As Michael Cader notes, it would be easy to dismiss yesterday’s New York Times story by Motoko Rich and Brad Stone about “ebook readers preference to pay less money for titles for the unsubstantial work that it is.” The problem, as Cader continues, is that “since it runs in the Times, some people will automatically take it seriously, despite the anecdotal reporting and absence of any data.”

Cader then goes on to do two things: For one, he urges people in the book business to go public in their correction of misstatements and misperceptions in articles like the one from the Times, saying, “If this community is not more vocal and clear, you’re unfortunately going to see a lot more pieces like this.” He then goes on to take the article apart in a masterful reading that that makes clear why you should subscribe to his industry news service, Publishers Marketplace, or at least his free newsletter, Publishers Lunch.

It’s important enough to quote a significant chunk, such as this selection of what Cader calls “myths and potential talking points”:

* $9.99 never was the top e-book price; people pay more than that every day
Cite the Kobo data. Cite the surveys of Amazon’s product line that have shown approximately 30 percent of all skus are priced above $9.99. The bestseller lists regularly include commercial titles above the $9.99 price point. Sony’s store was built around prices $9.99; they only lowered some prices eventually to match Amazon.

Plus, international ebooks already cost more–$11.99 and up (because of the extra wireless charges.) Amazon has told the world that international Kindle broke all their sales records.

* The implicit, false promise of cheap e-books was made by the people who profit, at very nice margins, from selling the devices, not from publishers.
Please blame them if you feel deceived.

* Brand-new ebooks sold at $9.99 are generally sold at a loss by the retailer.
When a company with a $50 billion market cap can sell selected product at a loss and still make their biggest profits ever, you have to wonder about the bargain.

Publishers are hoping to protect smaller and local retailers and ensure that customers have a wide range of real bookstores and online ebookstores to choose from.

* People who can afford an ereading device can afford all proposed ebook prices
Of course they prefer to pay less, and they may even forgo purchases or gravitate to less expensive product. But whenever the owner of a $300 product says they “can’t afford” to pay three dollars more for something, what they mean is “I really prefer not to.”