4 ms·

The Author as Agent of Change

39 points by grellas 15y ago

hugh3 15y ago
The trouble, of course, with Cory Doctorow's experiments in alternative publishing methods is that his fanbase is largely a bunch of copyright geeks who want this kind of thing to work, so the fact that it works for him (and I have no doubt that it will) doesn't really tell you anything about the broader world, and whether Jane Q. Romancenovellist can get by with a similar system.
- JoachimSchipper 15y ago
  It's not that hard to find more conventional success stories, typically selling exclusively through Amazon.com (not completely independent, but good enough for most purposes). I have no doubt that this model can fail, but it doesn't take Doctorow to pull it off.
  - Create 15y ago
    Free Culture comes to mind, along with the author. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Free_Culture_%28book%29 https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Free_Culture_...
    - schrototo 15y ago
      But that's exactly the same issue: not only are people who read Lessig predisposed to these kinds of publishing ventures, that very book is about issues related with that. Doctorow or Lessig succeeding at this is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
      - Create 15y ago
        sure. When Lessig "accuses" societies of x-financing themselves with high journal prices, he actually does the same, using his secured tenure. I'm almost certain, that he couldn't care less about the Free Culture's contributions to his pension plan's bottom line. Or of other's, for that matter -- I guess. Then again, cross-financing i.e. investigative journalism didn't serve power well, and in the end of the day, it was obvious to almost completely replace it with PR for the publishers. Cory also knows this: there is far less overhead to write fiction than to track down and uncover i.e. the broadcast flag. He can achieve the former, but could not kindle and leverage social pressure to prevent HDMI from happening. Kudos to him, that he tried. OTOH, nothing really stops publishers to degenerate into parasites, either. They can be useful, and some are, but on the whole, the economics can be completely changed -- not unlike when movable type came in. Moreover, one can cite examples, when publishers/media are downright harmful, only to maximise private profit. Lessig and Doctorow raise this issue: publishers seem to be doing their part of fulfilling the prophecy too.
- wyclif 15y ago
  Right, it's a classic case of sampling bias: how many Jewish filesharing copyright nerds who wear red capes and goggles self-publish?
- mkn 15y ago
  Well, except that the group you're describing are usually referred to as "early adopters." How vacuous would the point sound if it were aimed at the early days of the PC? The trouble, of course, with IBM's experiments with personal computers is that their fan-base is largely a bunch of nerdy geeks who want this kind of thing to work, and really doesn't tell you anything about the broader world. So, one thing Cory's success tells you is that, even when you restrict the audience to "copyright geeks who want this kind of thing to work," it can work. Additionally, those copyright geeks have friends and family, and some of them are noticing how those nerdy copyfighters consume literature, and it gets talked about, a fact implicitly betrayed in your qualifier "largely". It's easy to fire off an "It won't work," but the article itself discusses many of the strengths of the model in question, rendering your complaint moot; Even if the viability of Doctorow's publishing model isn't demonstrated solely on the basis of it working for him, it is supported in the article with other observations, as well. Don't think that because you've criticized one pillar of the case for direct publishing that you've won the day, nor even raised a serious objection. You have very much more work to do before you've demonstrated "[t]he trouble...with Cory Doctorow's experiments" in a meaningful way.
bitsm 15y ago
The reason self-publishing works for Doctorow is not because his audience wants it to. It works because he works extremely hard, is prolific, and smartly leverages technology as well as his massive audience at BoingBoing. He is not an overnight sensation. There's no trick here. Yes, he's taken some risks with technology, but he's also worked hard promoting himself to mitigate that risk. I am not a fan of his writing, but I admire his dogged determination to get up every day and be a writer, in an age when anyone else you asked would tell you to give up and get a job with a future.
gyardley 15y ago
Since I'm planning to read this short story collection, I was a little irritated to read about the ending of one of the stories in this article. Be warned, there's mild spoilers here.

39 points by grellas 15y ago

hugh3 15y ago

The trouble, of course, with Cory Doctorow's experiments in alternative publishing methods is that his fanbase is largely a bunch of copyright geeks who want this kind of thing to work, so the fact that it works for him (and I have no doubt that it will) doesn't really tell you anything about the broader world, and whether Jane Q. Romancenovellist can get by with a similar system.

JoachimSchipper 15y ago
It's not that hard to find more conventional success stories, typically selling exclusively through Amazon.com (not completely independent, but good enough for most purposes). I have no doubt that this model can fail, but it doesn't take Doctorow to pull it off.
- Create 15y ago
  Free Culture comes to mind, along with the author. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Free_Culture_%28book%29 https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Free_Culture_...
  - schrototo 15y ago
    But that's exactly the same issue: not only are people who read Lessig predisposed to these kinds of publishing ventures, that very book is about issues related with that. Doctorow or Lessig succeeding at this is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
    - Create 15y ago
      sure. When Lessig "accuses" societies of x-financing themselves with high journal prices, he actually does the same, using his secured tenure. I'm almost certain, that he couldn't care less about the Free Culture's contributions to his pension plan's bottom line. Or of other's, for that matter -- I guess. Then again, cross-financing i.e. investigative journalism didn't serve power well, and in the end of the day, it was obvious to almost completely replace it with PR for the publishers. Cory also knows this: there is far less overhead to write fiction than to track down and uncover i.e. the broadcast flag. He can achieve the former, but could not kindle and leverage social pressure to prevent HDMI from happening. Kudos to him, that he tried. OTOH, nothing really stops publishers to degenerate into parasites, either. They can be useful, and some are, but on the whole, the economics can be completely changed -- not unlike when movable type came in. Moreover, one can cite examples, when publishers/media are downright harmful, only to maximise private profit. Lessig and Doctorow raise this issue: publishers seem to be doing their part of fulfilling the prophecy too.
wyclif 15y ago
Right, it's a classic case of sampling bias: how many Jewish filesharing copyright nerds who wear red capes and goggles self-publish?
mkn 15y ago
Well, except that the group you're describing are usually referred to as "early adopters." How vacuous would the point sound if it were aimed at the early days of the PC? The trouble, of course, with IBM's experiments with personal computers is that their fan-base is largely a bunch of nerdy geeks who want this kind of thing to work, and really doesn't tell you anything about the broader world. So, one thing Cory's success tells you is that, even when you restrict the audience to "copyright geeks who want this kind of thing to work," it can work. Additionally, those copyright geeks have friends and family, and some of them are noticing how those nerdy copyfighters consume literature, and it gets talked about, a fact implicitly betrayed in your qualifier "largely". It's easy to fire off an "It won't work," but the article itself discusses many of the strengths of the model in question, rendering your complaint moot; Even if the viability of Doctorow's publishing model isn't demonstrated solely on the basis of it working for him, it is supported in the article with other observations, as well. Don't think that because you've criticized one pillar of the case for direct publishing that you've won the day, nor even raised a serious objection. You have very much more work to do before you've demonstrated "[t]he trouble...with Cory Doctorow's experiments" in a meaningful way.

bitsm 15y ago

The reason self-publishing works for Doctorow is not because his audience wants it to. It works because he works extremely hard, is prolific, and smartly leverages technology as well as his massive audience at BoingBoing. He is not an overnight sensation. There's no trick here. Yes, he's taken some risks with technology, but he's also worked hard promoting himself to mitigate that risk. I am not a fan of his writing, but I admire his dogged determination to get up every day and be a writer, in an age when anyone else you asked would tell you to give up and get a job with a future.

gyardley 15y ago

Since I'm planning to read this short story collection, I was a little irritated to read about the ending of one of the stories in this article. Be warned, there's mild spoilers here.