Baen Free CD's downloads

[Katsunami]

I see... it seems that some CD's or combination of CD's indeed do contain complete or nearly complete series.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Oh, OK.... I've found another source, here:

http://hell.pl/szymon/Baen/

No 19, no 21. Two numbers 24.

There is a 6, and 6B. The Torrent Download names them as 6 and 7.



Why would one want to ignore it if you're a fan? Even if it was pulled after some time, I don't mind downloading it as long as it is available somewhere. If something is put onto the internet, it often stays there for a very long time, if not forever. It's very hard to get stuff off the internet.

===

By the way: some of those CD's contain quite a lot of books. I wonder if, between the CD's, there are series that are actually complete.

Between two of them there are the 2 (so far) books by Travis Taylor "warp speed & its sequel "The Quantum Connection." I forget which two. One is on one CD and the other (with some of the same characters) is on another. I don't know if he plans to write others in the same setting or not. The Honor Harrington books are almost complete in the CD's I think.

[pwalker8]

I bought all the Baen websubscription up until a year or so ago. I tend to look at it from the stand point that if I like an author, I'm going to do what I can to make sure that author keeps writing, so I buy their books. Perhaps not in dead tree format anymore, but I will buy them from the Kindle store.

The bottom line is that if an author doesn't get paid, they eventually move on to something that will pay them a living. That's what happened with Rick Cook (and probably the vast majority of mid list authors). I thought his Wiz series was great, but it didn't sale enough, so he went back to his day job.

[Little.Egret]

Rick Cook had health problems (heart and later eye) and felt unable to write novels

http://rickcooks.blogspot.co.uk/2007...completed.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Cook

http://rickcooks.blogspot.co.uk/

The non-fiction book (2011)

http://www.amazon.com/SHIFT-HAPPENS-.../dp/B005CX94YI

[pwalker8]

Didn't know that he had health problems, but I do know that he posted on the baen.com webboard that he was giving up novels to go back to his day job. I have the first four wiz books in ebooks and the rest in dead tree. Would love to get all of them in ebooks. The mall book was very funny.

[Katsunami]

He might actually return to writing. From the blog:

I didn't realize how degraded my vision had become and how much it had affected my life. One thing I'm hoping is that I can get back to writing fiction. We'll see but I'm hopeful.

[pwalker8]

I would love it if he does. He has the touch.

[jscarbo]

Another excellent, searchable database for the content on the Baen CD's, along with a lot of other great, free SF&F, all of which is legal to download, can be found here: http://www.freesfonline.de/RecommendedStories.html

They've blacklisted and deleted all of Bujold's work with the comment: "This author's work will not be listed on FreeSFOnline, because her view of what constitutes freely available fiction is incompatible with this site's policy."

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by jscarbo

Another excellent, searchable database for the content on the Baen CD's, along with a lot of other great, free SF&F, all of which is legal to download, can be found here: http://www.freesfonline.de/RecommendedStories.html

They've blacklisted and deleted all of Bujold's work with the comment: "This author's work will not be listed on FreeSFOnline, because her view of what constitutes freely available fiction is incompatible with this site's policy."

That's going to keep me away from the site even though I've already got all of Bujold's works that I'm interested in. It's up to the author, not the site. Even if she did allow her ebooks to be freely distributed she still has the right to say where (and how) that distribution will take place. These are her books, it's her right, and if the site thinks differently-as the quote implies-then it's not a place that deserves support.

[Apache]

If she signed a contract allowing the free use, then she does not have the right to complain. Misunderstanding a contract you willingly sign is not an excuse. That is what lawyers are for.
Apache

[Rbneader]

Originally Posted by calvin-c

That's going to keep me away from the site even though I've already got all of Bujold's works that I'm interested in. It's up to the author, not the site. Even if she did allow her ebooks to be freely distributed she still has the right to say where (and how) that distribution will take place. These are her books, it's her right, and if the site thinks differently-as the quote implies-then it's not a place that deserves support.

What?

I don't see anything negative in the quote. It's a simple explanation that they're respecting the author's wishes. They probably wanted a blanket explanation so they could stop answering individual questions.

And, if you sign a contract allowing free distribution, you've signed a contract allowing free distribution. You've literally and deliberately signed away the right to have any say in where or how your books are distributed. Bujold is lucky that Baen is very respectful of authorial whims.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by Apache

If she signed a contract allowing the free use, then she does not have the right to complain. Misunderstanding a contract you willingly sign is not an excuse. That is what lawyers are for.
Apache

Nope. Contract law requires a 'meeting of the minds' for the contract to be valid. It's the responsibility of both parties to make their positions clear to the other. Changing your mind isn't an excuse but misunderstanding is. The question is which happened here?

Her explanation sounds valid to me, i.e. she thought the 'free' ebooks were only going to be distributed in conjunction with a pbook purchase. Of course I wasn't involved in the negotiations so I'm basing my opinion on public statements of which Baen hasn't made any. (Well, not for their side. It appears that they were the ones who passed on Bujold's 'thoughts' on the matter.)

Arrgh! Maybe I'm going nuts. I just checked to verify my statement that Baen hadn't said anything on their side of the dispute & now I can't find any statements at all about it. Nothing on 5th Imperium (except a CD entry with no file attached), nothing on Baen, nothing on Dendarii. Maybe I imagined it all.....

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by Rbneader

I don't see anything negative in the quote. It's a simple explanation that they're respecting the author's wishes.

Really? Is that why they used a term like 'incompatible'? Why not simply say that she's requested that her books not be distributed, for free, over the Internet which is what the situation actually is? A statement such as that would recognize her right to control how her books are distributed including when they're distributed for free.

I haven't seen the contract. Presumably it contained a clause allowing Baen to delegate the right to distribute her free books to others. I assume that because I just can't see Baen omitting that. If the contract give Baen the right to distribute her books then only Baen has that right-that can't grant that right to others. I'm sure Baen would be aware of that but would they make sure Bujold was aware of the difference? That's what makes a contract, both parties understanding what they're agreeing to.

[theducks]

calvin-c

It is kind of hard to close a barn door to keep horse within after they have fled.
The CD (as all the others) has a published Terms of Use: Free to Copy. No charge permitted.

The sites that work with Baen, voluntarily, removed their access to that file in the name of 'good relations'.

LMB went over the top when she used the 'P' word
Before: she may have lost a tiny percentage of sales that would have been made (the rest would never have been a sale anyway, so, a loss?)

After: Bad will. Personally, I will remember her rant when shopping. There are other Authors begging for my $$

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by calvin-c

That's going to keep me away from the site even though I've already got all of Bujold's works that I'm interested in. It's up to the author, not the site. Even if she did allow her ebooks to be freely distributed she still has the right to say where (and how) that distribution will take place. These are her books, it's her right, and if the site thinks differently-as the quote implies-then it's not a place that deserves support.

You're absolutely right that it's her choice. From what I understand she thought the CD's would only be available in the Hardcovers and didn't get that they'd be available from other sources.

However if I had to guess what the comment on the site is referring to it's the fact that she started publicly calling the 5th Imperium and others pirate sites. It rubbed many the wrong way. Especially since she stuck with that after everything was explained to her & the CD's were removed at her request.