In the chapter, Rebeli Press sold paper copies of its books to bookstores at a price of $18 each, and had a contribution margin per copy of $8. Assume that, instead, it could sell e-books through one of the major on-line bookselling companies. It would not have to incur printing or shipping costs per copy, which were a total of $8 per books. The deal would be as follows. Each e-book would sell for $9. Of this amount, the on-line seller would keep $4, and the author would receive $2, leaving Rebeli Press with $3 per copy.

A. What number of books would Rebeli Press need to sell in order to

“break even” and cover its publication rights, prepublication, and marketing costs, which total $43,000?

B. How does this compare with the number of print copies it needs to sell to bookstores, at a contribution per book of $8, to break even?

C. Given the greater number of copies it would need to sell, does it make sense for Rebeli Press to sell e-books? Why, or why not?