(no subject)

From: Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner <spc_at_conman.org>
Date: Sat Jan 18 14:15:01 2003

It was thus said that the Great Wayne M. Smith once stated:
>
> > It was thus said that the Great Dan Wright once stated:
> > >
> > > > WRONG! If it has value to you, then pay for it.
> > >
> > > The problem is that the "theft" argument assumes that EVERY
> > copy = 1
> > > lost sale. This argument is total bullshit. Most people who copy
> > > music/movies/whatever wouldn't have bought it if they couldn't copy
> > > it, so no (or at best, very few -- FAR fewer then the
> > number of copies
> > > that are made) actual SALES are lost. (If you don't
> > believe me, there
> > > has been a lot of statistical research done that shows
> > this; about the
> > > only contradiction comes from the RIAA's highly dubious
> > closed-books
> > > "research". Sorry I don't have any sources at hand, but
> > it's easy to find them on the WWW.)
>
> Hey, let's get Michael Nadeau to help us test the Captain's theory.
> With his permission, we'll scan his entire Collectibel Microcomputers
> book into a pdf file and post it all over the internet. Michael, you
> don't need to worry about this because your sales are going to skyrocket
> just as soon as the book is made available to everyone for free!!!

  More about giving away free copies:

  http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,57152,00.html

        "I don't believe that I am giving up book royalties," Doctorow said
        about persuading his publisher, Tor Books, to let him make Down and
        Out available digitally for free under the new Creative Commons
        licensing system.

        "(Downloads) crossed the 10,000-download threshold at 8 a.m. this
        morning," Doctorow said Thursday, "which exceeds the initial print
        run for the book."

        Doctorow said he thinks the marketing buzz from those downloads will
        be worth more than any lost book sales. "I think that the Internet's
        marvelous ability to spread information to places where it finds a
        receptive home is the best thing that could happen to a new writer
        like me."

        _Down and Out_ may be watched closely as a test of whether the
        Creative Commons license actually helps or hurts writers, but Tor
        senior editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden said the value of free online
        publishing has already been demonstrated.

        "Cory's experiment seems as worth trying as any number of things
        I've seen done," Hayden said. "What we're learning about online free
        distribution of fiction e-texts is that it doesn't hurt the sale of
        print editions and may even help it. I know plenty of people who've
        sampled fiction in e-text form, found they liked the taste, and
        bought a printed book as a result."

        Science fiction and fantasy publisher Jim Baen, whose Baen Books has
        offered a free library of selected works since 1998, says free
        downloads have boosted book sales.

  http://scalzi.com/w030103.htm

        So, there's been a slight change of plans. As you may remember
        (surely 2002 isn't too hazy yet), I serialized my most recent
        science fiction novel, Old Man's War, here in December, and this
        month I was going to put it up as shareware, a la Agent to the
        Stars. Well, I won't be doing that. The reason for this is that,
        well, I kind of sold it. Instead of being available as shareware,
        Old Man's War will be available either later this year or early next
        year in a hardcover edition from Tor Books, publishers of (among
        others) Orson Scott Card, Robert Jordan, Steven Brust and Teddy
        Roosevelt. Yes, really, Teddy Roosevelt. It's a reissue, I think,
        not one of those L. Ron Hubbard-eqsue "dictating from beyond the
        grave" situations.

  -spc (It certainly makes one think ... )
Received on Sat Jan 18 2003 - 14:15:01 GMT

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