Add Harper Collins to the list of those delaying ebook releases

Yesterday it was Simon & Schuster and The Hachette Book Group that mentioned how they were planning to release ebooks with roughly a 3-4 month delay as compared to the hard cover release, and today we have yet another publisher announcing similar plans.

Todays publisher is HarperCollins, and they have stated that this affect about five to ten books per month in the upcoming year. It seems that they also are concerned about the less expensive digital copies, but they have spun that statement to make it seem like they are doing it for the readers. According to HarperCollins;

“Mr. Murray said that if new hardcover titles continue to be sold as $9.99 e-books, the eventual outcome will be fewer literary choices for customers, because publishers won’t be able to take as many chances on new writers.”

As far as the delay of the release, it could be anywhere from four weeks up to six months. Luckily for the readers, Brian Murray who is the chief executive of News Corp.’s HarperCollins Publishers stated that they are “going to experiment with this” which means it could still change in the future. We can only hope.

Read [WSJ] Via [engadget]