Screwed by Tor again...

[TheLongshot]

Originally Posted by Robotech_Master

Because (as I explained up-thread) they drank Eric Flint's koolaid about free ebooks being most valuable as advertising for their print books—people read a chapter or two of the ebook, then go out and buy the print book, because who actually wants to read a whole e-book?

Admittedly, there are a lot more of them than there are of us.

I tend to bring my Reader everywhere, and while it generates curiosity my friends aren't exactly sold on it. Hell, this all started because I bought a reader for my wife, but she hardly uses it, preferring to go to the library to get books. And she's probably one of the more voracious readers I know.

I'm not at all shocked that some publishers aren't doing more than just sticking a toe in the water, because a large percentage of their customers are still reading p-books. For a lot of people, e-books have a long way to go, with reading options either being too expensive or unacceptable.

Jason

[Taylor514ce]

Originally Posted by Robotech_Master

Because (as I explained up-thread) they drank Eric Flint's koolaid about free ebooks being most valuable as advertising for their print books—people read a chapter or two of the ebook, then go out and buy the print book, because who actually wants to read a whole e-book?

I understand this, but that's not what TOR was doing. They've stated repeatedly that the promotion was for the new tor.com blog site, which doesn't provide books in any form. You're making an assumption that they were really going for more paper book sales. Probably a correct assumption, but they've stated differently.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by TheLongshot

For a lot of people, e-books have a long way to go, with reading options either being too expensive or unacceptable.

This is true currently. But (putting my psychic hat on) I predict that within 10 years, mass-market paperbacks (the format we see most, not the other weird paperback formats) will disappear for all except bestsellers in supermarkets/drugstores/airports. The current distribution model (send loads of copies everywhere, accept covers as returns for full price) is far too expensive and inefficient. I think non-bestseller non-hardcovers will be replaced by ebooks.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by TheLongshot

I tend to bring my Reader everywhere, and while it generates curiosity my friends aren't exactly sold on it. Hell, this all started because I bought a reader for my wife, but she hardly uses it, preferring to go to the library to get books. And she's probably one of the more voracious readers I know.

I, too, tend to bring my Reader everywhere and too have found that although there is some curiousity, once the price is disclosed interest wanes. I have also noted that there is significant awareness of the Kindle (I'm often asked if I'm using a Kindle even though it is the Sony Reader and people are surprised that there is something other than the Kindle available) but not of other ebook reading devices.

Like your wife, I, too, am a voracious reader -- I spend many hours every day reading for pleasure. But unlike your wife, I much prefer reading on my Reader than the pbook version, so much so that my spending habits have changed: where I used to buy an average of 8-10 hardcover books a month (and sometimes more), I now average 2-3, with the rest being bought as ebooks. My pbook stack of books to read keeps growing because I find it difficult to put down my Reader to pick up the pbook to read instead.

[Robotech_Master]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I understand this, but that's not what TOR was doing. They've stated repeatedly that the promotion was for the new tor.com blog site, which doesn't provide books in any form. You're making an assumption that they were really going for more paper book sales. Probably a correct assumption, but they've stated differently.

I was answering the question of why they were giving away e-books if e-book readers were not their target audience, which had been asked a couple of posts prior to mine. The fact that they were promoting the blog was implicit in the question, or at least I thought it was: even to promote something non-e-book-related, why would they give out free e-books if they didn't think their audience wanted e-books. No matter what you're promoting with freebies, the promotion won't work if people don't want the freebies.

Although they didn't come right out and say it, I have little doubt that promoting the sale of their print books was a strong secondary rationale for the promotion, just from the way they picked mostly first-in-series titles to give away. As Flint stated early in the Free Library days, the entire Honor Harrington series received a sales boost in print from Baen originally giving away just the first one as an e-book. And Tor and Baen have been historically close, so it does not seem at all unreasonable that Tor was paying attention.

Yes, it's an assumption, but a reasonable one, and it answers the question.

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by pagansoul

For those wondering, these are the titles of the free TOR ebooks:

A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
Battlestar Galactica by Jeffrey A. Carver
*Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell
Darkness of the Light by Peter David
Farthing by Jo Walton
Flash by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
In the Midnight Hour by Patti O'Shea
Lord of the Isles by David Drake
*Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
*Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
*Orphans of Chaos by John Wright
*Reiffen's Choice by S.C. Butler
*Soul by Tobsha Learner
*Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Spirit Gate by Kate Elliot
Starfish by Peter Watts
*Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
The Disunited States of America by Harry Turtledove
The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedies Lackey & James Mallory
Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa
*Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold
Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp

I have all of them but have not read any yet. Amazon also had Kindle versions (*) of a few of these last month for free.

Anyone have any idea which of the above books are either standalone, or part of a series that is available as an ebook?

If not I'll look into it myself later, I don't fancy starting a book that's first in a series if the rest isn't available (or going to be) in ebook form. I'd rather keep those on one side for later when the rest of the series starts appearing.

As for the original topic of this thread, I too was a little suprised to find tor didn't do ebooks after seeing their ebook freebie offer. I assumed they were doing something like baen free library, giving away a selection of books in order to get you interested in new authors and buying the rest.

That said, it was ebooks for free. So no complaints here. Would have been nice to know which books are the first in a series though and even a note saying that the rest of the series can be purchased in paperback only at this time.

I hope that Baen and Tor get everything sorted out, I'm planning on buying quite a bit from the webscription service, love the idea behind it and the price is very reasonable. Once I've finished reading through the freebies and the few books I've bought I'm sure webscriptions will be getting some of my money

[Taylor514ce]

Originally Posted by Robotech_Master

Yes, it's an assumption, but a reasonable one, and it answers the question.

I wasn't disagreeing with you at all. The official line from TOR, though, reads differently. That's part of what rankles. On one hand they've seen the demand for e-books and are responding as fast as they can, for which they deserve all due credit. On the other, they pretend surprise that people were expecting e-books, because they were only ever promoting the blog site, and vigorously deny that they had any other motive.

In the end, it doesn't matter. It's fun to discuss these things, and like many I can't resist picking at scabs. Eventually, TOR will publish e-books, people will buy them, and this entire discussion will become irrelevant.

[TheLongshot]

Originally Posted by nekokami

This is true currently. But (putting my psychic hat on) I predict that within 10 years, mass-market paperbacks (the format we see most, not the other weird paperback formats) will disappear for all except bestsellers in supermarkets/drugstores/airports. The current distribution model (send loads of copies everywhere, accept covers as returns for full price) is far too expensive and inefficient. I think non-bestseller non-hardcovers will be replaced by ebooks.

There are too many casual readers for that to work, and I doubt that a majority of people will have a device capable of reading e-books. While it is a nice dream, I think paper is going to continue to be with us for a long time, just like CDs will continue to be with us even with the increase in digital downloads of music.

Jason

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by TheLongshot

There are too many casual readers for that to work, and I doubt that a majority of people will have a device capable of reading e-books. While it is a nice dream, I think paper is going to continue to be with us for a long time, just like CDs will continue to be with us even with the increase in digital downloads of music.

How many casual readers buy books that aren't on best-seller lists? That's why I made that distinction. I think this is the fate of the mid-list.