Penguin's InterMix is now selling the Nora Roberts digital backlist, with the Donovan Legacy and the Cordina's Royal Family series on sale now.
I have not read the Cordina family series, but the Donovan series is one of my favorites to re-read. If you're looking for the series in order:
The Donovan Legacy
- Captivated by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Entranced by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Charmed by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Enchanted by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S
Cordina’s Royal Family
- Affaire Royale by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Command Performance by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S
- The Playboy Prince by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Cordina's Crown Jewel by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S
As was reported when InterMix was announced, the price for each book is $6.99, which gives me a big ol' bummer. Mass market price for a series-length book? I has a big ol' sad.
But I confess, my fingers twitched over the buy button for some of the Donovan series. I seriously loved those books – and my paper copy is in pieces. If they were packaged as a deal, all four for $15 or maybe $20, I'd jump on that. What about you – do any of these tempt you a bit?
If someone was going to try one of these, which would you recommend?
The fact that they have the balls to price these books the way they have speaks volumes about the rabid fan base of Nora. But as a casual reader I want more than full price for books I can get for a dollar at a second hand store. A new intro? Packaged all in one file? I need some “added value” for books that are 10 years old and paid for themselves long ago.
I DON’T expect e-books to be free – I really don’t. But like Jennifer, I can’t pay MORE for an ebook than I would for the paperback. It’s just not logical. I’d love to know what Penguin is thinking.
It’s not just the Nora Roberts books, but also the J D Robb books. I blogged about it here (sorry, can’t do links, at least not knowingly):
http://twooldfartstalkingroman…
Penquin really thinks Nora can sell anything.
As a public service to international readers, I’ll add that they are geo-restricted. When I got a tweet from Ace/Roc announcing them, I replied that they were all lost sales since I wasn’t allowed to buy them. Funny how they never responded.
Honestly not trying to hijack the comments, but I am so so so so so so sick of geo-restricted ebooks. It makes me feel kind of exhausted every time I click on a link for a book I’d like to buy, only to be told I’m not good enough to buy it because of where I live. (Okay, I know that’s not the reasoning, but that’s how it’s beginning to feel.)
Harlequin is selling their recent Nora reissues for the same $6.99 list price. The big difference being that they aren’t Agency priced like these are so coupons can be used and retailers can discount them.
I think they are making a tactical error. Yes, there are fans that will pay the price. But I suspect a whole lot more won’t. My bet is that they would make more money if they sold the books for less. What they lose in individual sales they would make up in bulk. I can’t remember who exactly but I saw a posting of a British mystery or thriller writer who publishes both ebooks and regular paper books. He wrote about what he learned in his pricings—he made a LOT more money with his cheaper priced books. So, for me, what it comes down to: No, I’m not going to pay that kind of money for her back books, even though I am enjoy her books a great deal.
Saw the Cordina books in my local Target for 7.99—but the big differences were that it was 1. there were TWO books in a single paperback and 2. it had a 25% off sticker. It’s like Penguin is trying to punish people who prefer to read in e-format.
When I was a teenager and a uni student I was a poor but rabid reader. I got all my books from either the UBS or the library, so basically paid the authors bugger all even when I was a devoted fan. I paid 50 cents at the UBS for my first Nora when I was about 14 years old (Irish Thoroughbred – awesome literature to a 14 year old!). I offer the pricing perspective that because I couldn’t afford to pay the first time round, paying full price for a reprint now kind of evens the karmic scales between me and the author in terms of fair payment for their work. If I’d paid full price the first time around, I might be annoyed at higher reprint prices, but I didn’t, so I’m not. In any case, I’m geo-barred from these particular books.
Didn’t read all of the Cordina series but The Playboy Prince is one of my favorite books. I think you’d like it, Sarah, especially since you like Sarah Morgan.
I know, I know. It’s enviornmentally friendlier to replace the paper copy with digital but the Donavan Legacy is one of my all time faves (Honest Illusion wins first place though) and I would replace the paper copy with another paper copy. (And on amazon you can get three out of four for $12.99 http://www.amazon.com/Roberts-….
Too expensive for me and geo restricted anyway. 🙁
Way too expensive for me. I would probably go for the series of four books at $15.
I would love to have the Cordina books on my reader, but it just won’t happen at these prices.
I might like to have them in e for easy access (I already have all of them in MMPB), but there’s no way I’ll pay that much for category-length books I already own.
…And they’re geo restricted? I guess they’re not an option for me anyway.
Holy crap, Kerry. That’s not comment hijacking at all – I had no idea they were geo-restricted! That’s awful – I’m really sorry to hear that.
Command Performance is probably my favorite of Nora’s category books but I won’t pay $6.99 for it. I did buy a bunch of her backlist books from Harlequin who discount 10%, plus I used the coupon code SPEND4E11 to save $4.00 more per book. I had to buy each book individually but $2.29 for a backlist, category-length Nora book is worth it for me. I wish Harlequin had more of her books and the coupon code wasn’t set to expire at the end of the month.
@StacieH4,
“and the coupon code wasn’t set to expire at the end of the month.”
They’ve already killed the code for multiple uses (it’s now a one time use code).
When these prices are translated into Canadian dollars, they come out to about $9. This is ridiculously expensive to me! I did not read Nora’s stuff when I was younger and am tempted to see what all the fuss is about, but not at these prices I think…
Haven’t done either series yet. But I’m such a lover of Robert’s series. I like settling in with the group of friends. I love the way she crafts the female relationships in her series (with the exception of one of the series from the early 90’s, it’s the only time one of her women has seriously gotten on my nerves).
*Sigh* I should probably hold out for the group rate…you know it’ll come…but I still have some B&N gift cards sitting on my nook account. If I don’t spend my own hard-earned cash it’s not so bad to spend the $28 on the whole thing right?…lol, and the brownies and wine I consume while indulging in my ‘girly’ Robert’s read won’t have calories either right? Good. Glad I settled that 😉
Why can’t publishers figure out that people will buy series books in bundles if the per-book price is lower? Every other industry figured this out before the *internet* existed, let alone ebooks. GAH.
Too pricey. I enjoyed both series, but I don’t know that I’d call either her finest work, and part of what made them so great at the time was that they were so much better than what else was out there. There’s a lot more good romance available now, and I’m afraid people might feel a little bitter if they are reading these at this price for the first time. I’d start at the beginning, because I’m like that, and I liked the Donovans more than the royals, but I definitely enjoyed them both.
Wow they have nerve. I’d love to convert my paper Donovan series to digital but that’s too steep a price at $6.99 EACH. A package deal discount I’d consider but reissuing them at this price is ridiculous. Same for the JDRobb series. I’ve bought them in paper and many in audio. Will not pay their price to replace my paper with digital without some kind of discount. Sigh. Don’t they get it that we’re fans but we’re not stupid.
Which is why I shop at the smaller ebook sites, like Smashwords. No DRM on any of those books.
I don’t have a problem with that price; for me, the extra $$ represents the convenience of having the books immediately accessible. I gave away/sold the Donovan books a while ago, and now want them again. So for me, the question is whether I want a battered used paper copy or a pristine and more-convenient digital copy, which I can never lose (I back up my Nook to the computer). If the books were ten bucks, I’d go with the paper, but I’m okay with this price. *shrug* I guess everyone has a different price point.
“One thing strikes me about this digital release: it means the books may now be available in a digital library such as Overdrive. Anyone know if this is the case? That way I get the convenience of digital, for free! “
Unless something has changed Penguin is withholding digital new releases from Library Lending (they’ve also cut out selling downloadable audiobooks to libraries).
The pricing of ebooks really burns me. It’s ridiculous for an ebook to be priced as much as—or more than!—a paper book. That’s just unadulterated greed, and total disrespect for me as the reader/consumer.
And Amazon has that buy-three-get-the-fourth-one-free thingy that really gives paper the edge.
BUT, as someone who has no more room for books, I’ll admit that I’m still often swayed by the all-around convenience of ebooks. It’s easier to get to a book on my archive than it is to figure out in which box I packed it away in storage.
Re Nora—will I be kicked out of the club if I admit that I’ve never read her*? If I decide to stick my toe in the water, are there any suggestions for the best book(s) to start with?
* A long time ago, I DID read the first few JD Robb Death books, if that mitigates things and helps get my club membership reinstated.
Way too expensive for this dedicated Nora fan. Guess I’ll just re-read the trade paperback Donovans that I’ve got.
OK, B&N has the first three Donovan books in one (used) paperback for 0.99. And it can be lent. Or resold.
exactly. They could make money having me buy a new copy of an ebook, or no money having me buy a used paper copy at my favorite local used store. I refuse to pay full paper price for an ebook. I’ll just buy paper used or on sale.
I’ve purchased all of the Nora category issues Harlequin has put out since I was able to use coupon codes and ARe’s buy-10-get-1-free to do so. But $6.99 for category books which originally sold for $2.75 (in the case of the first 3 Cordina books), $3.39 (for the original Donovan trilogy) and $4.25/$4.50 for the later sequels is too rich for me. Especially since I have all those print copies sitting on my shelf. [And for the record, I love the Cordina books a bit more than the Donovans].
I am so, so grateful I got most of the In Death series during the heyday of Fictionwise with micropay and rebates. No way I could afford to buy them all at full agency price. That said, I have been buying the new In Death books on release day for usually $12.99. Nora is one of the few authors I will pay agency pricing for. Just not for re-issues.
Susan, it depends on what you like. Nora’s written in multiple sub-genres: straight contemp, suspense, all sorts of paranormal.
Some of my favorites are Northern Lights, Birthright, Carolona Moon, High Noon, The Villa, Blue Smoke. The Chesapeake Bay series (Sea Swept, Rising Tides, Inner Harbor, Chesapeake Blue), the Irish Jewels trilogy (Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon, Heart of the Sea). I’ll stop now 😛 I’m sure others have different favorites.
No I love to add to my digital TBRR (to be reread) pile but not at the price of a new paperback. It’s precicely because of NR popularity that there are still way too many backlist titles available in paper. I remember my MIL getting the Donovan series last year from Walmart when they were reissued in 2 books in one volumes. That sort of bundle in ebook might (MIGHT) be more tempting to me.
I haven’t read the Cordina’s Family series, but I LOVED the Donovans. Since there’s a definite longer story arc, they should definitely be offered as a discounted set. Especially if they want to sell them to those of us who have the pbs (regardless of condition).
I have several copies of both THE CORDINA and DONOVAN SERIES. ( Couldn’t remember what I had.) At the time, I had just started with her and was buying everthing in her backlist, any place I could find them…Especially hard to find was PLAYBOY PRINCE which I had to buy on EBAY.
Anyway, they are issuing (not re-) her old Harlequins in Audio format. I ‘believe’ Brilliance is using new readers and letting them cut their teeth on the old stuff. Same with authors Jayne Ann Krentz and Elizabeth LOwell. I’ve listened to several of them and they are stomach churning bad. At least compared to the later stuff these authors have done. Several of the Heros were SO ALPHA, that they almost paddled or threatened to the heroine (that’s the stomach churning part) See MAN WITHOUT A PAST for an almost rape.
Please check ebay as well for these series as they are there, but of course it’s paper. You could also advertise on BOOK STORE JUNKIES.
Cait
Personally, I really enjoyed the Bride Quartet (a newer series, which concluded last year), the Gallaghers of Ardmore trilogy and the Chesapeake Bay saga.
That said, I find the $6.99 per book for re-releases pretty insulting and I won’t be buying the two series mentioned above unless they’re discounted at some point.
I’ve read a lot of NR over the years and mostly find her pleasant but not filling. The Chesapeake Bay series is an exception, especially the first two books – they really touched me and stayed with me. I re-read Sea Swept yesterday (bought an e-version with all 4 books) after originally reading it some 10 to 12 years ago and I was surprised how much I remembered. A couple things didn’t work for me this time – everyone in the book needs anger management training imo – but it still swept me away, so to speak. I cried. And had goofy good book smile when I was done.
Nora Roberts would be an interesting one to do for Which One First? Her range and backlist is so huge that I’m not sure there would be much consensus on where a newbie should start. But it’d be a fun conversation.