[marvmax]

I'm new to the site, and I've done a search on this topic and found some old threads talking about it but just thought I'd start another.

First of all I just would like to say that I really love this site. I've been lurking around ever since I found out about it two weeks ago from the Baen Bar. (Personally I think that Baen has done everything right, except the Bar. I find it hard to use, and slow. Slow is the killer)

I didn't realize there were so many commercial readers out there. I personally use a Dell x51v. I pretty much use it primarily as a reading device anymore. However, I really like the flexibility it provides. For example I use it to read and study the scriptures with two different scripture reading software, and I make notes with Mobile Word, which allows me to move those notes to my PC.

Then I read my books on it. I'd been using Microsoft Reader but switched to Mobireader because of this site.

Anyway back when I got my first PDA I was looking for reading content, and I checked out the latest Honor Harrington book from the library. What was in the back of that book? Everyone probably knows, one of the Baen Free Library CDs. Nirvana. Or Literary Crack. I agree completely with Eric Flints views on copyright and DRM. Since that first taste of e-books I've spent $1020 on webscription books (I know this now because I just came from another thread where they were discussing how much they have spent because they saw it on webscriptions. I've wondered how much I've spent, but didn't know that I could actually find out. Now I almost wish I didn't know. This doesn't include all the other money I've spent on reading e formatted material.) There is no way I would have spent this much on pBooks in the same time period. The main reason for this is that I don't have the physical space in my house to store very many more books. Well I think there is plenty of room to store more books, but my wife apparently thinks that we need to live in our house also, and she has way different living standards than I do (thank goodness). My wife is also a bookaholic and make heavy use of the public library. She hates reading books on the PDA.

I know that I'm just rambling. I just wanted to get it out in the public that there are people like me who are willing to pay for, what I consider a reasonably priced e-book, and who will not put up with this ridiculous DRM crap. I have never gotten a book off of the blacknet and never will. I respect authors and am willing to pay for their work. I personally think that e-publishing is a way for authors to get more money not less. From this site I've been led to a few sites where it looks like the authors are self publishing where it would seem like they would make even more money per book.

While I don't mind paying what I consider a reasonable price, I hate feeling like I'm getting shafted. What do I consider getting shafted? Paying for printing costs, and distribution costs when those cost couldn't possibly be included in an e-book that I'm downloading. I would even consider paying a little more for new release of an e-book just for the pleasure of reading it right away. I would (and still might) except that Baen has shown me that it is possible for me to get an eBook earlier than a pBook, and still pay less for it (I don't buy the eARCs though) and Baen apparently makes money doing it. Well they got $1000+ from me, and the way to bet is that they're going to get $1000 more from me. Right now I pretty much buy most things Baen offers, and if I have any time, money or inclination left over I look at other options.