Why are books so expensive?

Depend on book content and quality

It depends on the book and whether it is paperback, hardcover, vintage, or how many pages it has.

Well, if the book is good, are expansive, I do not know where anyone sees the problem, except that the media and entertainment are generally expensive.

In the USA, mainly only text books are expensive and a new release of a paperback is generally under two hours wages. Although more expensive than when I started buying books about $5 when that was the mode entry level wage.

I think it has to due with less major publishers and higher transportation costs than when I started buying that it seem like although the are not terribly expensive paper backs are more compared to income than decades ago.

Are books really that expensive?

Sure, the newest hardcover novel might appear expensive but if you wait for the trade paperbacks or even mass market paperbacks, they get a lot cheaper. You can get many many brand new mass market paperbacks for only a few bucks at Amazon.

And used books are dirt cheap. So much so that it is actually sad that books are valued so little.

But even the expensive hardbacks aren't really expensive if you consider what you get.

A book will keep you engaged and entertained for many hours or even days.

Compare that to any other for of entertainment. You probably pay more for a visit to the cinema (depending on how much popcorn and soda you buy) and the movie will be over in 2 hours.

If you go to a concert, a sports game, the opera, etc., you'll pay a lot more.

Plus, after you read your book, it's still there and you can read it again. Or give it to your partner, kid, parent, friend - or all of them! (The same is true for a music CD or a bluray, but these are more expensive when you calculate the prize per "entertainment minute")

Less people are reading and buying books today so they have to charge more for the books they print to stay in business. The people who still read and want the books will pay the prices.

It often costs more to buy a paperback reissue of a 100 year old book than the original 100 year old book. A copy of Fables in Slang from 1899 just sold on ebay for $13.95 including shipping. A reprint sells for $24.95

Paper costs for the type of those used for books went up. Ink went up a LOT, production of hardcovers isn't cheap anymore. Transportation costs went up. All this factors in to the final costs.

You would be surprised at the number of people at a publishing house whose work and expertise is essential to getting the finished product in stores and online.

acquisitions editor

content editor

copy editor

proofreader

designer

ARCs to reviewers

cover artist

typesetter oversight*

production oversight*

shipping by truck (or air, or sea)

digital transcription/edition

accounting

legal

All these people need to be fairly experienced to do the job well, and they all deserve a professional rate of pay.

*I don't know much about the manufacture of the physical book or how many people it takes, or the costs of the raw materials to print, bind, and trim books

they have a lot of pages