We talked a bit about publishing today. A writer that I really admire, Cory Doctorow, gives away his books for free (and still sells copies, too). His website makes a good case about why he gives away works for free, and how you can donate money to him. What do you think about his approach? Does this make you more/less/the same amount likely to read his works? What do you think would happen if more writers started publishing this way? Any other thoughts?
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15 Responses to “Discussion Post 9: Publishing in Today’s World”
I think that this approach makes an author’s work accessible to a lot more people so they can expose their art. Cory Doctorow seems to have an artistic take that his main concern is to reach the most amount of people with his work. This is in stark contrast to the music industry that attempts to crackdown on the free sharing of music. My thoughts are that free music and file sharing has showed me a lot of music that I would not have seen otherwise and I think a lot of other people have had similar experiences.
Doctorow’s approach to marketing and selling his work is certainly very revolutionary and brave. It seems initially that he decided to offer up his new book in an attempt to increase the number of readers he could reach. Instead of just selling, at most, a couple hundred thousand copies to science fiction fans actually willing to go to a bookstore and purchase the book, he wanted his book to find the hands of a much wider audience. His perception of the way that offering free copies of his book online will expand his readership is very interesting, but at the same time he does not think that this new method will harm his sales. He says that for the crowd he wants to reach, the young computer-literate, e-books will just serve to spark imaginative interest. Anyone attracted to the e-book will quickly realize that they would highly prefer to read the novel on a paper copy. In my opinion this seems like a very plausible possibility, and although I myself have never read an e-book maybe I will sometime in the near future. I think it would take some time for the kind of approach to really become common simply because of the fact that many people are not technically savvy enough to find or read these e-books. At the same time, the number of possible uses for the internet is expanding at such a fast rate, that perhaps these e-books will lose favor. Personally, this is not a use of the internet that I am interested in exploring.
I think it is very interesting what Doctrow is doing. I agree with his rationality about giving away ebooks for free and trying to sell paper books. Another way of receiving money is from people who loved to read his book but did not pay for it or did not pay enough. This relates the issue to the honor system because it tells the consumer if they were pleased with the book, they should donate because they got it for free. Previously, everyone payed and then some people do not like the book and they are out a little bit of money. I think in the future more people will be like Doctrow.
I think that this could be a very wise ploy for him down the line, especially if he is a well-known/talented writer. Giving away ebooks for free allows people who haven’t really heard about him before a chance to check him out for no cost–if they like him, then they will be likely to buy later books from him, adding a group of consumers that he did not have before. If they do not like his book, then he really has not lost anything, as those people were not buying his works to begin with. Plus, we can assume that a lot of his diehard fans will continue to support him monetarily, and may even pay over the market value (in donations) for his works. Of course there will be cheap people (like myself) who will just abuse this system, but overall, I think this will allow him to expand his fanbase, and make more money.
I think this is a great idea. When I read this I initially thought of Gillette’s decision to give out free razors. If free material is distributed to the public, they may become infatuated with a particular brand that they might not have normally tried out. However, because it’s free, it gives them an opportunity to try it out.
I also think about certain bands making their music available to the public for free online. In doing so the band may increase its own popularity by “giving away” music. In turn, they may acquire faithful customers who would buy music or products in the future.
Doctorow’s decision to give away copies of his book is very similar to the aforementioned examples. This way, regardless of how his readers feel, he is vastly increasing the number of people that read his work. If people don’t like his book, it really isn’t a loss to him because chances are there will be a greater number of readers who like his work and will strongly consider buying material from him in the future.
This blog post response is going to be very similar to my last post which focused on how important it is that products can sell themselves if they are of good quality. Doctorow even agrees himself that exposure is the key, not the topic of his book. When he was not giving out the book for free, people wouldn’t bother to waste their money on a book by an author they had never heard of. But now people are willing to open their ears when the information is free. The same goes in the music industry with bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails who took a chance on abandoning record labels in order to see if their audiences would support their cause. In the end, loyal fans along with a brand new wave of fans donated tons of money (while some people like myself may have received the album for free…) and their products became huge successes. This type of idea is not even a risk anymore - one would be naive not to take a chance with Doctorow’s concept.
I think that this technique of his was very wise in trying to extend his support network as an author. He already is a successful writer so by giving out free books it can show the people his commitment to writing regardless of the monetary rewards. It allows him to keep attracting different people who might not have been interested in the book if it were not free. Free things in general can attract a wide array of people and by doing so it exposes him as an author to various types of individuals. I agree that this technique can be very risky and it takes patience in waiting to see the benefits from it in the future. But, I think more and more companies or individuals are realizing that this technique proves very successful and that the risk is definitely worth the reward.
After reading these articles I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cory Doctorow. It seems as though he is more passionate about his ideas and writing than he is about money, this I truly admire. His approach definitely increases my desire to read some of his work. I think its a gutsy thing to do but if it works it can really benefit. I believe it would be great if more people published this way, it gets people reading.
I feel that it is a good idea that Doctrow is making his e-books available to all for free in an attempt to reach a greater audience. I feel that this approach will have great success in reaching a larger audience than if he would have just released his book in paperback form to the bookstores. I feel that this will create a larger and more devoted fanbase than most other people will have from just selling books. If his fans really have enough interest in Doctrow than they will either also purchase his paperback copy or make donations to the author to support his career. This could potentially be a problem if too many people just take his book for free and make no donation at all, however, I feel that the majority of people will make some form of donation or purchase his paper book also. If many people published this way, I think that they would also expand their fanbase and support.
I actually just saw an article titled, “Why Are Book Publishers Making The Same Mistake The Record Labels Made With Apple?” I think Doctorow’s approach to selling books is a smart one. With articles pointing out the mistakes that Publishers are making, clearly seeing the mistake that the music industry made with music corporations, it relieving to see someone who is avoiding those same mistakes. Even with music, artists are realizing that their money is going to come from performances more so than actually selling their music. And, it is the same with Doctorow, he realizes that the bulk of his money is probably going to come from touring. So, it makes perfect sense to try and get as much exposure as you can so that more people will come out to your book tours. If more writers start sublishing this way, it become more accepted within the reading community. I see books, and publishing taking a very similiar route that music did and having alot of books becoming available online to read, and eventually to listen.
This idea is very interesting to me. I really think the idea to basically give the book away is a good one because it allows an author to get his or her work out to potential readers. I think that it is a very good idea and I am more likely to read the book since I can get it for free. I am also more likely to donate money to the author if I enjoy reading the book. I think many authors would find more success if they published books this way. More people would be willing to read books if they did not have to buy them.
This idea seems much like giving music away or some companies giving their products away for free. It is done to get the name out there and to get people to try something that they may not try if they actually had to pay for it. I have been to stores where samples of shampoos or razors have been given out. It is a good way to find which product a person really wants to use. The same concept applies to books because if a book is free and people like it, they are more inclined to want to read more by the same author.
I think I would read his work just to see if it’s worth purchasing. This kind of goes along with how you rent a movie or go see a movie before buying it. Sure you pay the little bit it costs to see it, but you get a preview, and with this preview you get to decide whether the movie is worth buying or not. I would probably still donate a little bit of money even if I didn’t like the book. Every little bit helps, so he would probably make a lot of money anyways. If more writers published this way, I think publishers would go out of business and writers would flourish.
This approach to give away books for no cost is very interesting. As I see it, there are strong positives and negatives to this concept. A positive to this is that because there is no charge for reading his books, many people may see the information in them as essential and very enlightening. Due to the fact that money seems to be a secondary reason for his publications, readers may see this as an opportunity to broaden their horizons and opinions. However, if in fact monetary influence takes precedence, then I do not think his approach is that profitable. It would be extremely hard to make money if his ideas can be obtained for free. If many authors begin to use this approach, then I think we may begin to see the end of hard, paper novels. It does not make much sense that anyone would purchase a book when they could find it for free online or through any other means. We have seen this in the music industry, with all of the pirated music. People have began to download music online and not buy the CD in the store. In my opinion, I would not give away my publications for free in fear of losing great profits.
I think this author shows a great deal of foresight by attempting to reach his audience in this manner. “Free Ninety-Nine” is a term becoming more and more accepted. The general public has come to adopt the policy of “If it’s free then what do I have to lose?” The more popularity gained by the author (which will inevitably be gained at a more rapid and widespread pace) will inevitably result in capital gains. Advertising on his website, paid positions as a motivation speaker, and book signings are just a few ways to generate capital while distributing his work for free.
By giving his books away, the author is able to grab the audience that might not have read his book before because they either could not afford it or they did not want to spend the money. If the book is free, someone sees no risk in getting it and would take the chance to read it. This strategy expands his fan base because he has confidence that people will enjoy his writing. He could be, however, losing an opportunity to make guaranteed profits on his publication. But, by expanding his audience, he hopes to make up those profits and more in the future.