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There's no particular formula for this, although there have been a lot of discussions about this topic. The major publishers locked Amazon into a deal in which they set the price for their e-books. Many of them have chosen to set the price for the e-book quite high, although some are coming to the realization that e-books have been an untapped market, and are lowering their prices accordingly. Indie authors and publishers have actually benefited quite a bit from this business model, as their books are often priced well below the price of traditionally published books.
In the eyes of the publisher, the cost of producing a book barely includes the printing cost, which for them is generally only a couple of dollars per copy. The true cost comes from marketing, the advance paid to the author, and thousands of other expenses. As to why there are a few that are actually higher priced than the paperback... some people have theorized that it's to discourage people from buying digital books. I don't really buy into that theory fully, although I also don't have a better one.
In the eyes of the publisher, the cost of producing a book barely includes the printing cost, which for them is generally only a couple of dollars per copy. The true cost comes from marketing, the advance paid to the author, and thousands of other expenses. As to why there are a few that are actually higher priced than the paperback... some people have theorized that it's to discourage people from buying digital books. I don't really buy into that theory fully, although I also don't have a better one.
Anyway, I went in to pick up about a month's worth of comics that the owner had been setting aside for me. (Yes, I'm THAT MUCH of a comic book fan!) They ranged from $2.99 to $4.99 each. I spent about sixty dollars for a month's worth of comics. I went home and I read them... it gave me about two and a half hours of enjoyment.
