Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
A question
If you had the opportunity to legally contribute towards the author of a book you have read and enjoyed but obtained in a non standard manner would you do it?
I know this is not likely to happen in the near future as it would totally screw up business models, distribution contracts etc. but I am curious
Helen
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I contribute to public radio. I listen to it a lot, and it's worth a few bucks a month to me. I could listen for free, but I don't. I contribute. Why?
Because my self-image is
not that of a leech. I'd rather contribute to something that I enjoy, because I can afford it and because it makes me feel good to know that I'm putting my money where it can support something I love.
I'd actually be kind of interested in a business model where I put
Risen out there for free and let people who enjoy it send me a few bucks, according to what they can afford. But I also know that it takes a lot of wheedling and whining to get people to contribute to public radio, and I don't want to have to do that.
So, there it is, DRM-free, $2.39-2.99, about the cost of a hot dog. Those people who want it (and let's face it, their major investment is the time it takes to read the damn thing) can have it for a song. If they'd rather snag a copy for free and save two or three bucks, fine.
But am I going to make myself sit down and write another ebook from scratch because it's going to be worth the effort in dollars-and-cents? No. Frankly, no. I'd rather watch TV. Or play with the dogs. Or read. I have a fulltime job that pays the bills. If I could quit that job and write full-time, I'd love to do that, but I can't pay the bills that way.
Do you want a world in which the only writers are people in the "luxury class" who write as a hobby? If so, pirate away! On the other hand, if you want people who study writing and develop their talents as professionals and make some kind of living at it, you'll pay a little something for their work.
I gotta say, though, there's a lot of truth to the assertion that there's
so much stuff available in the public domain, it's kind of crazy to pay for anything. Hmm...do I pay $2.39 for a copy of
Risen, or download the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft for free?
Strange days, folks. Strange days.