Important Topic, Grotesque Pricing, April 3, 2008
Elliott White
This book joins my list of books I will never buy, read, nor recommend, because the publisher is charging three times what the book is worth. As a publisher myself, I am happy to inform prospective buyers that this book cost a penny a page to print. You do the math. Authors get 15%, Amazon gets 40%, the rest after actual cost deducation is pure profit.
This publisher is part of the problem, not part of the solution. This book should not cost more than $35. I would buy it at that price and probably find it quite valuable.
Authors are encouraged to demand in advance, in writing, a commitment on affordable pricing. The alternative is to post your book on the Internet as a PDF with a Creative Commons non-commercial license, which is what I do for all the books that I publish (at the same time that they are offered on Amazon at affordable prices to cover costs.
Better values:
Intelligence Power in Peace and War
Seven Sins of American Foreign Policy
Informing Statecraft
Best Truth: Intelligence in the Information Age
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
None So Blind: A Personal Account of the Intelligence Failure in Vietnam
Who the Hell Are We Fighting?: The Story of Sam Adams and the Vietnam Intelligence Wars
On Intelligence: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political–Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
