Bittorrent Books.

[haridasi]

I just added your book to my wishlist, so I will eventually get to it. So, your concern on torrent download will at least earn you one sale.

[Peadar Ó Guilín]

Originally Posted by Format C:

Anger is IMHO a big waste of energy.
A war is a lose-lose.

Si', e perloppiu', vado d'accordo con te.

I wouldn't want anybody to think for a minute that I would ever prosecute some school boy for scanning my book! We were all young once and I'm not talking about life or death here.

Originally Posted by Elena

you know, there is almost nothing available as a commercial ebook in italian. Everything you find as an electronic book is either free or pirate, and in both cases comes from readers scanning a book they own.
I happen to sometimes download illegally a book I'd be happy to have the opportunity to buy.

Do you, as an author, ever discuss the matter with your foreign language publishers?

My Italian friends tell me there are also very few people there with ebook readers. If any of the downloaders actually try to read my novel, they'll be suffering through it on a glaring laptop screen. Good luck to them with that! But you make another good point about taking the initiative and talking to the publishers. Now, here's a thing: most authors that I know of, don't deal directly with their foreign language publishers, but it would definitely be something for me to say to my agent.

Originally Posted by dadioflex

I read the "Inferior" last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it BTW - spent a fiver on the hardback at Amazon's marketplace. ...

Oh, another thing - the paperback cover isn't great compared to the hardback cover as seen in Peadar's avatar. A guy who saw me open the envelope with the HB asked to borrow it purely based on the cover, even after I explained what it was about. Apparently he's a Jean M Auel fan so make of that what you will.

Thanks a lot, dadioflex, I really appreciate it! You point about the cover is interesting, but one thing I've found is that women almost universally prefer the one on the paperback. Don't ask me why that is, though.

And yes, my website is way out of date in design terms. Suggestions for improvements are always welcome, although, I'm a bit lacking in funds at the moment, so by the time I've implemented them, it will still be out of date

Originally Posted by haridasi

I just added your book to my wishlist, so I will eventually get to it. So, your concern on torrent download will at least earn you one sale.

Thank you, haridasi (or should I say, 'tak'?), that would make you my fourth Norwegian

[dadioflex]

Edit.

[Peadar Ó Guilín]

Originally Posted by dadioflex

The old cover is pretty unashamedly phallic so perhaps that's why the ladies prefer the cover with the... um, balls, err spheres.

Something simple as allowing comments on your news items would help. The point I made about those other authors was that they pretty much blog a good deal. Hmm. Maybe I should just leave you to get on with the next book.

Oh yeah, I do have a blog quite separate from the website. Of course, I don't even link to it from there

I'd better fix that...

[carandol]

In reply to the original question, Cory Doctorow has a good answer in the introduction to Little Brother, where he explains why he gives his novels away for free as well as selling them. Scroll down a little way to "The Copyright Thing". http://craphound.com/littlebrother/C...le_Brother.htm

[Peadar Ó Guilín]

Originally Posted by carandol

In reply to the original question, Cory Doctorow has a good answer in the introduction to Little Brother, where he explains why he gives his novels away for free as well as selling them. Scroll down a little way to "The Copyright Thing". http://craphound.com/littlebrother/C...le_Brother.htm

I agree with a lot of what he says, but this is where he's wrong, and more to the point, everyone on this forum who ones a good e-ink device *knows* he's wrong:

What's more, I don't see ebooks as substitute for paper books for most people. It's not that the screens aren't good enough, either: if you're anything like me, you already spend every hour you can get in front of the screen, reading text. But the more computer-literate you are, the less likely you are to be reading long-form works on those screens -- that's because computer-literate people do more things with their computers. We run IM and email and we use the browser in a million diverse ways. We have games running in the background, and endless opportunities to tinker with our music libraries. The more you do with your computer, the more likely it is that you'll be interrupted after five to seven minutes to do something else. That makes the computer extremely poorly suited to reading long-form works off of, unless you have the iron self-discipline of a monk.

The good news (for writers) is that this means that ebooks on computers are more likely to be an enticement to buy the printed book (which is, after all, cheap, easily had, and easy to use) than a substitute for it. You can probably read just enough of the book off the screen to realize you want to be reading it on paper.

Up to now, his giving away of all his books for free has benefitted him greatly. It has helped him avoid the obscurity that he rightly says all authors ought to fear if they want to make a living at this thing.

But in my opinion, his method will only work for as long as the vast majority of readers out there don't have proper e-ink devices. Once that happens, he won't be giving away a sampler any more, a sampler that will never be as good as the real thing: he will be giving away the product itself.

To my mind, that's a whole different situation. At that point in time, he will either find a different way of making those free books pay, or he'll be looking for another job.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Peadar Ó Guilín

But in my opinion, his method will only work for as long as the vast majority of readers out there don't have proper e-ink devices. Once that happens, he won't be giving away a sampler any more, a sampler that will never be as good as the real thing: he will be giving away the product itself.

To my mind, that's a whole different situation. At that point in time, he will either find a different way of making those free books pay, or he'll be looking for another job.

This was my conclusion when I first read Doctorow's comments in this area a year or so ago. I think his observations are probably true for now, but this is changing quickly. At some time in the future, we'll reach a "tipping point" and authors probably won't want to give away entire texts of new books, though older books (e.g. the first in a series) may still be worth giving away to entice new readers, who tend to stick with authors they like once they find them.

[acidzebra]

Originally Posted by Peadar Ó Guilín

But in my opinion, his method will only work for as long as the vast majority of readers out there don't have proper e-ink devices. Once that happens, he won't be giving away a sampler any more, a sampler that will never be as good as the real thing: he will be giving away the product itself.

You have to find a business model that fits the age you are trying to business in. This is true for any business. I think Cory made a decent choice for this age, and I do not think ebook readers will become the majority-book-consumption method in our lifetimes.

[Peadar Ó Guilín]

Originally Posted by acidzebra

You have to find a business model that fits the age you are trying to business in. This is true for any business. I think Cory made a decent choice for this age, and I do not think ebook readers will become the majority-book-consumption method in our lifetimes.

You're right about picking the right business model for the times, however, I think e-inks will reach critical mass sooner than you think and here's why. My poor nephew has to carry a bag of books to school every day that is so heavy, we were worried it would damage his back.

Sooner rather than later, this bag will be replaced with a handy little oink (e-ink) device. Once every kid, or even most kids have a reader, then we're in the mainstream.