E-book pricing

The feds are pressing publishers to end the practice demanding that retailers (Amazon and Apple, in the main) sell their works for a certain price point - or as Amazon puts it "setting the price" for the books.

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An investigation by the Justice Department of pricing collusion between Apple and electronic book publishers has been building in recent months as antitrust officials have pressured five major publishers to reach a settlement, threatening to sue them on charges of working together to raise the price of e-books, people with knowledge of the inquiry said Thursday.

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The only problem is, that practice has saved the industry from widespread bankruptcy and dissolution.

Meanwhile, the elephant in the room are the monopolistic practices that Amazon itself has followed, driving down prices so it could dominate the market.

The publishers aren't the only ones threatened. Lower prices may encourage more sales, but that will not help the vast majority of writers. Anyone who doesn't manage to many thousands of books year after year will find it increasingly difficult to make a living. And that will mean less high quality books, shorter careers - and ultimately, either higher prices or a lot less selection.

As a reader, I love lower prices. As a writer ...