So I’ve been perusing the logos website and I have been fascinated by their community pricing category. The idea goes something like this: Since it takes considerable resources to create a Logos book (with all of the fancy features) it would potentially tie up the company’s resources until it is finished and begins to sell. If this was the only way that they could produce new e-books then they would only be able to select a few at a time and hope that they will sell enough to turn a profit and stay in business.

Community pricing changes that by allowing users to bid on books that have not been created yet. When enough bids on the same price reach the amount of money they think it will take to produce the book the users are charged and the book goes into the pre-publication section. It remains there until the books in typed out, coded with all the fancy features and integrated into the Logos software. Then everyone who initially bid enough to put it into production gets the book (or books if it is a multi-volume set) for what is normally a very low price.

I say “everyone who initially bid enough” because when you bid a very low amount you are saying you are only willing to pay that much for a book, no more. So if you bid 30 dollars and the bidding closes at 35 you have basically said that you would not pay that much for whatever that book is. But if it goes for 25 dollars your 30 dollar bid will succeed and you will only pay 25 dollars (because if you were willing to pay 30 then it is only logical that you would also be willing to pay 25).

Of the bids I have made so far, two of them have reached %100 and have gone into pre-pub (short for pre-publication). Check out how much I’m paying for them:

Theology: Explained and Defended (5 vols.)

The Expositor’s Bible (6 vols.)

So depending on what they are offering and how interested you are this is a great way to beef up your library for a comparatively low price.  The only downside to this deal is that you have to pay for the books before you get them, for example, the Theology: Explained and Defended volume (on top) I paid 16 dollars on Friday 10/28 (along with dozens or hundreds of others). Now we all have to wait while they use our money to fund the production of the books. I’m not sure how long it takes but (lets be honest) i have plenty of other books to occupy myself with in the meantime.