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What I would be interested in is PDF-only subscriptions, where you get all the benefits of the traditional subscriptions except free PDFs (obviously). This way I get my PDFs with no thought required, Paizo has the same predictability as any subscription, and I do not need to pay high shipping costs that just do not go into Paizo's pocket.In the past, Vic Wertz has noted that a shift of consumers from physical to digital-only has the potential to harm their business, if print runs get smaller and cost-per-volume increases.
...We have no plans to offer PDF-only subscriptions.
The main benefit to customers of a PDF subscription vs. individual PDF sales is that a subscription would be more convenient for them. But let's examine the reality of that:
- Without a PDF subscription, people who only buy PDFs come to our site once a month after they hear that the new volume is shipping (which we always mention in our weekly newsletter, so if they check that regularly, they won't miss it). They add the PDF to their cart and check out, and download the PDF.
- With a PDF subscription, the process would be very similar—we'd send you an email that it was released, but you'd still have to come to the site and download it. Ok, you'd be making a few less clicks because you can skip the checkout process, but realistically, we're talking about pretty much the same amount of time and effort invested on the customer end.
So let's be honest here: convenience is not drastically improved. The *real* difference is that, presumably, PDF-only subscribers would get their PDF without having to wait for the regular onsale date.
However, every time this topic comes up, we hear from people who say that if we offered a PDF-only subscription, they would drop their print subscription.
Now, print costs are tied strongly to volume—the more copies you
Yes. I remember reading this some time ago. This was 8 years ago. People's habits for buying and consuming products have changed, so Paizo might be open to change too.
The Without a PDF subscription is full of IFs. People have to subscribe to a newsletter and check it weekly and come to the site, add the products one by one to the cart, then checkout, maybe including typing the credit card's numbers each time they checkout.
And no, the process is not similar With a PDF subscription. I get 2 messages telling me to go check my account, with link provided. Basically, I have nothing to do on my own, except pay attention to mails I expect to receive.
So it is really not any more similar than Without a printed book subscription would be similar to With a printed book subscription.
The subscription's advantage for the seller is exactly the same no matter the product (printed book or PDF).
Without a subscription, a buyer systematically asks themselves "should I make the effort and buy this ? ". It entails considering the money spent for each individual book.
Whereas with a subscription, it is Not buying that takes some effort on your part. And you tend to forget about the money involved.
If I go for buying only PDFs, it will be because of the shipping costs, a pretty big amount of money that gets out of my pocket but not into that of Paizo.
And I will be buying the books I want from my FLGS.
So, this will not end up in less money in Paizo's pockets.
But without a PDF subscription, it will be a bother for me to regularly check which new PDFs are available and I might just end up not buying some because I will be making this Value/Cost analysis that I have never done when a subscriber, even when money was hard to find. And that will end up in less money in Paizo's pockets.
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This was 8 years ago. People's habits for buying and consuming products have changed
Peoples habits have changed, but it's also important to note that the realities of the publishing industry Vic spoke to in his comments have not changed.
it's hard to reference a page number if what you're referring to is in ePub format.
Not at all. Plenty of ePUB readers will hide the page number and page breaks, but others will just show a dotted line between pages and will let you jump to particular page numbers. It can be very easily synced with the official PDF and physical book.
it's hard to reference a page number if what you're referring to is in ePub format.Not at all. Plenty of ePUB readers will hide the page number and page breaks, but others will just show a dotted line between pages and will let you jump to particular page numbers. It can be very easily synced with the official PDF and physical book.
Thanks, that's good to know. I hadn't seen that before.