Quote:
Originally Posted by DrNefario
Frankly, if I had to choose between the rest of Baen and Bujold, I'd choose Bujold.
I don't feel that fifthimperium were doing anything too wrong (although its own popularity seems to have worked against it), but I think it was kind of against the spirit of the CDs. The CDs were for owners of the hardback to evangelise to their friends, not to say "hey, everyone in the world, no need to pay for that stuff, get it free here." That's probably Baen's mistake, but then Bujold's CD could quite easily be good for Baen and bad for Bujold. It promotes other Baen books, not written by her.
Baen already have a try-before-you-buy system. It's called the Free Library. They do not offer the CDs for worldwide download there.
It sounds like Bujold was a bit strong (I haven't read the thread, yet - I'm about to), but fifthimperium seems to have respected her wishes and pulled the files. What's the problem?
It's worth mentioning that the CDs were up for 18 months or more. I imagine the sales situation has clarified in that time.
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Several years ago this critique of the fifthimperium might have made sense... but Baen has known about them for years now and could have altered the license on new CD's to prevent that practice. Frankly, the fifthimperium makes Baen look better to the reading public than the free library does since it makes them look benevolent compared to other publishing companies.
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Bill