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Originally Posted by rlauzon
I don't believe that business model will help authors, though.
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I don't either
Quote:
Originally Posted by rlauzon
You know, I keep hearing this. On the surface, this seems true. But if it was true, then how are places like Podiobooks surviving? How do authors like Cory Doctorow (who gives his works away), Darrel Bain (who releases his works without DRM), Scott Siegler (who went from obscure author to big-time internet author by giving his works away for free) and even J.K. Rowling (who arguably had the most pirated books in history so far) survive?
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I addressed that point (aside from the podiobooks part which I'd never heard of) with the fact that eink type devices aren't popular. Most people (including myself so far) are willing to pay for pbooks because they can't read off an LCD. As it is right now, an ebook is advertising. It won't always be that way. I know that when I get an eink device, it will be difficult for me to find a medium to pay the author. I'm not going to put a lot of effort into looking for a way to pay the author after the book is on my device. I'm too busy to seek a way to pay, and I don't think you can run a business on some feeling of obligation from customers.
A donation system might work for this generation... but even know it would have to be very easy... and I think newer generations would be less inclined to pay. They won't be excited about the discount from $20 pbooks, .... the discount from thousands of dollars already invested. Those who will grow up with ebooks... I can't imagine them thinking "oh, right, I just downloaded this book I want to read, .. I should give dad a buck so I can use his credit card and upload payment to author xyz."
Quote:
Originally Posted by rlauzon
The jist is that the old "I make a scarce work, and if you want it you have to pay me for it" business model simply falls apart in Cyberspace - where scarcity of electronic works doesn't exist.
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In terms of the "scarce work" situation, .. this also emphasizes what I said about that the nature of what is written will change.