$26 well spent or suckered by a marketing ploy?

[Weird Harold]

I haven' bought a hardback fiction book since July, 1982 -- Until last weekend.

Last Weekend, I wandered into Barnes and Noble and discovered that the 13th Honor Harrington book was out in hardbound and Baen Books was kind enough to bind a CR-ROM in the book that contains the full text of the new book AND the full text of the preceeding 12 books AND sample of the audio versions of several current Baen Books offering.

On impulse I bought my second hard-bound fiction book in over 20 years. The CD contains the promised digital versions in several formats including one compatible with PDAs.

So, did I make a good buy for the $26 cost of the book, or was I suckered by a clever marketing ploy.

Bear in mind that I happen to own all 12 preceding volumes in paperback already, so I didn't actually buy anything new with the CD, although having them in digital format does make keeping track of them easier.

Would you buy a similar deal for a series you've been following?

 

[BoobsNBrains]

It's always good to have something you're collecting in digital format...I say good deal, but you should have waited and bought it online somewhere and used a coupon code to save some $$...but that's just me.

 

[scylis]

I haven' bought a hardback fiction book since July, 1982 -- Until last weekend.

Last Weekend, I wandered into Barnes and Noble and discovered that the 13th Honor Harrington book was out in hardbound and Baen Books was kind enough to bind a CR-ROM in the book that contains the full text of the new book AND the full text of the preceeding 12 books AND sample of the audio versions of several current Baen Books offering.

On impulse I bought my second hard-bound fiction book in over 20 years. The CD contains the promised digital versions in several formats including one compatible with PDAs.

So, did I make a good buy for the $26 cost of the book, or was I suckered by a clever marketing ploy.

Bear in mind that I happen to own all 12 preceding volumes in paperback already, so I didn't actually buy anything new with the CD, although having them in digital format does make keeping track of them easier.

Would you buy a similar deal for a series you've been following?

do you thuroughly enjoy the series and are interested with anything related to it?

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Re: $26 well spent or suckered by a marketing ploy?

do you thoroughly enjoy the series and are interested with anything related to it?

My only interest in the CD was that it contained the full text of the entire series to date. I thoroughly enjoy the series and have re-read the whole thing several times. I have very little interest in anything like fan-fiction or RPG spin-off or the like.

 

[Mad_Jack_Rabbit]

The last hardback I bought was Briam Stableford's 'Dark Arrat' in Jan this year. It did not contain a CD rom. It cost $25.99.

So you got a free CD ROM.

Good value? Only if you care about the CD ROM or if you were unable to wait for the paperback.

 

[SINthysist]

Next time slip an employee $15.00, they can rip the cover off, take the book and the CD, and meet you in the parking lot...

What am I saying, times are tough...

Someone would do it for $10.








And you know, when we keep talking about dishonest in America and the inflation of American Business through, shall we say, less than forthright schemes, doesn't this constant re-release of materials smack of padding the bottom line? I mean, shouldn't be like software (oh, don't get me started on Windows ME), a small upgrade fee? Same for my Led Zepplin CD's. I mean vinyl, 4-track, 8-track, cassette, I mean, I figure the boys owe me a show at the house by now, if you know what I mean...

 

[phrodeau]

If I enjoy an artist's work I'll pay full retail for it, hopefully giving him the means to produce more.

 

[lovetoread]

If you like the writer,then it was a good deal.

I love my paperbacks,but they will not last forever.

If I had a cd that had my favorite author's books on it,I'd be thrilled.

I think you got a good deal and I hope that you enjoy the new book.

 

[fgarvb1]

Yes WH!

The fact is i bought one paper back for more than that, and it was second hand. I searched for it since the early eighties.

the digital thing? sure.

 

[Ishmael]

I haven' bought a hardback fiction book since July, 1982 -- Until last weekend.

Last Weekend, I wandered into Barnes and Noble and discovered that the 13th Honor Harrington book was out in hardbound and Baen Books was kind enough to bind a CR-ROM in the book that contains the full text of the new book AND the full text of the preceeding 12 books AND sample of the audio versions of several current Baen Books offering.

On impulse I bought my second hard-bound fiction book in over 20 years. The CD contains the promised digital versions in several formats including one compatible with PDAs.

So, did I make a good buy for the $26 cost of the book, or was I suckered by a clever marketing ploy.

Bear in mind that I happen to own all 12 preceding volumes in paperback already, so I didn't actually buy anything new with the CD, although having them in digital format does make keeping track of them easier.

Would you buy a similar deal for a series you've been following?

I can only speak for myself WH. I love good books and when I find an author that I like, or one of the classics, I always attempt to buy the hard bound editions. I have even replaced some of my old paperbacks with hard bounds. Eventually the paperbacks fall apart.

If you truly enjoy a book I don't think that you can go wrong with the hard bound edition.

Ishmael

 

[Guest]

 

[SINthysist]

Most of 'em already paid.

Many dead, too !

Some people get paid to write books, but never write them too...

 

[dreamer]

Sounds like a decent deal to me. There are several authors whose publishers could charge far more and I would happily pay it.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Re: $26 well spent or suckered by a marketing ploy?

If you truly enjoy a book I don't think that you can go wrong with the hard bound edition.

I'd love to have the space and money to replace all 1400 of my paperbacks with hardbound books. However, since I don't buy lottery tickets or play the MegaBucks slot machines, it is very unlikely that is ever going to happen.

foxinsox,
I definitley understand where you're coming from, but from a storage standpoint, CD roms take up less room than even paperback books, and with the PDA format the books are still portable enough to "curl up with." It's nothing like the smell and feel of a new book, but it does appear to be "the wave of the future."

Interestingly, the disk says, "This disk and its contents may be copied and shared but NOT sold" on the front of it.

 

[morninggirl5]

I think you got a great deal. If you've read and re-read the books already and are likely to do so in the future, you got one new book and 12 others for the price of $2 each.


I'd love to have some of my favorite books in that format.