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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Yup. I'm willing to pay for what a data transfer should cost; I'm not willing to pay a price equal to the cost of a printed hardcover when all I'm getting is a few hundred Kb of data. Publishers need to better adjust their pricing models for the differing types of "books" - hardcover, trade, mass market, ebook, audiobook. If authors would set up PayPal accounts or whatever where folks could send money, I think it would be a smart idea on their part; not to mention it cuts out their middleman.
As was mentioned earlier in this thread, we're on the cusp of the development of a old-style Napster mentality toward the distribution of ebooks via the P2P networks - no matter what high ethical horses the people on this thread take. Too many books are already out there and for people who view computers as more than just an appliance like a toaster, they already know how to access them. The only people I know who haven't already accessed material that could be deemed copyright violation are the people for whom cutting-and-pasting is akin to rocket science. Otherwise, I'm talking about age ranges from teens to eighties. These folks have already been downloading music and movies for years and for a lot what set them on the course was a revolt against the rip-off prices in the early years of digital music and recorded movies. Remember paying $79 for a VHS/Beta tape, or $31 for a single CD? That's what made the alternative sources so attractive. It was affordable and it was an up-yours to the recording and film executives that were blatantly ripping off their customers. Charging hardcover prices for an ebook is just deja vu.
I liked what Sharon Lee & Steve Miller did with their book Fledgling, in their Liaden Universe series. They put up a chapter online, and if people wanted to read more then they were asked to contribute whatever they wanted. As soon as they reached XX number of dollars, a new chapter would go up. People ultimately donated so much that they had to stop the soliciting because the number of chapters they had planned for the book were met quickly. I was happy to give money that way, just as I had no problem buying their books in ebook form (even though I already have them in various paperback and hardcover forms) from Baen because the ebook prices are sensible there; I could have just as easily gotten them for "free" online.