Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
The vast majority of essays, reviews and articles don't pay. (Reviews very seldom pay and most authors avoid doing reviews because it can cause them problems with other authors.)
Yes, we can work. And so do most musicians. That doesn't change the fact that they have more opportunities to make money in their chosen field. And I'm not saying it's easy for them, just that there are other opportunities to show their skills and gain an audience for their work. Me writing an essay (paid or not) isn't necessarily a good showcase for my urban fantasy. Sure, we can swizzle some articles, but most readers I talk to don't even agree that a short story is a good way to "sample" an author. An essay is removed even further from a book, while a musician can play the exact songs he sells whenever given the opportunity. And hearing a live song may make you want to hear it again. Hearing a story told aloud...once you know the ending...well, it's different. Some people won't care if they ever "read" it again.
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I am more likely to give an author my money than a musician or a movie studio.
There's multiple revenue streams for them. Authors really only make money on royalties. Maybe on a book tour they make a little (I dunno).
That said, I pretty much never buy an author blind. DRM hurts loaning books to friends which I think drives sales. I think a lot of sales are generated by being loaned an author's book, or reading an author's book at the library.
For example, I just bought Brandon Sanderson's latest ebook on a sale a few days back. If I hadn't read his other books through other channels than buying (library, used, other), I would never have bought that one blind. Of course, it was DRM-free. I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise (principle of the matter - buying DRM encourages DRM).