Amazing. When I stopped by Walgreens to pick up a prescription, a pile of the latest Harry Potter hardcover books caught my eye. They were selling them for less than $3 each. Three dollars! Considering that the book is 870 pages long, it must have cost more to make and ship the book, and there it was at $3 each.

I bought the book, of course. It was on my wish list, but I never got around to getting it and reading it. I was busy with other books and projects, and I just couldn’t justify spending $20-$40 on the thing. As much as I love reading, I love saving money even more. That’s why my library card is so well used.

Still… at $3 a book, it’s a deal! The people selling it can’t get much profit though. Money has to go to the writer, the illustrator, the printer, the advertiser, the warehouse, the shipping company, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, et cetera, et cetera. The only way you can make any money at $3 a book is if you didn’t have it printed and bound, boxed and stored, shipped and sold. It would have to be an e-book, bought with a couple of clicks by an interested surfer miles away and downloaded within moments, paper-free.

Speaking of e-books, the books I mentioned before were released yesterday. Sapphire Williams, who wrote Laird Mackenzie’s Curse, is excited about the whole thing; it’s her first book, so she’s having a lot of fun with the author interviews, the reviews (which have been good so far), the sales numbers (which are also pretty good for a first e-book), and the contests (where she’s giving out some cool prizes). Carroll Mavis-Raine, who wrote Sweet & Slow, is probably a lot more familiar with the process; she’s written at least four other books for print under her real name, Carole Bellacera, and her books have gotten her great reviews and a few award nominations.

Anyway, since there aren’t any printing or shipping costs, a lot more of the money goes to the publisher, to the writer, and to the cover artist (that would be me!). So I’m hoping people out there aren’t like me with the Harry Potter book and just buy, buy, buy a ton of the two e-books. [Blatant hint to anyone out there!]

Heh, then maybe I’d finally have enough money to buy J. K. Rowling’s books at their full price.

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