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The author's choice at the time of being approached could very well look like this: 6 months unpaid labor (book) and $20,000 (audiobook) in debt, praying that

The author's choice at the time of being approached could very well look like this: 6 months unpaid labor (book) and $20,000 (audiobook) in debt, praying that the sales/royalties will pay back their investment. vs 6 months of labor paid plus some bonus, and (smaller) royalties on the top. I find it hard to argue with their choices, no matter how much I claim that I would not make the same choice.

manquer 6y ago
many entrepreneurs face the same risks . Bulk of open source development is unpaid labour . Developers are able to manage this by doing that over and above a regular job and doing it out of passion not money. They have a choice whether they want to professional or amateur. Excluding fiction authors have to be professionals in some other field to have something to write about . They don’t need to be professional authors. If amazon or a publishing house can spend the marketing dollars to get your book promoted then it would make sense to do exclusive , If that’s not the case and they really wanted more people can read and enjoy it , they can remain amateur and fund it from pocket to make that happen don’t you think ?
- falcolas 6y ago
  I find the claim that non-fiction writers are all effectively hobbiests to be less-than-compelling. Non-fiction and fiction alike (at least the good stuff) requires a large amount of research, time that's built into the 6 month figure I put above (and some good writers are even slower than that, even full time). > they can remain amateur and fund it from pocket to make that happen don’t you think Sure - I think it's entirely possible. Even for a confident full time writer it's possible. But - and this is the core point - I have a hard time blaming them for taking the money for their hard work. Same with OSS developers. I have a hard time blaming OSS developers for taking hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in buyout deals, or in salaries as they write OSS code on behalf of a company. Passion doesn't fill your pantry with food.
  - vorpalhex 6y ago
    But there's an inbetween here. I can license my OSS work or have support contracts and fill my pantry with food just fine without selling my soul. This isn't a binary choice between going homeless and dealing with the proverbial devil. There are plenty of options in the middle.

manquer 6y ago

many entrepreneurs face the same risks . Bulk of open source development is unpaid labour . Developers are able to manage this by doing that over and above a regular job and doing it out of passion not money. They have a choice whether they want to professional or amateur. Excluding fiction authors have to be professionals in some other field to have something to write about . They don’t need to be professional authors. If amazon or a publishing house can spend the marketing dollars to get your book promoted then it would make sense to do exclusive , If that’s not the case and they really wanted more people can read and enjoy it , they can remain amateur and fund it from pocket to make that happen don’t you think ?

falcolas 6y ago
I find the claim that non-fiction writers are all effectively hobbiests to be less-than-compelling. Non-fiction and fiction alike (at least the good stuff) requires a large amount of research, time that's built into the 6 month figure I put above (and some good writers are even slower than that, even full time). > they can remain amateur and fund it from pocket to make that happen don’t you think Sure - I think it's entirely possible. Even for a confident full time writer it's possible. But - and this is the core point - I have a hard time blaming them for taking the money for their hard work. Same with OSS developers. I have a hard time blaming OSS developers for taking hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in buyout deals, or in salaries as they write OSS code on behalf of a company. Passion doesn't fill your pantry with food.
- vorpalhex 6y ago
  But there's an inbetween here. I can license my OSS work or have support contracts and fill my pantry with food just fine without selling my soul. This isn't a binary choice between going homeless and dealing with the proverbial devil. There are plenty of options in the middle.