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Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
This is not to say that others can't produce e-books to advertise print books. But if that's your intention, I can't see the need to create an e-book at all... just a really nice electronic advertisement of the book. Because face it, those who have already read the entire book in electronic form, don't have the same incentive to buy the printed book, do they?
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Doctorow would call you mistaken. Actually so would
Neil Gaiman.
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I have not seriously considered POD, because of the high cost of individual books printed, the need to use paper, transportation costs, etc... it's a highly wasteful process, and you're defeating the purpose of an e-book that way.
As I've said before, it's not the product on paper, or even the collection of electrons, but the literature it contains, that is the product. I do not see my ultimate goal as being "in print," just in "being read." And if given the choice between the two... honestly... I'd rather my books were e-books than printed books.
That's why I can look at e-books in the same way as a TV show, which is its own product, and which carries advertising of other products or services, or patronage, to support it.
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Isn't your ultimate goal "earning money from being read"? If it was "being read" only, you'd just give your books away and that'd be it, wouldn't you?
Where I think you're mistaken is in thinking that somebody reading an ebook without paying for it means one lost sale period. In the realm of books, the example given above and a few indirect evidences from Baen tend to show that's not true. As far as I know, there's no data for movies, but plenty with music that show the same thing.
Now, of course, it appears you're favoring ebooks not only because of the convenience for self-publication, but also out of other, more ecological concerns. In that case your problem seems to figure out a model where you can use the essentially free distribution to your advantage. To be clear: as I understand, you don't earn enough from your books to live off of them, which seems to indicate your current "I sell ebooks and only if you buy one copy should you be able to read it" isn't good enough.