MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

VydorScope · 04-18-2012, 06:57 AM

Frahse,

If I was Steven King, or Tom Clancy... I would not care about this topic at all, DRM or not is not going to impact me much. My books would sell just because my name was on them. Harry Potter is a proof case for this.

If I was complete failure as a writer who wrote drivel, DRM would not matter because no one would want to read my garbage anyways. In fact it might not even get pirated, cause no one would care enough to try. There are legions of proof cases for this, I wont name them but we all know some.

I do not fit in either of those cases. I am an indy author whose books are well liked by a decent percentage of those reading them. My biggest obstacle in selling my work is OBSCURITY, not piracy. The one thing that DRM is good at stopping is causal sharing (i.e. mom giving me a book to read). I personally believe it is this causal sharing that gets unknown authors started. Therefore I see DRM as bad for me, and anyone else in my position. As a proof case for this, my first book is free and has no DRM on it. You know what I have discovered? LOTS of web stores have my book on them, offered for free. All kinds of stores that I have no relationship with are offering it. This means free advertising since the book tells readers where to get the rest of my books from. If my book had DRM on it, I highly doubt most stores would remove the DRM and put it up in their store.

There is no perfect solution to the problem, never will be. But I think those three cases show that DRM is not a help, and could very well be an hindrance to the indy author. That is why I have decided against putting DRM on my books. I do not see a benefit, but I see a potential harm in it.

I do buy books with DRM on them all the time. I like getting my books through the Nook store because its quick, easy, and B&N will keep my books synced across all my devices. I accept DRM a price to pay for that convenience. To me its a minor bump in the road because I know if I ever buy a Kindle Fire, I have the skill and knowledge to move my books over. Till then I am happy living in the Nook ecosystem because it just works.

04-18-2012, 06:57 AM	#481
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Frahse, If I was Steven King, or Tom Clancy... I would not care about this topic at all, DRM or not is not going to impact me much. My books would sell just because my name was on them. Harry Potter is a proof case for this. If I was complete failure as a writer who wrote drivel, DRM would not matter because no one would want to read my garbage anyways. In fact it might not even get pirated, cause no one would care enough to try. There are legions of proof cases for this, I wont name them but we all know some. I do not fit in either of those cases. I am an indy author whose books are well liked by a decent percentage of those reading them. My biggest obstacle in selling my work is OBSCURITY, not piracy. The one thing that DRM is good at stopping is causal sharing (i.e. mom giving me a book to read). I personally believe it is this causal sharing that gets unknown authors started. Therefore I see DRM as bad for me, and anyone else in my position. As a proof case for this, my first book is free and has no DRM on it. You know what I have discovered? LOTS of web stores have my book on them, offered for free. All kinds of stores that I have no relationship with are offering it. This means free advertising since the book tells readers where to get the rest of my books from. If my book had DRM on it, I highly doubt most stores would remove the DRM and put it up in their store. There is no perfect solution to the problem, never will be. But I think those three cases show that DRM is not a help, and could very well be an hindrance to the indy author. That is why I have decided against putting DRM on my books. I do not see a benefit, but I see a potential harm in it. I do buy books with DRM on them all the time. I like getting my books through the Nook store because its quick, easy, and B&N will keep my books synced across all my devices. I accept DRM a price to pay for that convenience. To me its a minor bump in the road because I know if I ever buy a Kindle Fire, I have the skill and knowledge to move my books over. Till then I am happy living in the Nook ecosystem because it just works.