Apple Kills the Textbook with iBooks 2, iBooks Author

[Spike89]

70. You've nailed it!

I'm the acquisitions editor of a mid-size non-profit book publisher in the education field (we don't do textbooks). It is always very difficult to say exactly what percentage of cost is materials/storage/shipping because those can vary widely based on a books sales volume. However, the percentage is very small in even the worst cases.

Anyway, roughly speaking a paper book with a moderately high print run might cost a couple dollars to print and ship, a very popular book could actually cost less than a dollar. Of course, a high-quality hardbound book with color images throughout might cost considerably more to print ($5, $10 possibly) but books of that type generally have extremely high production costs all around (photographers get paid as well as authors!) Photographers and artists generall get paid a flat fee based upon estimated print run (for instance, a photo fee might be $300 for up to 3,000 copies, subsequent print runs will typically require paying the artist more.) Authors almost always get paid commission (royalties) and for most nonfiction that ranges from 8-12%.

I do believe in the future of ebooks. However, I believe they will eventually become the primary delivery system because they'll have added features and advantages--true cost will not be one of those advantages.