Quote:
Originally Posted by cstross
I agree.
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As for authors, I think there's a generation gap in perceptions: those aged over 40 are very likely to worry about "piracy" (except in the case of those who have been on the net since before they started selling novels), while the younger folks are mostly looking to leverage free distribution over the internet to boost their sales.
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I suspect that part of the issue is that the older established authors tend to view older works as their retirement funds, i.e. they are works that can be republished after 10 or so years and thus, if you have enough older titles, will generate a steady income in your later years. If it's available in e-format, then that takes away the value of re-publishing rights. I've read Jerry Pournelle allude to this.
I also suspect that part of the equation is do you feel that most people are honest or not. People who think that most people are honest, go forward with the idea that if you make it easy for people to do the right thing (i.e. buy ebooks on line) then they will. People who think that most people are dishonest tend to think that if it's available on the darknet, then people will take the free version, i.e. steal it, and they won't get paid.
My thought is that you can't put the genie back in the bottle. The last Harry Potter book was available for download on the darknet _before_ it was available in dead tree format in the US. Better to figure out a way to make money on it.