A Different Way to Pay Writers

[cgronlund]

So to hear it from some, publishing is on its knees and it's only a matter of time before it dies (and no, goth_poser_guy, this isn't directed at you).

There's no doubt that it's been a rough year for publishing houses, but readership has steadily been increasing for years, and things aren't as horrible as they may seem. mfelps and I agree that it's a good time to be

Comments

[korperschwache]

The publishing industry as it stands right now has two major problems: 1) their policy on returns is a willful act of financial stupidity; 2) the cost of books has become prohibitively expensive. Case in point regarding the second item -- William Gibson's SPOOK COUNTRY just came out in paperback, a book I have been dying to read for quite a while now, but I have yet to buy it because it costs ten bucks. I flatly refuse to pay ten bucks for a mass-market paperback that's going to fall apart the third time I read it, and instead I'm going to buy it used at Half Price Books. And hardbacks? Yee! At this point there are only two authors I'm willing to pay hardback prices for, Andrew Vachss and Stephen King... and it's worth noting that I passed on buying CELL entirely, and read a library copy instead. (A good thing, too, because that book is a horrid piece of shit.)

The thing is, the day of the Ebook is coming, and it's coming soon. As soon the Kindle comes down to a reasonable price (or has a few more competitors), the Ebook publishing industry is going to explode, and when that happens, it's going to completely transform the publishing industry in a similar fashion to the way the music industry has been transformed by the advent of cheap digital downloads. When the publishing companies finally realize that they can afford to charge considerably less for a Ebook and still realize a real profit, thanks to the considerably reduced overhead inherent to producing electronic works versus printed ones, it will stimulate a whole new generation of readers attracted to the Ebook's portability and (presumably) attractive price. The only reason it hasn't happened yet is that the publishing industry is even more of a slow-moving, antiquated dinosaur than the music industry.

[cgronlund]

Yes, eBooks are coming.

With something like Stanza, I can format anything I write to be read on a Palm, an iPhone, other mobile devices, the Kindle, and other electronic formats.

The Kindle will have competitors, I'm sure, because it's working, despite its steep pricing. To be able to click a button and get a new book as easily as an iPhone/iTouch app is cool.

It will allow smart writers who are able to promote themselves to get their stuff out there, while the big guys still handle things their way.

I buy the occasional hardback...mostly from gift certificates given at Christmas. Otherwise, you're right...too expensive.

But affordable eBooks with a good, affordable reader that uses ambient light?

Oh yeah--I'm all over that.

I love books. I love the way they look, smell, and sound when they are opened.

But I love the thought of so many things being electronic and all tucked away in a tiny hard drive, not all over the place. (One of my quirks and reasons I gave your brother all of my books several years ago...just ran out of room.)

Libraries, used book stores, eBooks, and paying writers in different ways.

Publishing is beyond slow-moving, and like it or not, it needs to finally pull its head out of its ass and skip the 1900s (because they're stuck in things that old!) and finally realize we're beyond the year 2000.