Quote:
Originally Posted by ignacio ferrer
That is exactly right - and where do buyers click most?
Most buyers' perspective seems to be completely different from forum participants ...
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Well, yes... and most buyers' perspectives are different from Dreamwidth participants. And different from Occupy Together supporters. And different from MySQL programmers. And different from people who watch Glee. No small-group sample is going to be completely represented in the larger group.
However, Mobileread is not "random people who share an interest." It's random people who share an interest
in ebooks, who are interested in the abilities of the hardware and the format options of the software and who strongly consider how those will affect the future of literature. Also, being that we are interested in ebooks, we're likely to tell our friends about the things we think are "good" and steer them away from the things we think are "bad" or "obsolete."
Plenty of people here at Mobileread have said, "I got my [sibling/spouse/parent] an ebook reader, but getting books is too complicated for them; I manage that part." That means the MR reader is in complete control of at least two people's e-reading habits--and that the sibling/spouse/parent's friends will also be looking to the MR reader for advice.
We are, collectively, the experts on "how ebooks work for
readers," rather than most ebook venues online, which seem to be about "how authors can get their books into ebook form." Most of those areas are pro-DRM. Mobileread skews strongly anti-DRM, with opinions ranging from "I don't touch it, ever" to "I buy DRM and strip it immediately so I've got a functional backup for when I change hardware."
DRM is, at best, a light slap in the face to readers. It says "I don't trust you." It says "you need to put up with some inconvenience because
someone out there is a
thief." Most readers will not mind the inconvenience, because they are aware that (1) someone is indeed a "thief" (although they often miss the additional message, "and maybe that's
you") and (2) the inconvenience is minor... as long as you don't try to change hardware, and as long as the original sales point is still active.
Nobody buys books *because* they have DRM. They may choose DRM over no-DRM because the store has better service, or better prices, or is more convenient to their shopping habits... but those aren't aspects the author (or publisher) can control (except for some pricing issues, but they can't control whether the store also carries lower-price items).
DRM does prevent casual sharing among non-tech-savvy customers. The issue for authors to cope with: does that inspire those customers' friends & family to buy the book for themselves, or does it just lose that author a potential fan who might buy other books in the future?
How many books did you buy because a friend said, "this is great! You should go buy it for yourself!"--versus how many you
read because a friend said "this is great! Here; you read it next!" How many authors did you discover that way rather than buying their first book yourself? And are your experiences typical?
As has been mentioned, those of us who are firmly anti-DRM generally have a "shrug" reaction to an author announcing they're going to use DRM. It means one less author I have to think about when I go to buy books, and that's fine, because I already have more potential books of interest than I can ever read. And we're aware that we're not, and will not be, the majority.
But DRM also means nobody will be handing your book to a friend who hasn't got time for it now, and will read it in two years and love it, and buy everything you have on the market by then. It is, of course, the author's choice. (Or their publisher's, but the publisher is working with author's consent, however grudging that may be.)
I repeat the point that authors don't become successful by preventing piracy; they become successful by making sales. DRM's value as a make-sales mechanism has not been proven at all.