Quote:
Originally Posted by dadioflex
Something Moejoe said yesterday about attaching extra value to an ebook made me think of this.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...of-EGP-Apparel
An attempt by a bunch of indie game developers to spread their message by selling tee shirts in Walmart, with the CD of the game attached. Stealth-selling the game, in a way.
I don't think there will be as many people making a living creatively, but people will still make music, write books, even make films.
As for the donation model, and fanatics - go back far enough and that's exactly how the arts were funded, almost universally. By patronage. |
Not directly related to the link you provided, but the Escapist magazine is a good example of a new model.
Every Wednesday I watch Escapist Magazine's video game review show - Zero Punctuation. I don't pay for that. It's just available for free. But I like the show and I want to show my support so that it continues. There are two ways I do this. I click on their 'advertising' when I visit the site and I buy merchandise. I have two Zero Punctuation shirts, and I'm going to buy a plush imp in the next few weeks. This is the 'value-added' proposition we were talking about. I think writers should be doing the same, whether that's in collectives or by themselves. I know that when I launch my site at the end of this year I'll be offering t-shirts, but the fiction will always be free and before we get started on will I make a living etc, the answer is NO. A big fat NO. And I never expected to either, not with what I write and the stories I prefer. If you're a straight genre writer you'll probably find it a lot easier to maintain your income in the coming years. If you're literary you'll be where you were before all this; small sales, but big prestige. If you're in the middle like me, you're screwed
