| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Seravin
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1304 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Aug 2011 : 20:41:21
|
I would love to buy the old books on eReader! Nothing was available though (at least for the Kobo) when I tried this summer except very recently released things.
Even though I don't like the eBook thing, I know it will eventually take over. And I want Ed, Troy, Elaine, and all you wonderful Realms authors to get your due. Right now I have to resort to buying used copies on amazon and in used book stores, and only the sellers and amazon benefit from that purchase. I'd rather be giving my money to the authors.
|
 |
|
|
Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 17 Aug 2011 : 20:59:42
|
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
Hawkins: You don't have to buy an eReader to partake of eBooks. Download the free Kindle app, the free Nook app, or both and you're good to go.
Lol. That is assuming I can afford an expensive phone  . And I have tried reading eBooks on a laptop and computer screen, and it just gives me a headache. So, as before, for me it is the start-up cost that is prohibitive. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
|
|
|
|
Caolin
Senior Scribe
769 Posts |
Posted - 18 Aug 2011 : 00:29:03
|
During some research into eBooks on Amazon I had run across something that totally went under my radar.
http://www.amazon.com/BattleTech-Job-Security-ebook/dp/B004V04P4C/ref=pd_sim_kinc_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Looks like Catalyst is starting to put their Battlecorp fiction as well as all of the back catalog for Battletech onto Amazon Kindle. And check out the prices!! Most of these are shorter novellas but the full length novels selling for $4.99. I just thought this was a good example of a price model for eBooks. |
|
|
|
Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 17:28:19
|
I'm curious... do authors get the same royalties (assuming they contracted for royalties) from an eBook sale as a print book?
If the cost of the eBook is a lot less, then that'd be an automatic "no" (if it's a royalty based on revenue percentage)... but what if the eBook and print book are set at the same price?
|
"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
|
|
|
Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 18:18:27
|
| The royalty percentage for an ebook tends to be higher. But given the nature of the product, many authors would argue that it's not enough higher. |
|
|
|
ElaineCunningham
Forgotten Realms Author
2396 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 19:21:23
|
quote:
Originally posted by Eltheron
I'm curious... do authors get the same royalties (assuming they contracted for royalties) from an eBook sale as a print book?
If the cost of the eBook is a lot less, then that'd be an automatic "no" (if it's a royalty based on revenue percentage)... but what if the eBook and print book are set at the same price?
It varies. This depends on the publisher, and also on when the ebook royalty rates were negotiated.
A few years ago, publishers started sending addendums to existing contracts. I've seen some that offered the same percentage, some a little bit higher. These days publishers tend to offer ebooks a higher rate than print.
So. To answer your question directly, if the contract is fairly recent and the print and ebook versions are priced the same, the author will get slightly more for the ebook sale. But for older contracts, you're likely to have the same rate.
Recent contracts have stern NDA clauses, but let's consider Elfshadow, a book published 20 years ago. Back then the royalty rate for new writers was 4% and there was no escalation clause that provided for higher rates after certain sales numbers have been reached. So every sale of this book, in any format, is forever fixed at 4%.
So. An ebook sale of Elfshadow at a sensible $2.99 would garner a royalty of just under $.12. A thousand ebook sales would earn a total of $119.60. And I probably should point out that backlist sales for midlist writers are more likely to be measured in hundreds than thousands of copies. At the current "price gauging" cover price of $6.39, I will earn a quarter for each ebook sold.
I am very, very glad to see the FR backlist coming out in ebook format. I think they should be priced low enough to attract new readers and make it feasible for long-time readers to amass a digital library. But even as I advocate this approach, I'm thinking, "Holy crap: twelve cents." |
Edited by - ElaineCunningham on 19 Aug 2011 19:40:05 |
|
|
|
The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 19:45:09
|
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Eltheron
I'm curious... do authors get the same royalties (assuming they contracted for royalties) from an eBook sale as a print book?
If the cost of the eBook is a lot less, then that'd be an automatic "no" (if it's a royalty based on revenue percentage)... but what if the eBook and print book are set at the same price?
It varies. This depends on the publisher, and also on when the ebook royalty rates were negotiated.
A few years ago, publishers started sending addendums to existing contracts. I've seen some that offered the same percentage, some a little bit higher. These days publishers tend to offer ebooks a higher rate than print.
So. To answer your question directly, if the contract is fairly recent and the print and ebook versions are priced the same, the author will get slightly more for the ebook sale. But for older contracts, you're likely to have the same rate.
Recent contracts have stern NDA clauses, but let's consider Elfshadow, a book published 20 years ago. Back then the royalty rate for new writers was 4% and there was no escalation clause that provided for higher rates after certain sales numbers have been reached. So every sale of this book, in any format, is forever fixed at 4%.
So. An ebook sale of Elfshadow at a sensible $2.99 would garner a royalty of just under $.12. A thousand ebook sales would earn a total of $119.60. And I probably should point out that backlist sales for midlist writers are more likely to be measured in hundreds than thousands of copies. At the current "price gauging" cover price of $6.39, I will earn a quarter for each ebook sold.
This is one of the reasons why established writers are eying self-publishing with new interest. Kindle offers a royalty rate of 70% to independently published writers. Barnes & Noble is 65%.
But royalty rates don't tell the whole tale. There are still several significant disadvantages to self-publishing. Editing, cover art and design, formatting, marketing and promotion--these require more time, money and expertise than most writers possess. A good publisher adds tremendous value to the finished project. A great editor makes you a better writer.
I am very, very glad to see the FR backlist coming out in ebook format. I think they should be priced low enough to attract new readers and make it feasible for long-time readers to amass a digital library. But even as I advocate this approach, I'm thinking, "Holy crap: twelve cents."
Wow that puts things in perspective. It will be very interesting to see how this shakes out in the next few years. I very much want authors to be farily compensated, but don't want the quality to suffer either. Yet another issue where there seems to be no 100% correct "side" to be on.
On a lighter note, $119.60 for 1000 copies....I'd pay that myself for one copy of a new Danilo & Arilyn Novel |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
|
|
|
|
Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 21:05:07
|
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Eltheron
I'm curious... do authors get the same royalties (assuming they contracted for royalties) from an eBook sale as a print book?
If the cost of the eBook is a lot less, then that'd be an automatic "no" (if it's a royalty based on revenue percentage)... but what if the eBook and print book are set at the same price?
It varies. This depends on the publisher, and also on when the ebook royalty rates were negotiated.
A few years ago, publishers started sending addendums to existing contracts. I've seen some that offered the same percentage, some a little bit higher. These days publishers tend to offer ebooks a higher rate than print.
So. To answer your question directly, if the contract is fairly recent and the print and ebook versions are priced the same, the author will get slightly more for the ebook sale. But for older contracts, you're likely to have the same rate.
Recent contracts have stern NDA clauses, but let's consider Elfshadow, a book published 20 years ago. Back then the royalty rate for new writers was 4% and there was no escalation clause that provided for higher rates after certain sales numbers have been reached. So every sale of this book, in any format, is forever fixed at 4%.
So. An ebook sale of Elfshadow at a sensible $2.99 would garner a royalty of just under $.12. A thousand ebook sales would earn a total of $119.60. And I probably should point out that backlist sales for midlist writers are more likely to be measured in hundreds than thousands of copies. At the current "price gauging" cover price of $6.39, I will earn a quarter for each ebook sold.
I am very, very glad to see the FR backlist coming out in ebook format. I think they should be priced low enough to attract new readers and make it feasible for long-time readers to amass a digital library. But even as I advocate this approach, I'm thinking, "Holy crap: twelve cents."
Wow, very interesting! Thanks for the detailed answer. I've always wondered about this, and more generally about overall royalties. Thanks! 
I'm also really glad that many of the older FR books are coming out as eBooks. I still love paperbacks, but if I'm on a long train ride and I have a couple eBooks loaded into my iPhone it can really make the trip seem a lot shorter. Plus, with the auto-resizing and font-changers, I can read while lying on a pillow and not bother with my glasses.
|
"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
|
|
|
Caolin
Senior Scribe
769 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 22:09:31
|
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Eltheron
I'm curious... do authors get the same royalties (assuming they contracted for royalties) from an eBook sale as a print book?
If the cost of the eBook is a lot less, then that'd be an automatic "no" (if it's a royalty based on revenue percentage)... but what if the eBook and print book are set at the same price?
It varies. This depends on the publisher, and also on when the ebook royalty rates were negotiated.
A few years ago, publishers started sending addendums to existing contracts. I've seen some that offered the same percentage, some a little bit higher. These days publishers tend to offer ebooks a higher rate than print.
So. To answer your question directly, if the contract is fairly recent and the print and ebook versions are priced the same, the author will get slightly more for the ebook sale. But for older contracts, you're likely to have the same rate.
Recent contracts have stern NDA clauses, but let's consider Elfshadow, a book published 20 years ago. Back then the royalty rate for new writers was 4% and there was no escalation clause that provided for higher rates after certain sales numbers have been reached. So every sale of this book, in any format, is forever fixed at 4%.
So. An ebook sale of Elfshadow at a sensible $2.99 would garner a royalty of just under $.12. A thousand ebook sales would earn a total of $119.60. And I probably should point out that backlist sales for midlist writers are more likely to be measured in hundreds than thousands of copies. At the current "price gauging" cover price of $6.39, I will earn a quarter for each ebook sold.
I am very, very glad to see the FR backlist coming out in ebook format. I think they should be priced low enough to attract new readers and make it feasible for long-time readers to amass a digital library. But even as I advocate this approach, I'm thinking, "Holy crap: twelve cents."
But royalties aren't the only income you get from writing the novel? I'm assuming there is a lump sum you are paid to actually write the novel. Otherwise it would not appear to be a very lucrative venture. |
|
|
|
jornan
Learned Scribe
Canada
256 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 22:11:45
|
| I'm not against e-books at all. I think it is a great option for people who want that format and an even better option to make out-of print books available again or to make books available in different languages or other parts of the world. However, I still think there should be an initial printing for those who want the paperbound format. Sales of that initial printing could dictate additional printings or then simply move to e-book format only at that point. |
|
|
|
Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 22:52:14
|
quote:
Originally posted by Caolin
But royalties aren't the only income you get from writing the novel? I'm assuming there is a lump sum you are paid to actually write the novel. Otherwise it would not appear to be a very lucrative venture.
Not to speak for Elaine, but oftentimes authors are paid with an advance against royalties; when the royalties you would have earned "earn out" (i.e., match your advance), then you start getting royalties as normal.
This is how I've been paid for my WotC fiction.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
|
|
|
Caolin
Senior Scribe
769 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2011 : 23:14:47
|
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
quote:
Originally posted by Caolin
But royalties aren't the only income you get from writing the novel? I'm assuming there is a lump sum you are paid to actually write the novel. Otherwise it would not appear to be a very lucrative venture.
Not to speak for Elaine, but oftentimes authors are paid with an advance against royalties; when the royalties you would have earned "earn out" (i.e., match your advance), then you start getting royalties as normal.
This is how I've been paid for my WotC fiction.
Cheers
That's what I assumed but for a second I thought I was wrong on that. |
|
|
|
ElaineCunningham
Forgotten Realms Author
2396 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 01:52:43
|
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
Not to speak for Elaine...,
Hey, it's your thread.
quote:
...but oftentimes authors are paid with an advance against royalties; when the royalties you would have earned "earn out" (i.e., match your advance), then you start getting royalties as normal.
::nods: A book that "earns out" is a Very Good Thing. I read an essay in the NY Times Book Review a while back that claimed 7 out of 10 books do NOT earn back the advance. |
|
|
|
jornan
Learned Scribe
Canada
256 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 03:39:31
|
| Speaking of e-books, does anyone know of an app for the ipad that you can purchase and read FR novels on? I already have one of those so I wouldn't have to pay the start up costs of another one. |
|
|
|
chance87
Seeker
50 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 04:52:06
|
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
E-publishing also provides a way to keep every piece of FR fiction readily available forever. That's good, right?
Forever?
Given the rate of obsolescence in technology these days, that's open to debate; that's especially true for any published work subject to the strictures of DRM.
If I purchase a paperback, and take care of it, my son can read it, and potentially pass it down to his children.
If I purchase the Kindle edition, how long can I expect to be able to roll that file forward to the latest and greatest e-device? I have texts I purchased for a Palm device that I can no longer (easily, at least) access. DRM plus proprietary format plus DMCA takedown orders for anyone publishing a conversion tool equals a limited lifespan for access to that document.
That's my only real concern with the e-book format; I love the idea of being able to take my entire library with me on my phone, and being able to perform searches for phrases or occurrences of a name. |
|
|
|
Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 05:49:39
|
| I didn't mean to imply that the Kindle in its current incarnation will last forever, or that ebooks that work on today's Kindle will work on every e-reader that comes along in the future. What I meant was that when WotC decides to sell (let's say) Mystra Goes to Las Vegas an as ebook, we can expect them to sell it from now on. There's every reason to keep peddling it, and no business reason (like the cost of warehousing or going back to press) to let it go out of print (or whatever the e-equivalent of out of print is.) |
|
|
|
Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 06:32:36
|
Making an e-book essentially gives your work resistance (not immunity) to going out of print. It's always possible the publisher will discontinue it for one reason or another, but as RLB said, it makes precious little business sense.
I have been blessed with how well my work has done in the past, in terms of earning out the advance. Many thanks to the generous and enthusiastic community and my readers!
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
|
|
|
Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 07:20:52
|
quote:
Originally posted by jornan
Speaking of e-books, does anyone know of an app for the ipad that you can purchase and read FR novels on? I already have one of those so I wouldn't have to pay the start up costs of another one.
Currently for the iPad, the iBooks app will read .ePub format, or PDFs.
- and the Kindle app will read .mobi format.
There are other readers out there, if you're trying to read .txt and .rtf files, but for the most part you'll probably be buying from Amazon kindle or from the iBooks store, I'd imagine.
|
"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
|
|
|
The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 07:45:57
|
quote:
Originally posted by Eltheron
quote:
Originally posted by jornan
Speaking of e-books, does anyone know of an app for the ipad that you can purchase and read FR novels on? I already have one of those so I wouldn't have to pay the start up costs of another one.
Currently for the iPad, the iBooks app will read .ePub format, or PDFs.
- and the Kindle app will read .mobi format.
There are other readers out there, if you're trying to read .txt and .rtf files, but for the most part you'll probably be buying from Amazon kindle or from the iBooks store, I'd imagine.
Eventually, there'll also be a fine little app called SageBooks.
Eventually. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
|
|
|
AdamBridger
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
118 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 11:11:15
|
Bit late joining in on this topic but i've been away in hospital.
Disappointed that the book will be an e-book exclusive. Have no problems with e-books but bit of a problem with the exclusive part as i love books and just can't seem to get on with digital reading.
However, that being said I do understand the reasons behind the decisions even if i don't fully agree with them and although i won't be purchasing the book at this time, I wish you all the best with the release and in the future. |
Edited by - AdamBridger on 20 Aug 2011 14:54:48 |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36974 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 14:28:31
|
quote:
Originally posted by chance87
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
E-publishing also provides a way to keep every piece of FR fiction readily available forever. That's good, right?
Forever?
Given the rate of obsolescence in technology these days, that's open to debate; that's especially true for any published work subject to the strictures of DRM.
If I purchase a paperback, and take care of it, my son can read it, and potentially pass it down to his children.
If I purchase the Kindle edition, how long can I expect to be able to roll that file forward to the latest and greatest e-device? I have texts I purchased for a Palm device that I can no longer (easily, at least) access. DRM plus proprietary format plus DMCA takedown orders for anyone publishing a conversion tool equals a limited lifespan for access to that document.
That's my only real concern with the e-book format; I love the idea of being able to take my entire library with me on my phone, and being able to perform searches for phrases or occurrences of a name.
I'd not say that books are forever... Paperbacks simply aren't meant to last for generations, and even with hardcovers, you do have to exercise care to keep them in good condition.
Yeah, there is the issue of new devices making old ones obsolete. But pdf, jpg, txt, doc, and mp3 are all file formats that have, in terms of computing, been around forever. As long as a file-type is widely used and non-proprietary, that file-type will be around forever -- there is always freeware for accessing those files, and free- or shareware for converting to another format. Even for a lot of proprietary formats, there exists free- and shareware converters.
Hardware becomes obsolete. Data never does. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
|
|
|
Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 17:41:22
|
@Adam: Thank you for the comments, and do keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about ways to get print copies! I am in no way excluding that as a possibility.
Also, if you feel strongly about it, you should forward your comments on to WotC, as stated earlier in the thread.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
|
|
|
Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 18:10:11
|
quote:
Originally posted by chance87
Forever?
Given the rate of obsolescence in technology these days, that's open to debate; that's especially true for any published work subject to the strictures of DRM.
If I purchase a paperback, and take care of it, my son can read it, and potentially pass it down to his children.
If I purchase the Kindle edition, how long can I expect to be able to roll that file forward to the latest and greatest e-device? I have texts I purchased for a Palm device that I can no longer (easily, at least) access. DRM plus proprietary format plus DMCA takedown orders for anyone publishing a conversion tool equals a limited lifespan for access to that document.
That's my only real concern with the e-book format; I love the idea of being able to take my entire library with me on my phone, and being able to perform searches for phrases or occurrences of a name.
This is exactly another reason why I won't purchase books that I value as ebooks. I've been reading more and more articles saying that ebooks that are purchased today will, more then likely, not be able to be accessed in five or ten years. I've had paperbacks that are in mint condition that I've had for over fifteen years and if you take care of a book it can last for decades. Ebooks? Probably not. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
Edited by - Kuje on 20 Aug 2011 18:13:11 |
|
|
|
Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 18:30:40
|
Largely, and I think Byers' comment was more about this, "forever" for an eBook has to do with the publishing house keeping things available for people without having to do second, third, or more, print runs (which are expensive and not usually all that profitable). I don't think he necessarily was talking about individuals being able to continually update their eBook versions to the latest and greatest.
That's a problem with any media technology, though. How many of us who had actual records called "LPs" and "45s" still have a player for those records? (Granted, I do, but I'm a hoarder/barbarian). 8-track tapes? Laserdisks? Beta videotapes? Heck, even VHS tapes? I haven't used audio cassette tapes in ages, and it wasn't that long ago that they were still popular.
Even paperback books, they're not going to last forever. Yellowing pages, aging paper, crumbling spines... paperbacks just aren't made to last more than a decade or two, really. Hardbacks, now those are built to last longer.
The real benefit of something having been digitized, though, is that it -can- be converted into newer technologies by the publishers; it's kept available "forever" in that way. For the most part, the formatting difference between .mobi and .ePub are not huge. There are already translation programs out there between the two. As technology updates, we may see a great deal of "content" being pushed into "cloud" services (although, IMO this is bad for consumers), which don't depend on specific "readers" as long as you have an up-to-date web browser. DRM, of course, is the real kicker anyway. That, more than anything else, is what will prevent someone from sharing their purchase with a friend or relative. With "cloud services", if they should become really popular, you won't have the DRM problem because you won't actually own anything at all. You'll just have a license of sorts.
In general, I think "cloud computing" is sort of un-American. We Americans like to OWN things, we like to know that it's ours, and not someone else's property. Even if I can no longer use those VHS tapes, they're still MINE. (And if you're a really savvy "techie" American, there are ways to keep one's media library updated... digitize those VHS tapes for my continued personal use, etc).
|
"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
Edited by - Eltheron on 20 Aug 2011 18:40:43 |
|
|
|
Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 19:55:20
|
You're right, Eltheron, that is exactly what I meant. The publisher has no reason to ever stop selling an ebook.
As far as the cloud goes, I guess you and I are opposites. I feel no desire to buy DVDs now that I subscribe to Netflix. I am concerned, though, about what distributing fiction via the cloud is going to mean to a writer's bottom line. At this point, I don't think we can predict. |
|
|
|
Elsenrail
Seeker
Poland
72 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 21:13:46
|
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
@Adam: Thank you for the comments, and do keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about ways to get print copies! I am in no way excluding that as a possibility.
Cheers
You mean the "print on demand"? I don't know if this will be profitable actually... unless they print like a thousand copies at one time and wait for orders, but this is no difference to a paperback release.
I keep my fingers crossed that "Shadowbane" will make it to paper, Erik. I will support this initiative wherever possible. |
|
|
|
Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 23:10:27
|
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
You're right, Eltheron, that is exactly what I meant. The publisher has no reason to ever stop selling an ebook.
As far as the cloud goes, I guess you and I are opposites. I feel no desire to buy DVDs now that I subscribe to Netflix. I am concerned, though, about what distributing fiction via the cloud is going to mean to a writer's bottom line. At this point, I don't think we can predict.
Hopefully I didn't come across as too negative there. I'd agree definitely any rental movie or TV show should be "cloud" available. That's actually an extremely good use. And there are lots of wireless internet radio stations, even themed ones, that are "cloud" in many ways.
Books, though, there are some that I just really want to keep, go back and re-read over again. And one of my fondest memories growing up is when I went camping at 7yrs old and had a copy of one of the Madeleine L'Engle Wrinkle in Time books with me. There was just something amazing about reading a book by lantern while being under the stars in the deep silence of the mountain forest. Couldn't really do that with cloud services, as they require wifi.
I do love my eBooks for travel and commuting, though.
|
"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
|
|
|
Elsenrail
Seeker
Poland
72 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2011 : 17:22:23
|
| Hmm... "Shadowbane" is not available for Kindle now, though it was. I don't know what make of this really. :/ |
|
|
|
Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
|
|
Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2011 : 20:39:08
|
| I just checked on Amazon. Shadowbane popped right up when I went to the Kindle store and then typed the title in Search box. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
Shadowbane E-book Release
