Quote:
Originally Posted by alvico
Maybe established writers who have the weight to throw around. However, believe me, when it comes to debut authors, they're not going to start making waves if it means the difference between getting a publishing contract or not.
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Sure any individual author couldn't convince a publisher but if most authors want something enough then the publishers are going to take notice and start including that as an enticement to publish with them (providing it doesn't cost them too much). If authors had no bargaining power at all then they wouldn't be getting paid.
I think the fact is that most authors* don't care at all about things like geographic restrictions and DRM. I can understand why: authors* just want their royalty check and don't want anything to do with the publishing side of things (at least I wouldn't if I were an author). They rationally assume (and I think they are right) that publishers will usually maximise profit and this benefits authors - unfortunately, it can come at the expense of some consumers (especially when publishers lobby for regulations to restrict competition).
So I agree you can't blame any individual author but authors as an industry would surely get their way if they cared about these issues.
* Talking in general - as always there are exceptions and authors that contribute to MobileRead are likely to be amongst them.