Quote:
Originally Posted by Moejoe
I think we have to expect, and your experiment proves it to an extent, that the money is just not there any longer in fiction. The mid list was destroyed a long time ago in print, and it has zero chance of surviving in the digital age. For a very few people there's a living to be made. A very few. Those anointed into the Baen 'clique'. A few flukes here and there who just happen into an audience. A couple others who have the knack of self-promotion. The rest are dead in the water, even those signed to a publishing deal.
Kind of invigorating, no?
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If I may be allowed to "riff" off you comment...
I truly expect that there is a generational component to this. The older geezers (like me), are willing to pay for digital things, if they are priced reasonably, and allow free backup/transfer (i.e. no DRM). The current teenagers don't seem to have the same viewpoint, in aggregate, or at least not to the same extent...
One of the quirks of this, if true, is that older people tastes are less attached to the new, on average. You speak of the "Baen clique". That may exist, but look at what Baen sells. Look at the vast number of dead authors sold by Baen. Why? Well, older readers want e-copies of "old favorites". Baen obliges, at acceptable prices. Most of the big six look at their backlist like a leper colony. This frustrates the very demographic most likely to buy a product, if available.
It also hammers new writers, because the generation that would be their "long tail" in the future, isn't even being the "big surge" today, preferring to pirate over buying.