MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why i think the Illiad will fail (or has already).

nekokami · 01-05-2007, 08:45 AM

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter at this point what any of us thinks about DRM. I tried to propose non-DRM PDF as a distribution method to my publisher (for a non-fiction book on language learning games -- formatting matters, so PDF is appropriate for this book). They declined. As things stand, there will be only a printed version of the book, which schools will probably only buy one of and then photocopy, or, worse (from my point of view), keep in some central area so teachers won't be able to access it easily. But the publisher has the marketing engine and presence, and I don't. I'm not in a good position to do without a publisher, if I want this book to be distributed widely enough to do any good.

The mainstream publishers are the ones who need convincing, both to publish eBooks at all and to forego DRM. The question is, what's the best way to do that? iLiad users represent a very small market at this point, so saying none of us are going to buy DRM isn't likely to impress anyone-- certainly not enough to decide to unlock titles that are already available, but DRM'd. Those who think DRM is a fine idea can continue to work to try to get DRM support on their device of choice, and get more ebooks published, albeit in DRM format. For those of us who think DRM is bad for both readers and authors, what's the best approach? We might find that we have common cause with the DRM folks, in the short term-- or we might not. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to discuss strategies for getting from here to a DRM-free, ebook-rich world. Arguing amongst ourselves here isn't likely to change anything. I don't, personally, think a boycott of DRM books is going to change anything, either-- if it is noticed at all, it may just make the market for ebooks look smaller. What are our other options?

01-05-2007, 08:45 AM	#64
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Unfortunately, it doesn't matter at this point what any of us thinks about DRM. I tried to propose non-DRM PDF as a distribution method to my publisher (for a non-fiction book on language learning games -- formatting matters, so PDF is appropriate for this book). They declined. As things stand, there will be only a printed version of the book, which schools will probably only buy one of and then photocopy, or, worse (from my point of view), keep in some central area so teachers won't be able to access it easily. But the publisher has the marketing engine and presence, and I don't. I'm not in a good position to do without a publisher, if I want this book to be distributed widely enough to do any good. The mainstream publishers are the ones who need convincing, both to publish eBooks at all and to forego DRM. The question is, what's the best way to do that? iLiad users represent a very small market at this point, so saying none of us are going to buy DRM isn't likely to impress anyone-- certainly not enough to decide to unlock titles that are already available, but DRM'd. Those who think DRM is a fine idea can continue to work to try to get DRM support on their device of choice, and get more ebooks published, albeit in DRM format. For those of us who think DRM is bad for both readers and authors, what's the best approach? We might find that we have common cause with the DRM folks, in the short term-- or we might not. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to discuss strategies for getting from here to a DRM-free, ebook-rich world. Arguing amongst ourselves here isn't likely to change anything. I don't, personally, think a boycott of DRM books is going to change anything, either-- if it is noticed at all, it may just make the market for ebooks look smaller. What are our other options?