I appologize for the long post.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ramen
Not releasing ebooks will never stop this unless nobody is interested in the book. Likewise, selling DRMed ebooks will never work either.
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People that are looking to buy a book will do so if the deal is right and they can be more or less sure they'll like the book. Focus on selling books.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
Actually, the last statement demonstrates why the first statement is inaccurate. If "the deal is right," people will buy DRM'd books. As for the second statement: DRM'd books don't have to be 100% secure, as long as the purchase process is not too upsetting to the public who wants the books, as iTunes illustrates.
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No - it does not. DRM is no fair deal. When I buy a book, I want to read this book on whatever device I want. I do NOT want to even think about stuff like compatibility - I do this more than enough at work. I have little enough freetime as it is (and reading is fun - but still a hobby). I really dont want to throw any freetime away for issues like compatibility. And I want to be able to read this book in 5 years - but perhaps my Sony has died and I bought a new device, ntl I really dont want to rebuy every single book just because of this.
And no - breaking a DRM is not an option. I know how to do it, but I still try not to break any law.
So - no DRM'd deal could ever be even remotely fair. Not with music (neither my car-hifi nor my mp3-player play drm'd mp3) and certainly not with books.
DRM gives you NO security - none whatsoever. Thus it will only lead to people breaking DRM (because they want to read their books on their iLiad, after their Sony broke). Over the darknet books will continue to be available. There really is nothing you can do about this. And as there is no fair deal - people will continue to ignore drm'd ebooks and continue to download their books (or stick to p-books, thus loosing everyone money because p-books are more expensive to produce).
One remark to iTunes - it is not as successfull as you believe. And even Apple starts selling non-drmd music. They really wouldn't if there would be any point to DRM. And they would continue selling drm'd music even so knowing that it is insecure if it wouldnt piss customers off ... But it IS insecure and it DOES annoy customers - so they loose sales through DRM.
Publishers, license-holders, and a surprisingly large number of creatives (spured on by said license holders I guess) are just trying to stick to an old market like .. whatever. I guess there are three reasons:
1. Fear - they are afraid of loosing that golden calve. It was so easy to be molken for a very large number of years. They are afraid that the new market will be smaller than the old one. It is not - it is larger.
2. Ignorance - creating new business models is difficult, understanding new techniques is difficult, .. - creatives shouldn't have to wonder about those new techniques, it should be the part of the publishers.
3. Publishers are afraid of loosing money. Not because they would sell less books - but because creatives could arrogate higher profit margins (and with quite some reason).
4. (yes, I know I said three) Publishers like to sell books twice. Once as p-book and some years later (after the new technique has come - they cant change this) as e-book. It is quite possible, that they could sell their books thrice or more often - DRM-format 1, DRM-format 2, DRM-format 3, ...
One additional point should be a warning to creatives - publishers are trying to enforce the old business model to a new market. New business models would be more friendly to creatives - so why choose new business models? If the publishers continue to go this road, the following will happen:
a) Creatives will continue to get paid as lousy as they are now (and they are paid lousy, no matter what JK Rowling earns)
b) more and more people will drift from the legal market to the darknet (and in criminality) - thus you will loose money twice. Once from sticking to an old unfair business model, second from loosing sales.
The music industrie is (very, very slowing and only with much defense against it) starting to see some light - more and more music is sold via download portals, new business models (e.g. music flatrate) are evolving, and more and more people are crying for non-drm'd music. The book-industrie is screaming and kicking to stay in the dark ...
There is - in my opinion - really only one thing you can do: Start to embrace the new market and its chances. Start releasing eBooks - not just one or two, but EVERY SINGLE BOOK. Give fair deals - NO DRM, no arbitrary restrictions to specific devices or sellers (do you really believe that Amazon will continue to pay you as much as before, as soon as they have a real monopol? May I sell you some area on Mars? It has a nice view of the sun. I mean - they are enforcing lower prices for p-books and they have no monopol on them. Really try to imagine what would happen, if they had a monopol).
People will buy your e-books. You will not loose sales to the darknet - or at least not a single sale you wouldnt have thrice lost otherwise. It does not mean, that you should stop selling p-books (as long as they sell) - but e-books give you a new market. An example why? Nowadays you reduce your market to a certain geografical region. With e-books this wont happen. Via Internet I can buy your e-book from a server in Ohio, though I live in Germany. I wouldn't buy a p-book (had a look at the transportation fees).
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BTT: Yes. eBooks can overcome copyright concerns - there really aren't any real concerns. Some years ago people predicted, that not a single piece of software will get soled nowadays (because of the darknet). What has happened? Yes, the market has changed - this is just normal behaviour. Some companys managed to adapt (and are flourishing), others tried to enforce the old models (and are mostly bancrupt). But software still has its market - and it has grown.
The same will happen to books. The question is: Will you have a share of that market?
The old models cant just be taken over, new will have to be created. This does not mean, that you should give away your products for free - in fact, I believe that creatives could earn a higher profit margin with e-books than they could with p-books. It just means, that some things will change. But hey - it has happened before and it will continue to happen. Use your chances. There is a whole new market to be conquered. Try not to leave it to a single company - it wont be good for anyone.