Quote:
Originally Posted by Kumabjorn
Has there been any studies by either O'Reilly or others that has looked into the impact their position on DRM has affected sales of pBooks?
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The average person/reader is largely unaware of DRM or what it means. I'm on a few cozy reader forums and when the subject comes up, most people don't care. They buy from their 'provider'--so if they own a Nook, that means B&N. Kindle, they buy from Amazon. Some have run into DRM by buying from the wrong retailer. They sort of have an understanding that they can't do that. But they largely stay loyal to the retailer where they purchased the device or quickly understand they can't shop around and don't care. I used to offer my books at a discount via smashwords when they first came out (as ARCs while the cover was being chosen.) I thought it a clever marketing strategy. What I go was a lot of emails. "Why won't this load to my Kindle directly? I can't do that side load thing. It's too much trouble." Or "I downloaded the wrong file and it won't load." And so on. It meant more customer support on my part than sales. And I felt bad for readers who thought they could just hit download and sat there there waiting for the book to appear on their Nook or Kindle.
I use Nook and Kindle as examples because those who own Sony and/or Kobo or other devices tend to understand side loading and how to do it.
Those who buy a lot of books or those on this forum have a pretty clear understanding of DRM and try to avoid it where possible, but I'm not sure that mobileread represents the average/sale/buyer. Or it could be that I sell into the cozy market and that market is largely 50 and older women who don't want to spend a lot of time mucking with the computer. They are avid readers, but they love the one-click.
I did not, however, notice a different trend with my urban fantasy books. It doesn't seem to sell into the cozy market, but my sales are still largely from the two retailers mentioned above. A good portion of my Smashword sale are still international ones.
I'm just one data point however, but from the discussions I've seen (NOT on this forum) most people kind of know what DRM is (I can't buy anywhere) but don't care very much.