Gaiman on Copyright

guyanonymous · 02-09-2011, 05:18 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qkyt...ayer_embedded#

An interesting listen...

Fayth · 02-09-2011, 06:06 PM

Very interesting. American Gods is on my wishlist too, I'll have to pick it up soon.

SlowRain · 02-09-2011, 11:12 PM

With one or two exceptions, I seriously disliked Neverwhere--to the point that I haven't read anything else by Gaiman, despite hearing some good things about American Gods. However, I'm really impressed by what he said in that interview. It's all the more meaningful coming from an author--someone who is supposedly losing money to piracy. I like it when the uptight moneymen have their preconceived notions debunked like this.

birdbrainbb · 02-09-2011, 11:30 PM

Oh, how neat! I remember when they did the freebie American Gods thing-- everyone was surprised at how much the sales increased. It was kind of funny, actually.

(SlowRain, I also hated Neverwhere, but American Gods was much better written and way more enjoyable.)

TheSFReader · 02-10-2011, 05:11 AM

Yes, great link, thanks !
However, could you please change the title to "Neil Gaiman on Copyright" : You've got the author's name wrong there ...

Namekuseijin · 02-10-2011, 06:43 AM

Yep, wrong name there.

Gaiman's a great author, any of Sandman comics, American Gods or Coraline can prove that.

Still, pbooks sales may rise, but what about ebooks? People have a real sense of property and are willing to pay for a bunch of sheets and a cover, but just another digital copy, officially sanctioned or not, doesn't elicit much of a strong emotional reaction...

queentess · 02-10-2011, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlowRain

With one or two exceptions, I seriously disliked Neverwhere--to the point that I haven't read anything else by Gaiman, despite hearing some good things about American Gods. However, I'm really impressed by what he said in that interview. It's all the more meaningful coming from an author--someone who is supposedly losing money to piracy. I like it when the uptight moneymen have their preconceived notions debunked like this.

I read some stuff on his blog from time to time, and he seems like a great guy, but I also seriously dislike his writing. Coraline was ok, Fragile Things was pretty cool (collection of short stories). But Neverwhere and American Gods were just dreadful. Predictable and boring. If you haven't liked him yet, I can't say I recommend continuing. He's pretty consistent across books, and I think I'd like his writing a lot more if everything he wrote was shorter. He can't just carry a plot for 500 pages.

guyanonymous · 02-10-2011, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSFReader

Yes, great link, thanks !
However, could you please change the title to "Neil Gaiman on Copyright" : You've got the author's name wrong there ...

I added his first name...not sure that lacking a first name makes his last name wrong though...

TGS · 02-10-2011, 10:25 AM

Quote:

No one who would have bought your book is going to not buy it because they can get it for free

Go Neil!

Jellby · 02-10-2011, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

I added his first name...not sure that lacking a first name makes his last name wrong though...

The title said "Gaimen" until I corrected it.

Latinandgreek · 02-10-2011, 12:02 PM

I really like Neil Gaiman's work. Thanks for posting this.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 02-10-2011, 12:09 PM

Neil's is the word of an established popular author with a print line and a publisher. I'm sure the raw volume of sales he made were enough to offset any losses, whatever they were. His statements may not apply equally to the purely digital author/publisher.

Quote:

No one who would have bought your book is going to not buy it because they can get it for free

All I'll say about this is it's not accurate as the absolute statement he presented. We at MR know people who have obtained ebooks for free and have not bought the printed copy (or the pay-for ebook). We also know people who did buy the book or ebook after obtaining a free copy. There are some of both out there (and we won't try to quantify them against each other here).

HarryT · 02-10-2011, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

I added his first name...not sure that lacking a first name makes his last name wrong though...

No. It was the spelling error which made it wrong, which Jellby has now corrected.

Penforhire · 02-10-2011, 01:07 PM

Opinions vary. I loved American Gods. The pacing dragged a little at times but there was a payoff and some depth, at least for me. Ananzi Boys was placed in the same "world" and paces a bit better. Heck, I enjoyed the Graveyard Book even though the plot only nibbles at the edges of what's really happening.

BrianFreeman · 02-10-2011, 01:13 PM

Well, my personal experience as someone who is totally unknown to most readers outside my genre is that giving an eBook away for free for one month GREATLY increased sales of the print edition. I've only tried the experiment once, but I don't mean we saw a small bump in sales -- I mean we sold thousands of copies of the $19.99 hardcover we never expected to sell. I don't want to self promote too much since I'm not a frequent poster on this board, but the website for the freebie was http://www.DownloadTheDarkness.com if you're interested and some of the info about what we tried is still posted there. It really was a lot of fun and the "risk" of giving the book away for free definitely paid off in terms of finding thousands of great new readers for my work...

Brian

02-09-2011, 05:18 PM	#1
guyanonymous Guru Posts: 692 Karma: 27532 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Ebookwise 1150 / 1200	Neil Gaiman on Copyright http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qkyt...ayer_embedded# An interesting listen... Last edited by guyanonymous; 02-10-2011 at 09:50 AM.

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02-09-2011, 06:06 PM	#2
Fayth Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 1337 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS 350	Very interesting. American Gods is on my wishlist too, I'll have to pick it up soon.

02-09-2011, 11:12 PM	#3
SlowRain Addict Posts: 311 Karma: 9553 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: a Canadian expat in Taiwan Device: HTC 10, Asus Phonepad	With one or two exceptions, I seriously disliked Neverwhere--to the point that I haven't read anything else by Gaiman, despite hearing some good things about American Gods. However, I'm really impressed by what he said in that interview. It's all the more meaningful coming from an author--someone who is supposedly losing money to piracy. I like it when the uptight moneymen have their preconceived notions debunked like this.

02-09-2011, 11:30 PM	#4
birdbrainbb Addict Posts: 287 Karma: 2191035 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Anaheim, CA Device: Kindle Oasis, Kindle Paperwhite 5	Oh, how neat! I remember when they did the freebie American Gods thing-- everyone was surprised at how much the sales increased. It was kind of funny, actually. (SlowRain, I also hated Neverwhere, but American Gods was much better written and way more enjoyable.)

02-10-2011, 05:11 AM	#5
TheSFReader Groupie Posts: 172 Karma: 161634 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Nook	Yes, great link, thanks ! However, could you please change the title to "Neil Gaiman on Copyright" : You've got the author's name wrong there ...

02-10-2011, 06:43 AM	#6
Namekuseijin affordable chipmunk Posts: 1,290 Karma: 9863855 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Brazil Device: Sony XPeria ZL, Kindle Paperwhite	Yep, wrong name there. Gaiman's a great author, any of Sandman comics, American Gods or Coraline can prove that. Still, pbooks sales may rise, but what about ebooks? People have a real sense of property and are willing to pay for a bunch of sheets and a cover, but just another digital copy, officially sanctioned or not, doesn't elicit much of a strong emotional reaction...

02-10-2011, 12:02 PM	#11
Latinandgreek Warrior Princess Posts: 5,038 Karma: 9724231 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505; PRS-350, PRS-T1, iPad, Aura HD	I really like Neil Gaiman's work. Thanks for posting this.

02-10-2011, 01:07 PM	#14
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	Opinions vary. I loved American Gods. The pacing dragged a little at times but there was a payoff and some depth, at least for me. Ananzi Boys was placed in the same "world" and paces a bit better. Heck, I enjoyed the Graveyard Book even though the plot only nibbles at the edges of what's really happening.

02-10-2011, 01:13 PM	#15
BrianFreeman Member Posts: 20 Karma: 34 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kindle & iPad	Well, my personal experience as someone who is totally unknown to most readers outside my genre is that giving an eBook away for free for one month GREATLY increased sales of the print edition. I've only tried the experiment once, but I don't mean we saw a small bump in sales -- I mean we sold thousands of copies of the $19.99 hardcover we never expected to sell. I don't want to self promote too much since I'm not a frequent poster on this board, but the website for the freebie was http://www.DownloadTheDarkness.com if you're interested and some of the info about what we tried is still posted there. It really was a lot of fun and the "risk" of giving the book away for free definitely paid off in terms of finding thousands of great new readers for my work... Brian