively sure that all of it is there and that there are no glaring errors in printing. With an ebook, your (often) non-refundable purchase cannot be inspected before you buy. Used books are a whole separate ballgame. Authors and publishers receive no monies from the sale of a used book, so the costs are considerably lower for the retailer. The business model is very different. In the end, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, "I am simply used to paying less than original retail price for books, and some of my astonishment at prices is coming from this expectation." It is certainly an interesting time in the publishing industry, and I often wonder what the book landscape will look like in another 10 or 20 years. I just ask you to keep in mind that those editors, marketers, and designers are largely doing good work. Producing a good book (and predicting the desires of a fickle reading public!)is no simple task. If they weren't doing their jobs, you likely wouldn't know about the books in the first place. Also, take a look at some self-published books, and see if you notice a difference. I certainly won't argue that there is no waste in the industry, but as someone who reads or reviews hundreds of books each year, I appreciate what the efforts of my colleagues in publishing. Sorry if this got all babbly! I could go on and on. Also, I've been working in new and used bookstores since 1999, and I lean toward used books myself. I am happy to answer your questions, as I think this is an important topic. Also, I have only used an ereader (a Nook) once for a few hours, so I am definitely no expert. I do read a lot of book trade news, and most of what I have to say is based on several years of accumulated knowledge from a variety of sources. Oh, and one more thing - you can check out lots of ebooks (and physical books!) from the library for free, and there are loads of free out-of-copyright ebooks available from google books! KCLS/SPL have some of the highest ebook inventories/circulations in the country. Use your library, and support it in whatever way you can! We are lucky to have such a vibrant book culture in Seattle, and the best way to keep it thriving is to use your libraries and shop local! eadams commented 2 months ago

• Comment on Sphinx's answer…

  0 0 This page has a good info-graphic that shows the basic stages of the life cycle of a book: http://publishingtrendsetter.com/life-cycle-book/ The costs of running physical bookstores are paid by retailers, not publishers. As is the case with any retail business, the product is sold at a discounted rate to the retailer, so that the retailer can cover the costs of doing business (rent, salaries, insurance, benefits, marketing, etc) and hopefully make a profit. Ask anyone who runs a bookstore, and they will likely tell you they're not in this business to get rich. The margins are very slim in comparison to most retail businesses, but booksellers tend to be book lovers. Ebooks from publishers who use the agency model are priced by the publishers, so an ebook from any source must be sold at the same price regardless of the size of the retailer. Ebook prices are generally significantly lower than the cover prices of the physical editions. If you look at the actual printed cover price of a current hardcover bestseller, most will be $24.95 or more, and the ebooks will generally be $12.99 and up, a significant difference. For example, Bill O'Reilly's book Killing Lincoln has a hardcover price of $28.00 and an ebook price of $12.99. Amazon's current list price is $15.15 for the hardcover, making that difference seem much smaller. Part of the reason that most major publishers are using the agency model is that Amazon's artificially low ebook prices (sold at a significant loss to promote sales of the kindle and convince people that ebooks were a good idea when it first came out)were devaluing their product and creating the expectation that books should be cheap. As I said in my earlier response, Amazon sells physical books (bestsellers, anyway) at or below their wholesale cost to improve traffic on the website and to sell other products (would you like a toaster with that?). Like WalMart and Costco, they deal in huge volume to make up for slim margins. There is also the issue that they are a producer of ereading devices as well as a retailer of ebooks, which puts them in a (nearly)unique position to control pricing. eadams commented 2 months ago

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  Why are Kindle books so expensive?

  2 0 The actual cost of producing and distributing physical books is a small fraction of the cover price (I have seen articles saying 10-12%, but that probably varies by publisher). The largest portion of the price covers acquisition, editing, marketing, pagination, cover design, and all of the other fixed costs that go into producing books regardless of format. You will see much smaller margins between Amazon's hardcover and e-book prices than elsewhere because they sell many physical books at or below their cost, as loss-leaders, enticing you to buy other products. I'm not sure if this is the case with the book you mentioned here. eadams answered in Other Books & Writing 2 months ago Answer, comment & read 4 more answers »

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  Female American Authors?

  2 0 I loved Heidi Durrow's debut novel The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, a coming of age story about a mixed-race girl who is the sole survivor of a family tragedy. eadams answered in Book Recommendations 3 months ago Answer, comment & read 6 more answers »

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  Fun, smart books for winter

  2 0 For its strong sense of place, I recently enjoyed River House by Sarahlee Lawrence, a memoir of building a house by hand with her father in Central Oregon. I wanted to jump in the car and drive down there the whole time I was reading it. Fiction-wise I'd second The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, along with just about anything by Haruki Murakami, just for the quality of his writing. His novels are set in Japan but are replete with references to western culture and music. Personally I prefer Jay Rubin's translations of his work. A favorite essay collection is The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. It's a collection of essays about a variety of countries, all focused on happiness and why some cultures seem more content than others. It's funny and fascinating, and two years after reading it, parts of this book are still lurking in the back of my mind. eadams answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 5 more answers »

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  Hurricane Katrina book recommendation?

  1 0 I picked up several books on New Orleans when I took a trip there a year or so after Katrina, and my favorite was Do You Know What It Means to Miss new Orleans?: A Collection of Stories & Essays Set in the Big Easy. It was the first in a planned trilogy published by Chin Music Press in response to Katrina. The second book, Where We Know: New Orleans as Home, was published in November 2010, and it looks at the situation 5 years later. I haven't read the second book yet, but the first was amazing, summing up the emotional and physical landscape of New Orleans like no other book I've come across. eadams answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 6 more answers »

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  Cookbooks that use seasonal ingredients and are mostly vegetarian?

  0 0 You're in luck - seasonal, vegetarian, and local are all the rage in cookbooks right now. It seems like a new seasonal cookbook comes out every week. Jack Bishop (of Cook's Illustrated) has a book called "A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen: Easy Seasonal Dishes for Family and Friends." It is organized seasonally, and the dishes sound interesting: Curried Eggplant and Mango Stew, Penne with Broccoli & Pumpkin-Seed Pesto, Fettucine with Mascarpone & Sage-Walnut Butter. Sadly, this book doesn't have any desserts. "Clean Start: Inspiring You to Eat Clean and Live Well" and "Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source", both by Terry Walters, are vegan and laid out seasonally. She focuses on avoiding packaged foods, balance of flavor and color in meals, and healthy habits. "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison has been a favorite of mine for many years. The section on vegetables is organized alphabetically by veggie, and each section starts with What To Look For/How To Store/How to Use/Special Handling/Quantity, then gives several recipes for the veggie in question. The recipes are generally concise and straightforward, with few ingredients. Madison also has a book called "Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets," which I haven't used, but I'd recommend it based on my success with her other books. "Rustic Fruit Desserts" by Corey Schreiber & Julia Richardson is my go-to book for fruit. I've made about a dozen desserts from this book, and every one has been fantastic. The Rhubarb Buckle with Ginger Crumb, Pear Cobbler with Shingled Hazelnut Biscuit, and Mimi's German Apple Cake are some of my favorites. Many of the recipes bring new twists to old-fashioned techniques, adding new life to slumps, grunts, pandowdies, and buckles. This is by far my favorite new cookbook of the past few years. It's laid out seasonally, and the authors are both from Oregon, so it's a perfect Northwest Farmers' Market companion. It even has a baking dish equivalents chart, which gives volumes and dimensions for different sized pans. A year after buying it, I'm still smitten with 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. It's not a vegetarian or seasonal book, and the recipes can seem daunting at first, but I learned a great deal about processes and flavors from this book. There are many recipes for making your own garam masalas, and Shoreline Central Market carries nearly every spice you'd need in bulk. If you want to add complex flavors to just about anything, make a few of these masalas and keep them around to spice up just about anything. Also, after making 3 or 4 recipes from this book, I had a better understanding of what "curry" can mean, and I felt comfortable throwing together a dish sans recipe. Chronicle Books has a "Quick and Easy" series, and I've heard rave reviews from friends for the Indian and Korean books. They also have titles for Thai and Chinese. However, they are not vegetarian or seasonal. Hope this helps! eadams answered in Books & Writing about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

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  Is it possible to make nan in a home oven?

  0 0 I have had more luck making naan on the stovetop than in the oven. In order to keep it from going stale, try wrapping the breads in a clean towel as you take them off the heat, and keep them covered until you're ready to eat. eadams answered in Visiting Authors about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 5 more answers »

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  What are your favorite Russian cookbooks?

  0 0 Honestly my Grandma's book is the only Russian cookbook I've ever used. I make the perohi and pagachi recipes that she taught me, and the other dishes I've tried have been from various friends' family recipes. One of my favorite cookbooks, Flatbreads and Flavors: A Baker's Atlas by Naomi Duguid & Jeffrey Alford, is an international collection of recipes for flatbreads & foods to accompany them. It has a section on the Caucasus, but not much in the way of soups. What I love about this book is that the authors tell stories about each recipe and where they found it - lots of old ladies at markets and the like. eadams answered in Books & Writing about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

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