Comments on: NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER’S PIRACY, Part II: How the e-book will regenerate revenue for the author http://www.flatmancrooked.com/archives/3831 Reëstablishing the ubiquity of quality literature Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:46:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Seth http://www.flatmancrooked.com/archives/3831#comment-1039 Seth Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:50:52 +0000 http://www.flatmancrooked.com/?p=3831#comment-1039 and more on this topic here too, in the Boston Globe: http://sethharwood.com/content/boston-globe-solving-mystery-finding-readers and more on this topic here too, in the Boston Globe:
http://sethharwood.com/content/boston-globe-solving-mystery-finding-readers

]]> By: Seth http://www.flatmancrooked.com/archives/3831#comment-1038 Seth Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:49:40 +0000 http://www.flatmancrooked.com/?p=3831#comment-1038 Vince, You raise some good points. The fact is, free content might hurt the publishing industry as a whole, but not the writer who uses it to market themselves. As a budding author, I had no money to advertise and no agent or publishing house willing to advertise me. So I started doing what I could, giving my books away as free podcasts for people to listen to. From a marketing standpoint, this worked out great: I was able to market myself and Ididn't spend much money. Now that I'm with a big publisher, I still think this method was sound and is (mostly) better than anything my big publisher has done to move the book. As Chris Anderson points out in FREE, the record business might be in trouble, but the MUSIC business isn't. A lot of the revenue has shifted now to concert sales, rather than music purchases. If the artists are doing as well, if not better, why should I worry about the fat cat corporate guys at Sony or wherever? If they deal with the changes in the market, they'll be fine. If the new uses of free on the internet open things up for more artists to create their own niche, I think that's great! Take Radiohead: they released an album on their website for "pay as you wish" and it not only got downloaded a TON, but then sold way more copies than their last "sales-only" album had. People tried it and decided they liked it! Same with my book:when I give a copy away to people free online, they can try it and --fact is--many of them would still prefer to read the book in paper. All they get when they read a free pdf is the chance to browse it online and decide if they like it. Why not give that to them? And if you give them *the whole thing* I really believe it'll make them more inclined to really give the book a shot. Look at this quote from Scott Sigler: "Giving away your stories isn't a risk... it's a competitive advantage," explains Scott Sigler. "If a reader who's never heard of me has $25 to spend and they're looking at my book next to a Stephen King book, who are they going to choose? They take King. He's a proven storyteller. But if King is $25 and my story is free they may try me out first. Why not? It's no risk to them. If they like me, they buy me. If they don't they buy King. Whatever happens the customer gets what the customer wants." The fact is that many big writers are tied up with contracts that restrict them. Responding to the changes in the net and marketing are OUR (new authors') competitive advantage. More on this topic here: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2009-08/07/novels-by-podcast-how-to-make-money-from-free.aspx? Seth Vince,
You raise some good points. The fact is, free content might hurt the publishing industry as a whole, but not the writer who uses it to market themselves. As a budding author, I had no money to advertise and no agent or publishing house willing to advertise me. So I started doing what I could, giving my books away as free podcasts for people to listen to. From a marketing standpoint, this worked out great: I was able to market myself and Ididn’t spend much money. Now that I’m with a big publisher, I still think this method was sound and is (mostly) better than anything my big publisher has done to move the book.

As Chris Anderson points out in FREE, the record business might be in trouble, but the MUSIC business isn’t. A lot of the revenue has shifted now to concert sales, rather than music purchases. If the artists are doing as well, if not better, why should I worry about the fat cat corporate guys at Sony or wherever? If they deal with the changes in the market, they’ll be fine. If the new uses of free on the internet open things up for more artists to create their own niche, I think that’s great!

Take Radiohead: they released an album on their website for “pay as you wish” and it not only got downloaded a TON, but then sold way more copies than their last “sales-only” album had. People tried it and decided they liked it! Same with my book:when I give a copy away to people free online, they can try it and –fact is–many of them would still prefer to read the book in paper. All they get when they read a free pdf is the chance to browse it online and decide if they like it. Why not give that to them? And if you give them *the whole thing* I really believe it’ll make them more inclined to really give the book a shot.

Look at this quote from Scott Sigler:
“Giving away your stories isn’t a risk… it’s a competitive advantage,” explains Scott Sigler. “If a reader who’s never heard of me has $25 to spend and they’re looking at my book next to a Stephen King book, who are they going to choose? They take King. He’s a proven storyteller. But if King is $25 and my story is free they may try me out first. Why not? It’s no risk to them. If they like me, they buy me. If they don’t they buy King. Whatever happens the customer gets what the customer wants.”

The fact is that many big writers are tied up with contracts that restrict them. Responding to the changes in the net and marketing are OUR (new authors’) competitive advantage.

More on this topic here:
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2009-08/07/novels-by-podcast-how-to-make-money-from-free.aspx?

Seth

]]> By: Vince http://www.flatmancrooked.com/archives/3831#comment-1031 Vince Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:24:33 +0000 http://www.flatmancrooked.com/?p=3831#comment-1031 When Joe Mooselodge copies a bunch of ebooks off a free download site, is he going to pick the books by some shmuck small-time author he's never heard of? Or Tom Clancy and James Patterson? Clearly the latter. As a shmuck small-time author myself, piracy puts me at a disadvantage, even if I want to offer my work for free. Why would someone download and read my work for free when they can read best-selling established authors for free? Lost revenue due to loans and re-sales of conventional books is also something of a non-issue. Publishers already bundle in a loan surcharge into the price of hardcover books, which have a longer loan-life than paperbacks. Libraries buy hardcover books that they may loan to thousands of people, but they pay for it. I believe that piracy cheapens the value of intellectual property for all writers. While musicians can reclaim some lost pirated revenue with the money they make on live performances, writer can not. Piracy, by definition steals value. It can only add value to valueless things. By creating easily pirated works, we are de-valuing what we ourselves, as authors and readers, care so much about. When Joe Mooselodge copies a bunch of ebooks off a free download site, is he going to pick the books by some shmuck small-time author he’s never heard of? Or Tom Clancy and James Patterson? Clearly the latter.

As a shmuck small-time author myself, piracy puts me at a disadvantage, even if I want to offer my work for free. Why would someone download and read my work for free when they can read best-selling established authors for free?

Lost revenue due to loans and re-sales of conventional books is also something of a non-issue. Publishers already bundle in a loan surcharge into the price of hardcover books, which have a longer loan-life than paperbacks. Libraries buy hardcover books that they may loan to thousands of people, but they pay for it.

I believe that piracy cheapens the value of intellectual property for all writers. While musicians can reclaim some lost pirated revenue with the money they make on live performances, writer can not.

Piracy, by definition steals value. It can only add value to valueless things. By creating easily pirated works, we are de-valuing what we ourselves, as authors and readers, care so much about.

]]> By: Andrew O. Dugas http://www.flatmancrooked.com/archives/3831#comment-1030 Andrew O. Dugas Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:15:40 +0000 http://www.flatmancrooked.com/?p=3831#comment-1030 The piracy on the level of the Joe Hardback example should be rare, but also we should be so lucky. While I take note of Gladwell's critique of Chris Anderson's assertions in his new book, FREE, generalized piracy benefits the author in non-monetary ways that may parlayed into monetary rewards down the road. If your book becomes popular at the Moose Lodge (ahem) and through the techie son, while no dollars have been made, an audience most definitely has been. Seth Harwood used this approach, giving away tens of thousands of PDFs of his novel JACK WAKES UP. Those freebies haven't kept the trade paperback from making the best sellers list (#9 on the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, May 2009). So if you see those pirated PDFs at the Lodge as lost revenue, sure, but the other side of things is that you've now got an audience. Which, if properly exploited (in a good way), can drive real sales. And maybe get Hollywood to take notice. Of course, that depends on where the author is in their career. If you're starting out, the audience-building argument is solid. If you're JD Salinger, maybe not so much. As for recaptured revenues from e-books off-setting losses due to piracy, I think you're underestimating the size of the used book market and its impact on new book sales, there's also the immeasurable losses due to book sharing. A friend of mine recently lent me his copy of "The Road." Cormac and his publisher got nothing, but you know, now I'm more likely to go see the movie. The piracy on the level of the Joe Hardback example should be rare, but also we should be so lucky. While I take note of Gladwell’s critique of Chris Anderson’s assertions in his new book, FREE, generalized piracy benefits the author in non-monetary ways that may parlayed into monetary rewards down the road. If your book becomes popular at the Moose Lodge (ahem) and through the techie son, while no dollars have been made, an audience most definitely has been.

Seth Harwood used this approach, giving away tens of thousands of PDFs of his novel JACK WAKES UP. Those freebies haven’t kept the trade paperback from making the best sellers list (#9 on the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, May 2009).

So if you see those pirated PDFs at the Lodge as lost revenue, sure, but the other side of things is that you’ve now got an audience. Which, if properly exploited (in a good way), can drive real sales. And maybe get Hollywood to take notice.

Of course, that depends on where the author is in their career. If you’re starting out, the audience-building argument is solid. If you’re JD Salinger, maybe not so much.

As for recaptured revenues from e-books off-setting losses due to piracy, I think you’re underestimating the size of the used book market and its impact on new book sales, there’s also the immeasurable losses due to book sharing. A friend of mine recently lent me his copy of “The Road.” Cormac and his publisher got nothing, but you know, now I’m more likely to go see the movie.

]]> By: Vince http://www.flatmancrooked.com/archives/3831#comment-1029 Vince Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:11:33 +0000 http://www.flatmancrooked.com/?p=3831#comment-1029 I doubt that additional re-sale revenue will offset the revenue lost due to piracy. Apple's iTunes store shows that some consumers are willing to do the right thing and pay for content, but online sales have in no way made up for lost sales of conventional CDs. Even including online sales, total music sales have been shrinking by 20% (or more) per year since 2000. As a writer, do I really want publishing industry revenue to shrink every year by 20%? But that's what seems to happen when things go digital and unlicensed. It's happening in music. It's happening in journalism (goodbye Boston Globe, Seattle P-I, and a dozen other venerable newspapers). Fiction is next. Let's say Joe Hardback reads the eBook version of my book and loves it. He loves it so much he emails it to all 200 guys at the Moose Lodge. His son finds it (along with more salacious content) on the family media server and reads it, maybe emails it to a few of his cooler friends. Sooner or later it ends up on an open download service like BitTorrent, available to anyone. So what's on my royalty statement at the end of the month after all this enthusiastic multi-generational reading? What do I get for my three years of hard labor in the literary salt mines? Zero. I doubt that additional re-sale revenue will offset the revenue lost due to piracy. Apple’s iTunes store shows that some consumers are willing to do the right thing and pay for content, but online sales have in no way made up for lost sales of conventional CDs. Even including online sales, total music sales have been shrinking by 20% (or more) per year since 2000.

As a writer, do I really want publishing industry revenue to shrink every year by 20%? But that’s what seems to happen when things go digital and unlicensed. It’s happening in music. It’s happening in journalism (goodbye Boston Globe, Seattle P-I, and a dozen other venerable newspapers).

Fiction is next. Let’s say Joe Hardback reads the eBook version of my book and loves it. He loves it so much he emails it to all 200 guys at the Moose Lodge. His son finds it (along with more salacious content) on the family media server and reads it, maybe emails it to a few of his cooler friends. Sooner or later it ends up on an open download service like BitTorrent, available to anyone.

So what’s on my royalty statement at the end of the month after all this enthusiastic multi-generational reading? What do I get for my three years of hard labor in the literary salt mines? Zero.

]]> By: Georgia Gibbs http://www.flatmancrooked.com/archives/3831#comment-1028 Georgia Gibbs Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:59:23 +0000 http://www.flatmancrooked.com/?p=3831#comment-1028 I read your piece and remembered reading years ago about the clock of the long now. One small piece of this philosophy concerns the expanding black hole in our narrative as more of our information, personal and cultural, is digitized. Committing our cultural heritage to electronic formats certainly raises the caution flag, especially as they become the main means of deployment. I have read theories that in time a printed book will be a rarity and available primarily to the elite due to the production cost alone. Much of the less popular material will certainly become lost to us as our process of digitizing material and the tools we use to access it today become obsolete tomorrow. Who will make the decision as to what is of enough value to justify the expense of updating it? We have only to look at the landfill full of our 8 tracks or early zip disks to understand how quickly a technology and the materials that depend on it become obsolete. I would say that your questions are the beginning of a cautionary tale. I read your piece and remembered reading years ago about the clock of the long now. One small piece of this philosophy concerns the expanding black hole in our narrative as more of our information, personal and cultural, is digitized. Committing our cultural heritage to electronic formats certainly raises the caution flag, especially as they become the main means of deployment. I have read theories that in time a printed book will be a rarity and available primarily to the elite due to the production cost alone. Much of the less popular material will certainly become lost to us as our process of digitizing material and the tools we use to access it today become obsolete tomorrow. Who will make the decision as to what is of enough value to justify the expense of updating it? We have only to look at the landfill full of our 8 tracks or early zip disks to understand how quickly a technology and the materials that depend on it become obsolete. I would say that your questions are the beginning of a cautionary tale.

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