|
The group you are posting to is a Usenet group. Messages posted to this group will make your email address visible to anyone on the Internet.
Your reply message has not been sent.
Your post was successful
 |
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: Charlie Stross <char...@antipope.org>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 19:01:21 GMT
Local: Tues, Jun 14 2005 3:01 pm
Subject: Re: Charles Stross: lunatic, provocateur, or science-fiction writer?
Stoned koala bears drooled eucalyptus spittle in awe
as <> declared: > "Sea Wasp" <seaobviousw...@sgeobviousinc.com> wrote in message >>> What I can't figure out is why his publisher is letting him do this. good idea. As did my editor there. And my editor at Orbit in the UK. So it's not just me. Also ... >> Because the Baen Free Library has been consistently proving, over the past ... I've seen Cory Doctorow's sales figures for his novels. >> several years, that giving it away for free *INCREASES SALES*. > Giving _what_ away for free? Older works that can not be cost-effectively Print runs and sales figures are publisher-confidential stuff; too much risk of embarrassment if a much-touted book flops. Take it from me, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" and "Eastern Standard Tribe" did *not* flop: they sold jolly well. And Cory did exactly the same thing I'm doing. His novels came out as free e-books on the first day of publication. > Sure, that sounds like good advertising and sensible Yup. The evidence -- based on cold, hard sales figures -- is > garnering of goodwill. Older works that are selling slowly in paperback? > Maaybe, since the portability of the paperback form is still a significant > asset in some cases, and offering such works in electronic copies therefore > may not cannibalize sales. But full-price hardcovers? This is my Sceptical > expression. that e-book editions do better as advertising freebies than as a profit centre. Typical sales for most e-books (especially DRM locked ones) are in the *hundreds*; people just don't consider them worth paying a full cover price for. In contrast, people can and do read sample chapters online, but they aren't too keen on reading entire books. > Try-before-you-buy is a great idea; I bought Ringo's "Into the Looking Because it's the ultimate free sample. People are more > Glass" in large part because of the free sample chapters. But why offer the > whole book? likely to download the entire book and read a chunk than they are to download, say, the first third of it. There's the sense that you're getting the whole thing. -- Charlie You must Sign in before you can post messages.
To post a message you must first join this group.
Please update your nickname on the subscription settings page before posting.
You do not have the permission required to post.
| |||||||||||||