What is value in a story?

Hello readers,

The published word has changed over the past 30 years.  What used to be only books that you could hold in your hand has now grown to include print, audio, and e-books.  The ease and cost of publishing has also enabled more people than ever before to share their stories with the world.

My question is what is value?  There are many different sizes for stories.  At what point is a story a good value and when is it a rip-off?  In what medium is it a good price?

With e-books going in price from 99 cents up to several hundred dollars I suppose the answer is what the consumer is willing to pay.  That somehow does not cover it for me.

What are your thoughts?  How much should a book cost?  Lets not discuss school text books or professional texts.  I know that those can be very expensive for different reasons.  Lets limit it to popular fiction.  How much should an e-book, a paperback, or hardback cost on average?

I know that the average paperback runs from $6.99 to $9.99 and the hardback version goes from $19.99 to 39.99.  E-books are all over the place in price.

I know that if I buy a book and it is too short I feel like I did not get my moneys worth.  Then again if a book is too long and just rambles then I just feel like I spent my money on a bad book.

Ok what is a good price point for a good book in the different formats?

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