Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
You can sell your books with whatever restrictions you like of course, but I would suggest that a better policy would be restricting files only where there's evidence that it will benefit sales, not where no one has complained.
It just seems like bad business to restrict every buyer when you're really just trying to get at a small number of book clubbers; given the small number of "bad eggs" you're dealing with, I have to wonder how much of the extra money you're capturing with DRM is offset by people avoiding your books because of DRM.
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What I wonder is whether there would actually BE ANYONE who avoided my books because of the DRM? I have seen no evidence there would be. A very few people on mobileread have said they avoid books with it, but I have no evidence they are my audience (they could be or not. No one has ever written to ask about DRM or to complain one way or the other.) I guess I don't see any evidence from those writers who have DRM that it has kept buyers away. None. Zero.
While it's a hot topic here, I don't see it as nearly the hot-button in other places. People ask about it because they don't understand what it is and when it is explained, that is usually the end of it (Oh. That is why I can't copy the book or give it away.)
The readers here know what it is, but largely when polled, they say, "I strip it and don't worry about it." They rarely say, "I won't buy it."
I do sell copies of my work on my own website without DRM (there's a possible wrong assumption on my part that those who hunt out my work and are willing to pay me for it on my own site will also respect my copyright.) That's not to say that others don't, but again, it's more an argument of "I see zero reason to not apply DRM on the major retailer sites."
Now, if someone from here were to write me and say, 'I buy all your books, but I'd be very disappointed if you started putting DRM on them and I don't want to buy from your site" I would probably rethink it. I just think in the end, most people decide where to shop based on their reader or their typical habit than actually looking at or considering DRM.