Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
I disagree with you, and agree with MikeB1972. And one of your examples, Baen books proves you wrong. (They make a profit from selling digital content.)
|
I did not intend to suggest that they don't. That's why I described it as a hybrid. The reality of Baen's model is that authors sell more books, especially back catalog books, when they give away some of their books at zero cost than they sell without giving away any of their catalogs (c.f. Eric Flint's early "Prime Palaver" essays). It really is a variant of the web comic model, giving away content at no cost and with almost no restrictions and selling something else. Baen's "something else" is other books.
Is Baen's model "the best"? I don't think so. I do think that it is the best for them at this time. I do think that it is significantly better than using DRM to force traditional publishing methods onto digital content. I expect this will change as authors and publishers start figuring out for-pay added value that works for them.