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> Authors don't really have that: they could sign books, but that would reduce their income drastically, as most copies would be freely had. Cory Doctorow seem
by loup-vaillant 16y ago
> Authors don't really have that: they could sign books, but that would reduce their income drastically, as most copies would be freely had.
Cory Doctorow seems to manage just fine. OK, that's not easy. But I'm not sure it's harder than earning money from a standard publisher, and it looks at least possible.
- dexen 16y agoPaulo Coelho, Trent Reznor, Bruce Eckel, at least to some extent.
- davidw 16y agoCory Doctorow's work appears to be released under the "Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike" license, which means that only his publisher has the right to sell paper copies. Granted, he's being very generous and liberal, but he is still utilizing IP laws to create some scarcity. http://craphound.com/ftw/Cory_Doctorow_-_For_the_Win.htm http://craphound.com/ftw/Cory_Doctorow_-_For_the_Win.htm Also, you have to look at these things at the margin: were all authors to do this, how many would no longer be able to support themselves with their writing, and thus be forced to stop or curtail their activities? He's a relatively well known writer: maybe it's ok for him to make, say, 100K rather than 200K a year. Some guy making 50K a year may have to give it up if his income is cut in half. Furthermore, consider that just now the Kindle and similar systems are really starting to take off. In 2005 or so, you either bought the paper book and had yourself a nice read, or stared at an LCD for hours, which is not my idea of pleasant.
- loup-vaillant 16y agoI hear you. Well, I even agree, you're probably right. And that sucks. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2334265 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2334265