How many authors can the consumers sustain?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

Cat videos are lame anyway. I realise this forum is infested with cat owners (the feline critters being the infestation, not the owners, I hasten to clarify), but yeah, cats are lazy, arrogant, disloyal and lame, and shamelessly exploit their supposed cuteness to beguile people unwise enough to actually want to care for the ungrateful ****s. Their appeal probably lies in-part in the fact that they're low-maintenance (read as: Cats spend all day lying around and getting fat, and owners needn't undertake the exercise they'd get if they were properly caring for an awesome pet like a dog, unless of course if the owners were incapacitated in some way, in which case I empathise and understand the need for quiet companionship. Well, I suppose I did manage to insult *some* of the owners this time ).

"People who hate cats will come back as mice in their next life." --Faith Resnick

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

I don't think it's a valid comparison. I wouldn't spend money to view the cat video, and I definitely wouldn't spend eight hours of my life viewing the video.

You do pay to watch the cat videos, just not in money. You trade your viewing habits (and lots of other information if you have other Google accounts) for free content, and also have to look at adverts.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Cat owners are confident enough not to need constant validation the dog brings. And after a couple years, a child takes care of its own feces. And cats do return affection. The mouse the cat leaves on your bed is a sign of affection, the cat is giving you what it thinks is a delicious treat. My cat returns affection whenever I am trying to read, by getting in between me and my book.

You see a need for validation, I see an appreciation of the mental stimulation they provide as buddies and companions.

The mouse carcass is a symbolic gesture by cats along the lines of the horses head in your bed. They want you to think they're to be feared. That, or they think they're giving you the plague. You'd think they'd come up with a better plan, what with all the time they spend lazing around, doing absolutely nothing.

Anyway, agree to disagree.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by Catlady

"People who hate cats will come back as mice in their next life." --Faith Resnick

Old Ella Mason keeps cats, eleven at last count,
In her ramshackle house off Somerset Terrace;
People make queries
On seeing our neighbor’s cat-haunt,
Saying: "Something's addled in a woman who accommodates
That many cats."
— "Ella Mason and Her Eleven Cats" by Sylvia Plath, 1956

[howyoudoin]

My apologies to Sil_liS for taking the thread off-track. I'll stop.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by taustin

The average American reads two books per year.

Royalty rates are, from what I understand, considerably less than 20%.

Very few professional writers make a living solely from writing.

Umm, I guess that depends on the definition of professional . I tend to think that if someone is a professional, it means that that is what they do to make a living .

That being said, if we restrict it to fiction (I am not sure about technical books), both books and shorter fiction, then only a fraction of one percent of writers seem to be able to sustain a career where being an author is their only job. My guess is, in all genres that the number is probably under a few thousand at any given time.

Of course it gets complicated if we start adding writers who write other things as well. How do you look at a journalist who writes an occasional novel on the side? He is certainly a full time writer... (same with someone who writes screenplays...).

--
Bill

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Umm, I guess that depends on the definition of professional . I tend to think that if someone is a professional, it means that that is what they do to make a living .

Professional, to me, means that you are paid to do it. Not that it constitutes the majority of your income.

A good many people in the USA work two jobs. It would be fallacious to say that their second jobs makes them not a professional at it. (Indeed, how many professional models, actors, comedians, etc. joke that they aren't going to quit their day job?) It would especially be fallacious to argue that a 2-job worker is not a professional at either because neither job constitutes a "majority" share of the income.

[Penforhire]

Anamardoll has my definition. Same for photographers and many other art media, people who get paid are pros by definition. The ability to live on what you earn has no bearing on whether or not you are a professional. The common phrase for a pro who earns enough to live on is "full time."

[david_e]

Wikipedia is not a source, it is a diversion.

Publishers are not in the business of creating readers but selling books. As long as the order is paid for, who cares if the books are ever read by anyone?

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

How do you lay off a self-published writer?

You can't. In fact, the only thing that the market can do is post sales so disappointing the writer gives up, at which point the writer may or may not be laboring solely out of love or some sort of hypergraphia.

Statistically, from the point of view of the publishers one in 10 people buying 10 books is the same as each of the 10 buying one book. From the point of view of the author one in 10 people buying 10 books can mean at best one sale per title, while each of the 10 people buying one book can mean at best 10 sales per title.

From the point of view of the publisher, though, each title represents a certain amount of sunk costs. So selling 10 books of the same title represents a much greater profit than 1 sale of each of 10 titles. The effect is magnified for the author, though, as (perhaps) 9 of those 10 titles sales don't feed the author's revenue stream at all.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by david_e

Publishers are not in the business of creating readers but selling books. As long as the order is paid for, who cares if the books are ever read by anyone?

Publishers sell a lot of series. Without readers, series fail. With readers, series succeed.

Publishers develop and promote authors. Without readers, same-author sales of new titles fail. With readers, same-author sales of new titles succeed.

It is definitely in the interests of the publishers to cultivate a reader base, fan clubs, book discussion groups, etc. Tor.com is a good example of a publisher reaching out to deeply engage readers in the books and with each other. Baen does similar things. And some publishers just have a site where you can order books.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Joykins

It is definitely in the interests of the publishers to cultivate a reader base, fan clubs, book discussion groups, etc. Tor.com is a good example of a publisher reaching out to deeply engage readers in the books and with each other. Baen does similar things. And some publishers just have a site where you can order books.

ALso, most hardcovers are a higher profit margin for the publisher than subsequent versions. Most readers who buy new hardcovers do so because they can't wait to read the story. If you just want to own the book, the hardcover will come down to bargain price quickly to clear the shelves.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

ALso, most hardcovers are a higher profit margin for the publisher than subsequent versions. Most readers who buy new hardcovers do so because they can't wait to read the story. If you just want to own the book, the hardcover will come down to bargain price quickly to clear the shelves.

There's also that population that CAN wait to read the story. This population is more likely to get the book from the public library, or buy it in paperback. This type of reader may move into the hardcover-buying mode when they have sufficient means.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Joykins

There's also that population that CAN wait to read the story. This population is more likely to get the book from the public library, or buy it in paperback. This type of reader may move into the hardcover-buying mode when they have sufficient means.

Precisely. Which is why the "growing the readership" is SO important. You want to whip everyone into a frenzy to BUY ON RELEASE DAY in order to maximize sales.

[QuantumIguana]

Publishers are in the business of selling books, and creating readers is an inherent part of that. The more readers there are, the more books they can sell.