Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinisajoy
Hey Darryl,
Will giving the authors a more equitable share raise the price?
Little anecdote on services.
Back in the 1950's maybe early 60's, there was an unknown singer. A guy heard him. The guy thought he could go places. The guy approached the singer and said for 50% of what you make, I will take care of all the details. The singer thought that was a fair deal. No one was concerned at the time because 50% of $10 is only $5. It was only after the $10 turned into $1,000,000 that others tried to tell the singer his manager was making too much. The singer still stated I think it is a fair deal and he has earned every penny.
Moral of the story: it doesn't matter what the consumer thinks is fair, the creator of the product and the promoter decides that.
I personally think concert tickets are outrageous but the shows sell out. I mean for all the 70's and 80's bands still touring.
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I can never hear of that story without thinking of Johnny Fontaine and the Bandleader in the Godfather! I think competition will keep the prices down. The large traditional publishing houses seem to be mostly clinging to compensation models to authors when they were, collectively, the only game in town. There was no price competition. Though I'm sure some will disagree, I think it is fairly plain that traditional publishing contracts heavily favour the publisher. Indies and smaller traditional publishers already offer much better royalty rates and conditions to authors, and sell their books at far more competitive prices.
I think Indies now are generally getting an equitable share, but of course are responsible for their own promotion etc. Those authors who want more help and are accepted earn a much fairer proportion from some of the more innovative Indie publishers than with traditional publishers. I think the large traditional pub