[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I think that there are several big issues with ad based ebooks.

First, you have the basic problem that in general, the book industry, like the music industry, is oriented towards best salers. So, the issue how would you split the ad review up between someone like Ms Rowling and your average mid list author?

Television is also oriented towards "best sellers," i.e., highly rated shows... but lower-rated shows are still supported by ads. It's a simple matter of selling ad time at various pricing levels that apply the ads to different levels of authors. So while Rowling would get the equivalent of Chrysler ads, I, for instance, would get the equivalent of the Pocket Fisherman ads.

The level of ads could also contribute to my income, i.e., the publisher would pay me a set level, and the higher ads I bring in, the more I would get from them on top of my set salary.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

It seems to me that in the music industry, more and more artists are going indie rather than with record labels. I expect that the book industry will go in a similar direction.

It could happen... but only if they can make reliable money as indie artists. Publishers exist to act as the "middleman," supposedly taking the burden of advertising, distribution, and profit allocation, off the author's hands. We have yet to see whether or not most authors can reliably do all of that for themselves.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Last, I think that books are a lot like music, in that people want specific artists and titles rather than generic items. With TV, people tend to watch specific shows rather than specific actors. Most shows that last more than a few seasons tend to have a fair amount of turn over when it comes to actors. The product that advertisers are paying for is the show, not the specific actor. Books just don't have the continuity that advertisers are looking for.

This where books are different... in most cases, it is the author, not the book, that is the real draw. People buy books by their favorite authors, often regardless of the specific title, usually because an author tends to write the same type of book each time. So advertisers would be paying to promote the author, not the book... except in the cases of successful franchises, like Star Wars.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I think this shows that as long as the DRM is not burdensome, and there is a method for getting around the DRM if you really want to (i.e. burn the music to cd, then rip it back from the cd as mp3), then DRM isn't a big deal to most people. I also suspect that within the next couple of years, DRM will be a thing of the past in music.

I'd agree with the first statement, which is why I do not agree with the second. If a company comes up with a DRM system that people do not complain about, and it increases their profit more than a non-DRM system will, they will continue to use it, and make more money.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

More than anything, I think that you are trying to come up with a solution for a problem that might not exist. I suspect that people are, for the most part, quite willing to purchase e-books and will continue to be, even if it isn't protected with DRM. People have been able to rip CD's for almost 20 years now, yet music scene is as vibrant as ever. I just haven't seen any evidence that suggests that the books will be any different as it moves into an electronic media.

Yes... we've just covered all of this ground, without actually establishing a rise in e-book piracy! (Sad, isn't it?) But that doesn't mean there is no problem... piracy does exist, the e-book industry has not managed to solidify into a vibrant industry yet, and the two may indeed be related. Not the only related factors, mind you... quality of reading devices, cost of devices and e-books, availability of titles, are all part of the equation... but it's still too early to determine which is more of the problem. So we try to deal with piracy here, and discuss the other issues elsewhere.

And if we someday manage to establish that, in fact, piracy is not the problem we think it is, I think quite a few of us around here will breathe easier that we can finally lay this contentious issue to rest.