A while ago there was a poll on Nathan Bransford’s blog, where each visitor could vote on how much should an e-book cost.  I was impressed to see that most people voted in the $10 bracket and very few voted for the 0-$4.99 range.  Which shows how conscientious we, consumers, really are – or at least those of us who are connected with book publishing.

A recent article in New York Times analyzes the math behind the e-book pricing.  The numbers are impressive, and convincing, and on the surface argue for the cause of keeping the e-book pricing high, at least initially.  But the article also makes two interesting points.  First, e-book profit margins for publishers are higher than print books.  And second, e-book prices are kept high on purpose, in order to slow down the consumers’ transition to e-books and to keep the print books in business.

If both are true, can we hope to see e-book prices drop in the near future?