Should writers give up on getting paid for their writing?

[Alex Sokoloff]

Yike, what a question! OF COURSE NOT. Good writers should be paid a good living. I've been making my living as a writer for all of my adult life, first screenwriting and now novels, and there are always iterations in the way writers get paid and we have to adapt to new technologies and new business models.

I think bestselling author Scott Nicholson has a good grasp on what comes next now that so many books are available for free in his article Subsidizing the Freebie.

After all - that's what supported "free" television since its inception.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by Alex Sokoloff

Yike, what a question! OF COURSE NOT. Good writers should be paid a good living. I've been making my living as a writer for all of my adult life, first screenwriting and now novels, and there are always iterations in the way writers get paid and we have to adapt to new technologies and new business models.

I think bestselling author Scott Nicholson has a good grasp on what comes next now that so many books are available for free in his article Subsidizing the Freebie.

After all - that's what supported "free" television since its inception.

Interesting stuff. You should understand that Mobile Readers are for the most part dead set against the idea of ad-supported ebooks,even as they rail against "unconscionable" ebook prices:

Money quote from Nicholson:

But what happens when the $2.99 and 99 cents drop to permanently free? Where’s your sponsor? Are you willing to go there? It's not going to be as clumsy as an image of a refreshing Bud Lite popping up when the main character enters a bar (though it's not unthinkable at some point.) Can you see Jack Reacher with a favorite brand of soft drink, or Bella Swan wearing only Calvin Klein? At what point is your willing suspension of disbelief shattered? At what point do you realize the ad is the only reason the book can exist at all?

My informal polling on ad-supported ebooks yields statements like: "I'll quit reading before I put up with that." I also remember saying I'd never carry a cell phone, or be on Facebook, or give up my vinyl albums, or start thinking that maybe nuclear energy is the best short-range answer to our energy addiction. Or that I’d ever read an entire book on a screen.

[taosaur]

The "Freemium" model can be pretty effective, and packaging ebooks as mobile apps (or mobile app content) is certainly a way to go. Offer an ad supported free version, and an ad-free version people can purchase directly.

[carld]

Harlan Ellison's opinion of writing for free. Warning, do not watch if you're offended by strong opinions or language.

[5thWiggle]

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Interesting stuff. You should understand that Mobile Readers are for the most part dead set against the idea of ad-supported ebooks,even as they rail against "unconscionable" ebook prices:

The ad doesn't have to be IN the ebook. It can be visible at the purchase/download point, and never seen again.

(I wish everyone would stop freaking that every book is going to have pop-up ads and product placement embedded in each page. Sheesh.)

[elemenoP]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Over the last few years I've made over $50,000 directly from "writing," and less than 1% of that total comes from selling fiction under my own name. I work part-time from home and I know there is money to be made in writing.

So let's hear it! What do you do? Ghost writing?

eP

[spindlegirl]

For clarification of my position after having listened to the interview. I think writers should never give up on the idea of being paid for their writing. But what kind of writing is something they need to discover through trial and error.

However, not everyone who enjoys writing is "a writer" as in professional quality. It depends on the presentation and promotion and what your niche market is. I think a lot of authors believe they are good novelists, but sometimes are surprised when their book doesn't sell very well. The opposite also occurs, sometimes a person has a good novel waiting to come out but doesn't realize it until they see how their book is topping the charts.

I read a lot of Smashwords, I download lots of free books that authors first promote. There are some books that are "well, nice start, but you need lots of improvement" and a few others that are, "wow, this is an excellent book and I am surprised it was actually FREE". But I happily will pay for a book that I know I will like. Most books I buy are "favorites" as in, I've already read them at the library. As in, I could easily have continued to read for free, but chose to give that author a vote with my personal dollars to continue and to re-read.

I see the library as a place where authors can "audition" for the part of future sales.

[carld]

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

http://secretkillerofnames.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Harlan_Ellison_by_mbc12_5_58-600x480.jpg

Justifiable anger doesn't make him wrong.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Over the last few years I've made over $50,000 directly from "writing," and less than 1% of that total comes from selling fiction under my own name. I work part-time from home and I know there is money to be made in writing.

Originally Posted by elemenoP

So let's hear it! What do you do? Ghost writing?

eP

Without checking old posts, I will.fall back on my own experience in the dim past and throw out operations manuals or text books as a wild assed guess. The things that have to be written which are no fun at all.

The people who use them every day aren't the least bit thankful, and you will have to write a new one nine months or maybe a couple years later to stay current. No awards, no accolades...but it is writing and you do get paid.

Did I guess right?

[Penforhire]

a.k.a. technical writing? A large part of my day job.

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by carld

Justifiable anger doesn't make him wrong.

Never suggested he was wrong about wanting to be paid.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

So let's hear it! What do you do? Ghost writing?

Originally Posted by Phogg

Without checking old posts, I will.fall back on my own experience in the dim past and throw out operations manuals or text books as a wild assed guess. The things that have to be written which are no fun at all.

Originally Posted by Penforhire

a.k.a. technical writing? A large part of my day job.

There are lots of jobs that make use of writing skills, but I don't think that's really the answer that authors of literature are looking for. Sort of like telling an architect that he can fall back on working construction. Sure, his skills might be of some use, but I doubt it's what he wants to do.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by stonetools

I also want writers to focus on WRITING. Its popular round these parts to say writers should do marketing, should self publish, self edit, etc.
WRONG.

I'm not really following the discussion here, but this point caught my eye. I disagree with the one of finality. There are many professions where people would like to concentrate on the core product, but they do have to engage in the peripherals to sell that core product. For instance, doctors would like to be left alone to engage with their patients, but most of them still have to deal with the running of their clinics, their finances, their employees, inventory, the paperwork, the marketing, the networking etc. Some might decide that it's not worth it, and instead work as hospitalists, where they manage to avoid all the peripherals except maybe the paperwork. There's room both both types, and there is absolutely no way of stating with finality that one of those methods should be preferred over the other, or that the hospitalist necessarily provides better medical care than the clinician.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

The ad doesn't have to be IN the ebook. It can be visible at the purchase/download point, and never seen again.

(I wish everyone would stop freaking that every book is going to have pop-up ads and product placement embedded in each page. Sheesh.)

Amazon has filed a patent for ad-supported ebooks. I don't think they did that as an academic exercise:

LINK


As for product placement, heh:

"The action hero paused while loading his Glock to drink a refreshing Coke. He then checked the weather app on his Verizon HTC Thunderbolt, pulled on his Timberline boots, shrugged into his Banana Republic jacket, and headed out to his Jeep Grand Cherokee."