Cheap New Releases: Good News?

Last week Walmart announced that it would pre-sell 10 of the hottest books of the season for $10 each, and include free shipping if you purchase the books online. Amazon.com announced a price match almost immediately, which caused Walmart to lower the price on these books to $8.98. This means you can get Stephen King's new book in hardcover for 74% off the cover price!

As a buyer, I rejoice at discounts; however, some in the publishing industry worry about this trend. John Grisham's publicist told The New York Times, "If readers come to believe that the value of a new book is $10, publishing as we know it is over," said David Gernert, Mr. Grisham's literary agent. "If you can buy Stephen King's new novel or John Grisham's Ford County for $10, why would you buy a brilliant first novel for $25? I think we underestimate the effect to which extremely discounted bestsellers take the consumer's attention away from emerging writers."

Similarly, this kind of discounting affects independent booksellers, who cannot afford to take a loss just to get customers in the doors.

So, what do you think? Excited about the big discounts or nervous about the long term effects on what gets published?

Here is a list of the ten books Walmart is selling for $8.98: Going Rogue by Sarah Palin, Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb, The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, Ford County by John Grisham, Under the Dome by Stephen King, Ice by Linda Howard, I, Alex Cross by James Patterson, First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher, Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton, and Breathless by Dean Koontz.