D.J. Taylor asks why Dan Brown’s new book is so heavily discounted when thousands of people are eager to read it. Why not capitalize on all of the hype by asking readers to pay full or slightly-off-full price? The reason is that the hype and discount will get buyers into the store and maybe, just maybe, they will buy something else. How does that figure, Taylor asks. Won’t it drive the price for other books down?
I agree, and as thrifty buyer (more or less) I balk a paying $25 or more for a book. I remember seeing Robinson’s Gilead in the store after much praise, and I wanted to buy it. I was even a little excited. But I think was priced at $28.00, and it was much smaller than I had imagined. I passed it up.
But Brown’s fans are even less hinged on reality than I am, so make them pay $20 or more for the most anticipated novel of the year. Tell them it sells for $35, but they can get it for $22.50 if they give the secret word. They love stuff like that, and some will even pay $35.
Dan Brown books are a lot cheaper to produce, per copy, than West Oversea. A lot of the costs are fixed (advance, editing, print setup, and so on). They get to amortize them over more copies.
Still, they have an opportunity to make money for everyone in the business because the demand for this book is so high. Discounts of 60% or more are pretty steep.