Just to let you know, if you like Tor's latest free novel (Lord of the Isles by David Drake), you can buy the first six volumes in this series as a bundle at Baen: Lord of the Isles Bundle Volumes I=VI and Volume I of Crown of the Isles (http://www.webscription.net/p-257-lord-of-the-isles-bundle-volumes-ivi-and-volume-i-of-crown-of-the-isles.aspx). This bundle comes at only $15, which makes it a very nice buy in my opinion.

On the other hand: is it allright to promote a discount bundle by Baen in reaction to a free offering by Tor? This is not very gratefull towards Tor... Or is it? :chinscratch:

It's also freely available from:

http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

On the other hand: is it allright to promote a discount bundle by Baen in reaction to a free offering by Tor? This is not very gratefull towards Tor... Or is it? :chinscratch:Don't worry: TOR gets their cut of the sale, I'm sure. :wink:

Don't worry: TOR gets their cut of the sale, I'm sure. :wink:
They sure do. I think that their cut of the sale, however, is... um... nothing. The reason the eBooks are at Baen is that David Drake successfully negotiated to get the eBook rights back from TOR during his last contract negotiations. He argued that TOR wasn't doing anything with them anyway, so...

David didn't disclose the details of this return of rights, so perhaps Tor is getting a non-zero cut. I suspect, however, that he argued for the model that Baen has been using -- non-exclusive eRights. That would let Tor sell the books (paying royalties to David Drake, of course), but it would also let David sell eRights elsewhere on whatever terms he wanted. It's worked well for Baen, so...

Xenophon

Sounds like TOR's cut is about right for their contribution, then. :laugh4:

Don't worry: TOR gets their cut of the sale, I'm sure. :wink:

I doubt it. Consider the TOR ebook Off Armageddon Reef. It's on webscription, and cost $18.00.

I believe the author controls the ebook rights. David Drake probably never sold them to TOR. ALso, do you really think TOR's corporate parent would let Baen put an ebook on a CD and give it away?

Since this is already a free eBook from Baen, why would Tor give it away? Seems like a bad idea to me.

I know, that doesn't make much sense. However, if you look at the authors that Tor is releasing this way, all of them have released works for free before. Mercedes Lackey and David Drake both through Baen, Walton and Scalzi through their own web pages (Old Man's War was originally an online free e-book that Patrick Nielsen Hayden liked), Robert Charles Wilson released Spin as a free download to Hugo voters, and Buckell has the first third of Crystal Rain up for free on his web page. So, there's no new players, just a different avenue.

I know, that doesn't make much sense. However, if you look at the authors that Tor is releasing this way, all of them have released works for free before. Mercedes Lackey and David Drake both through Baen, Walton and Scalzi through their own web pages (Old Man's War was originally an online free e-book that Patrick Nielsen Hayden liked), Robert Charles Wilson released Spin as a free download to Hugo voters, and Buckell has the first third of Crystal Rain up for free on his web page. So, there's no new players, just a different avenue.

Yea, it makes a lot of sense for TOR if they cause people to look to their site in the future for that type of book. Not everyone knows where else it might be available. Isn't that why they are doing it in the first place?

Dale

But for the people who know and are some of the biggest word of mouth advertisers, it makes no sense.

But for the people who know and are some of the biggest word of mouth advertisers, it makes no sense.

In advertising even bad news is news. There is a school of thought that says getting the name out is what it is all about. Many people may not even had heard of TOR.

Dale

Many people may not even had heard of TOR.

Highly doubtable. They release hundreds of books each year, some of those hugely popular even outside of speculative fiction (which they're most well known for), for example Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. They own both The Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth, both of which are multiple NYT bestselling series. They've also got a huge amount of books that have either been nominated or winners of the Hugo Award, such as Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Blindsight, Hominids, and A Deepness of the Sky. To top it all off, they have ties with General Electric (via the SciFi Channel) to promote their books in the monthly SciFi Essentials line.

For their target audience, Tor is probably the best promoted and known publisher around.

Slightly off topic, but Scalzi's "Old Man's War" just made an appearance on Fictionwise. (Secure Mobipocket) I wonder how many they will sell at $14 a pop?

http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook65485.htm?cache

Jason

For their target audience, Tor is probably the best promoted and known publisher around.

...in the USA. A lot of their authors' books are not published in the UK, by them or anyone else. If this encourages people outside the US to start ordering their books directly, or via other companies on the internet, they're widening their customer base.

...in the USA. A lot of their authors' books are not published in the UK, by them or anyone else. If this encourages people outside the US to start ordering their books directly, or via other companies on the internet, they're widening their customer base.

I don't think this argument holds much weight. I just did a series of quick searches on amazon.co.uk. Every single one of the books that Tor has released as free downloads are available for sale in the UK from Tor. I read alot of speculative fiction, and I read a lot of reviews about books -- many from international websites like sfcrowsnest.com. They do book reviews for American books, such as Old Man's War (http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/articles/books/2005/nz8039.php).

And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hijack this thread or anything.

Slightly off topic, but Scalzi's "Old Man's War" just made an appearance on Fictionwise. (Secure Mobipocket) I wonder how many they will sell at $14 a pop?

http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook65485.htm?cache

Jason
I hope it's not the same copy they gave away for free. They did need to seriously clean it up to be in a condition to be sold.

I don't think this argument holds much weight. I just did a series of quick searches on amazon.co.uk. Every single one of the books that Tor has released as free downloads are available for sale in the UK from Tor. I read alot of speculative fiction, and I read a lot of reviews about books -- many from international websites like sfcrowsnest.com. They do book reviews for American books, such as Old Man's War (http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/articles/books/2005/nz8039.php).

And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hijack this thread or anything.

Personally, I'd rather buy a book in a bookshop, especially if its by an author I don't know, because I can browse and see whether it looks like the sort of thing I'd like to read. (Admittedly, you can now see samples of some books on Amazon, but not all, by any means). Most of the books Tor has released are not available in bookshops in the UK, unless you happen to live near a specialist bookshop that does US imports.

Anyway, their marketing policy works for me. I'll definitely be buying the sequel to Spin, and I've been pleasantly surprised by Lord of the Isles so far, because David Drake's an author I'd always associated with military SF.

Mind you, I really do hope they get their ebook publishing together, since I'm rather reluctant to buy novels on paper since I got my iLiad.