07-14-2013, 10:50 AM | #76 | |
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They also have James Blish's Cities in Flight for 10.49US$, again couponable. |
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07-14-2013, 11:21 AM | #77 |
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Interesting. Well, it appears that my account is now marked as non UK. If it were really important to me, I suppose I could get a friend of mine who lives in Wales to front it for me. I've already gotten the books that I really wanted from there. The remaining handful of books are more in the would like to have and will probably become available in the US at some point in the next couple of years.
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07-14-2013, 01:59 PM | #78 |
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I have most of Zelazny's work already in paper, but I'd like to downsize my paper library. Since most of his work is currently out of print in paper as well, a couple of generations of new SF readers will be missing out on his work.
Last edited by bgalbrecht; 07-14-2013 at 03:01 PM. |
07-16-2013, 01:28 PM | #79 | |
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I am NOT endorsing piracy. M. |
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07-17-2013, 12:35 AM | #80 |
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It's not that publishers don't see the potential profit from ebooks. It's that they have enormous backlists to convert, and it takes time--and yes, costs money. For older books, it can take a long time to track down the rights holders. Of course, more and more writers are taking their backlists into their own hands.
Someone on MR posted a plea a while back for ebook versions of Alexander Jablokov's SF books. I can report that he's begun the process. |
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07-18-2013, 09:37 PM | #81 |
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Not having electronic files for a back list book isn't much of an excuse for not having an ebook. A couple of years ago I started to buy some out of print authors with the intent of scanning them and turning them into ebooks. At the time it seemed unlikely that they would ever appear as ebooks.
Using cheap, consumer type scanners (i.e. a Canon MP280) I could scan a book in about two hours or less. A quick run through ScanTailor to deskew, split and trim the images. Run the images through Abby Sprint (came with the scanner) and I have an rtf file ready to edit with Libre Office. Putting the scans with the text side by side to proof and correct save the file as html, run the html through notepad++ to clean it up and then load it into Sigil to create the epub. Total time for a 160 page paperback is usually less than 30 hours. And I do a damn good job. Better than many of the publishers. I have a Harlen Ellison book that I bought that has execrable proofing. I would have been ashamed to produce anything that bad. A few years ago I scanned a series of SF anthologies that I had really enjoyed when they came out in the 80's. I sent the scans and files to the editor. He thanked me and said that he might be able to get them out in print again as ebooks. I'm sure there are many rights issues with old anthologies but I would like to see some of those stories out again. I sometimes think that the publishers would rather not see back list books become available because their current offerings would suffer in comparison. |
07-19-2013, 05:27 AM | #82 |
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So what is the cost for that work? Maybe $3000? How many book do you have to sell to get back the cost? 1500-3000? Will really all backlist books sell in these numbers?
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07-19-2013, 08:00 AM | #83 |
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Quite. And if you're launching 20 books, you're $60,000 in the hole before earning anything, without even allowing for other costs, like a cover, or an advance to the author, if it's not you.
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07-19-2013, 01:47 PM | #84 |
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If you read the new edition of Katherine Kurtz's Deryni trilogy, you will see that fans scanned in copies of the first three books and edited it, so she could work from a digital edition, rather than re-type it in by hand. I suspect this is the reason that these three books are available as ebooks, while the rest (with the exception of the last three) are not. This might be a viable solution where the ebook rights have reverted back to the author and the author has a sufficiently dedicated fanbase. Of course, in such cases, I suspect that it's not that uncommon for the rights of those books to still be tied up in contracts.
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07-19-2013, 02:55 PM | #85 |
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07-19-2013, 09:34 PM | #86 | |
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07-20-2013, 07:10 AM | #87 | |
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The ongoing debates over "orphan works" are already headed that way. In fact, the latest twist in the ongoing Google land-grab lawsuit could expedite that particular solution if Google's scanning effort were declared fair use. On the software side, there is already the concept of "abandonware" where copywrited products not actively supported or defended are distributed as defacto Public Domain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware If the Google trial were to deny class action status and require individual authors to acively step forward to challenge the scanning of the print editions it would result in a whole class of defacto abandonware books and likely prompt legal action to codify when such scanning is fair use. We might see such changes before the end of the decade. |
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07-20-2013, 07:23 AM | #88 |
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Unlikely. Changes to the International Berne Copyright Convention (and such changes would be required for the purposes you describe) require the agreement of all signatories and generally take a very long time indeed to go through.
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07-20-2013, 08:15 AM | #89 | ||
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Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works was last amended in 1979. http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/b...ocs_wo001.html ETA:And then of course you have new treaties like Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_...?doc_id=241683 In diplomacy and international law anything is possible, if there is a will... Last edited by jmilica; 07-20-2013 at 08:25 AM. |
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07-20-2013, 08:17 AM | #90 |
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Thanks for the correction, but the point that I was making still stands: that changes to international treaties generally take a very, very long time.
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