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Originally Posted by mr ploppy
Anyone who thinks they are going to get rich from writing fiction is deluding themself, they would be lucky to make as much as they could get flipping burgers. The main incentive to write is a desire to write, maybe with the hope of peer recognition. Any money you might make from it is just a bonus.
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I'm sure there are more than a few authors who would beg to differ.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy
Giggly is right about a lot of things — whether you put a price tag on your book or not, there will be a lot of people who read it for free. Just like there always has been. So a way of collecting money from some of those free reads would be worth coming up with. But I don't think his idea would work, for the same reason that voluntary donations don't work.
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Exactly. If you want to encourage an activity, pay for it. The more financial rewards there are for any activity, the more of that activity will occur.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy
Something like his idea, with payments being made automatically as soon as the reader reaches the last page, maybe. Or something like the UK library scheme where you get a small payment each time it is downloaded, paid through advertising revenue on the download site. But I can't really see any of the big publishers allowing anything like that.
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It really doesn't matter what form the compensation comes from. Advertising. Pay per page. Try before you buy. If the content creators can make a lot of money, they will work very hard. If no one can make much money -- then you are left with hobbyists.
Ergo, the reality that a good deal can be charged for books, and there are a good many people willing to pay those prices -- and such folks are making a good living -- is a virtue. It's good for all concerned.
If we took away copyright, and consider intellectual property to be non-existent -- then we end the profession of book writing. We'll only then have the work that hobbyists create. Have you READ the dreck that hobbyists are creating?
Lee