Artificially set price of ebooks now seen as done deal by many

The New York Times has a piece about how Amazon selling books for the Kindle at the artificially low price of $9.99 (the lost money for everyone they sold, but they were trying to gain marketshare for the Kindle) has led to reader backlash against any book that costs more than $9.99. You can read the whole article here. Many interviewed had left one-star reviews on Amazon simply because they thought any ebook over $9.99 was overpriced.

While the article is mostly anecdotal, I've seen that kind of thing happen. I even protested one "reviewer"'s one-star review for Attica Locke's wonderful Black Water Rising: A Novel, a rating based solely on the fact that the Kindle edition was initially priced at more than $9.99.

I have mixed feelings toward Amazon. On the plus side, I use it like Books in Print. It's the first place I go if I want to get a snapshot of the book. And I'm making some nice money since I put my old books on the Kindle.

On the flip side, Amazon glossed the truth in its recent fight with Macmillan over ebook prices. They pretended they were fighting for the consumer, when it was really about their bottom line. And I think Amazon wields too much power. I'm glad Steve Jobs is helping bring some balance back into the marketplace.