05-12-2009, 09:09 AM | #31 | |||
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I was going to write a big blurb inprired by Paolo Coelho's attitude to eBooks, PirteBay and DRM, but then just thought it might be better to let Paolo put his views forward.
Check out his site and free eBook offers: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/ http://paulocoelhoblog.com/internet-books/ http://www.paulocoelho.com.br/engl/ Also some other links on: http://piratecoelho.wordpress.com/ That last is a blog that supports internet sharing of his books and has little gems like the following: Quote:
http://torrentfreak.com/paulo-coelho...te-bay-090415/ Quote:
http://torrentfreak.com/alchemist-au...-books-080124/ Quote:
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05-12-2009, 09:26 AM | #32 | |
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05-12-2009, 09:36 AM | #33 |
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I wonder how many sold printed books are actually read.
And how this percentage compare with ebooks. In my case, I used to buy almost twice the p-books I have time to read (and I ended up with a library full of unread books). It means I have a 50% ratio of read over purchased books. Since my first iLiad, I buy only the e-book I read, and I buy them few minutes before I start reading. It means that I have now a 100% ratio, but I buy half the books I used to. So, I can say e-publish has actually diminished the revenues. An optimistic syllogism for Publishing Companies: - We can't have Internet without piracy - In five years piracy will come to an end ==> ............... |
05-12-2009, 10:29 AM | #34 | |
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05-12-2009, 10:40 AM | #35 |
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About paying copyrights of books: (Sorry, Steve, I'm a huge fan, but you had to see it coming! though.) I may be mistaken, but a lot of authors out there, specially the ones who hadn't an easy start in life (meaning, poor), but by no means just them, ALWAYS talk about their sweet, fond memories of countless hours/days/books that they read in the cozy local LIBRARY!! Not many dollars went to the authors, I bet. If now you can pay for them (and I'm not considering the ones that are sent for "evaluation" or "comments"), it doesn't mean Funions guy (it is some kind of food, I suppose) can. Funions (what it tastes like?) and power and Internet connection cost something.
Declining reading?? Declining sales, you mean. SALES. Read the article again. The music industry may be dying, but it doesn't feel like living in a quieter world. With Internet, I never saw so many people reading and writing. Slow reading, perhaps, and some pretty awful writing, sure (and not only from orkut or forum teens/addicts, some paid, alright!), but reading and writing nonetheless. I think the problem is people don't have any more TIME to read. I sure don't. That they aren't reading books, well... where are they? Right there in the store (IF!), with a 10% (IF!!) discount from the physical one, full of DRM, so I'm not sure how many times I'll be able to read or where? Thanks, I'll pass. And please notice that I don't live in USA. I checked my favorite online bookstores in Brazil and guess how many e-books I found to buy? I don't particularly like Paulo Coelho, but he went way up in my concept! (Not sure if this makes sense in english) Well, I started to like the old wizard. []´s void Indigo |
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05-12-2009, 10:47 AM | #36 | |
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05-12-2009, 11:11 AM | #37 | |
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So now all we can do is wait a few years, and note that the situation has indeed escalated. It's not my fault existing industries refuse to adapt (or refuse to reassess actual costs, and adjust prices accordingly). That is, I don't think this article will make a difference. The biggest-growing player for a while will likely be Amazon, and especially with the consumer lockin Topaz offers, they will not be forced to drop their prices. Baen etc. mostly offer niche products (LotR being the exception). |
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05-12-2009, 11:38 AM | #38 |
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Based on my personal analysis, I really think ebooks need to be closer to $5 rather than $10 in order for the majority of current pbook readers to feel "prices are reasonable". I believe the industry can still turn a profit at this number if they run their own ebook retail website or if ebook retailers like Amazon are willing to take that a smaller margin. But you're right; none of us will know for a few years.
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05-12-2009, 11:52 AM | #39 |
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05-12-2009, 12:20 PM | #40 | |
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05-12-2009, 12:47 PM | #41 | |
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The savings in printing, shipping, handling have to be passed to the customers, as a compensation for the price of the hardware. Anything else is rightly perceived as a ripoff. |
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05-12-2009, 01:03 PM | #42 | |
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05-12-2009, 01:04 PM | #43 |
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Publishers should focus all effort on getting all of their books in eformats that work on all devices and offer them for a reasonable cost. Chasing pirates is futile waste of their resources that could be used instead to serve actual customers with actual money to spend. Chasing pirates will produce nothing but costs. Of course everyone on here already knows this.
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05-12-2009, 01:04 PM | #44 |
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I see some things happening in this business that will separate it from music.
1.) The amount of titles available via legitimate means is substantial and growing extremely quickly. 2.) DRM, while onerous, is not quite as ridiculous as some of the early music schemes. 3.) My belief (although I have no proof) is that the average consumer sees more value in a book than a music album. 4.) Already new models of consumption exist. (e.g. Chapter by Chapter) And I suspect we'll see many more new models over the coming year. 5.) The book industry is moving much more quickly than the music business. They see ebooks more of an opportunity than as a threat. The music business was at it's peak when Napster hit....the book business has been slowly growing for years. So the music business was going to contract no matter what...the book business had already peaked in terms of growth. I've worked at an executive level for Sony Music, Universal Music, Sony Connect (when we launched the ereader) and now run CyberRead.com So I'm in a unique position to see the difference. I'm not saying piracy won't be a problem...but I don't see it getting out of hand similar to what happened to music. In fact, I expect the book business will expand...although the definition of a "book" will undoubtedly change over the coming decade. Clint Brauer General Manager CyberRead.com |
05-12-2009, 01:18 PM | #45 |
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Clint, I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm just not seeing the "growing extremely quickly" that you refer to in your post.
I'm a book hoarder. I'll freely admit it. And what I get frustrated about is when I want a book (in e-format, of course) and it is not available to legitimately purchase ANYWHERE. I've run into this problem I don't know how many times. There's also the problem that publishers of out-of-print works aren't hurrying to get those in ebook format, even though I can think of at least two series (not single books, series of +10) that I'd buy in a heartbeat. I can't be the only one, either. Why are publishers shooting themselves in the feet? One of the previous posters is correct: If I can get a book through legitimate means and it is priced decently, I'd MUCH rather buy it than go to the trouble of tracking it down illegally. But, until the publishers get their heads out of their you-know-where's and catch up to the technology and get those books out there available, they are leaving people little choice. I'm not buying the "We can't afford to hire more people to get this done" argument that I've heard from three publishers I've contacted so far. The initial costs of hiring the people to help them get these books out are going to be exponentially returned when the books are available for sale. PWJone said: 1. All titles need to be on eBook 2. They must be readily available and downloadable. That is precisely the whole thing in a nutshell. |
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