Earlier this month, Penguin decided to deal with piracy concerns by releasing its audio books free of copyright protection. This will permit the books to be played on any listening device owned by the consumer.
Though she said it was vital to protect intellectual property, "I don't think we can be worried about every incursion from electronic selling and electronic use. We have got to think about what the future is going to be and look at how to experiment with it."
This is, at least partly, in response to Random House's decision to release e-books free of charge to the consumer. Penguin has yet to jump on the e-book bandwagon, citing that there is not yet a reliable e-book reader out there.
Writers, however, are starting to see the handwriting on the digital screen and are growing concerned about what inroads into digital publishing will mean for their financial futures. While many writers have previously indicated that free e-books has helped to increase their overall sales, others are worried that they will end up having to fight for their digital rights, much like the screenwriters in Hollywood had to do.
Book publishers, well aware that there's a brave new world of digital content just around the corner and keen to exploit their backlists, as well as any future titles, across as many platforms and devices as possible, are in the midst of the rather overdue process of securing digital rights from their authors.
The problem is that when writers are receiving royalties for digital publication, their percentage of the profits are remaining the same, despite the fact that the publishers' costs of producing the book have been reduced. Why, then is the author's percentage being kept the same?
Meanwhile, others are working to create a niche market for digital readers by distributing them free to editors and others who are likely to use and trumpet the product.
The Hachette Book Group recently distributed hundreds of Sony Readers to its editors and publishers. “People are evangelical about it,” says publisher Jonathan Karp, who has about 30 submissions on his Reader. “If you’re traveling, this is so much easier than lugging around manuscripts. It’s good for reading in bed, too.”
Create a market for an already existing product and the demand will come. Or so that seems to be the current plan.
Only time will tell how all of this falls out. The best we can do is stay on top of news, developments, and trends and try to predict where the industry is headed.
8 comments:
I think this is an interesting time for publishing, as well as the music industry (and entertainment in general). I'm not sure yet if it's a GOOD time, or a BAD time, only that it's an interesting time.
We're seeing changes, and the interesting part is where those changes are going to go, and how they'll affect us as writers (as well as all other artists). I can see where it could be our boon - be turned into a creative gold mine if worked properly - but I can also see how it could, potentially, bring an end to being paid for art.
Maybe that's extreme. Maybe it's not. Only time, and some interesting changes, will tell. But it does behoove us all to keep an eye on things, and give thought to their impact.
Why should I even bother to write if they're just going to give it away for free?
I've always felt I was born decades too late, that I missed the true renaissance of publishing with the pulp magazines and dime novels.
That feeling grows stronger every day I hear about this kind of stuff.
During the era of pulps and dime novels, writers weren't making a lot of money, either. While many consider those the glory days of publishing, writers struggled then just as now.
As Kristine says, as far as the entertainment industry goes, we're living the Chinese curse. The world is currently in a state of flux, teetering between technology and non-technology. We're in the midsts of an economic recession, very nearly a depression, and we're about to come up on a period of social upheaval. When all of these things merge in about three years or so, the arts will find themselves caught in the proverbial crossfire.
It's fascinating, really. Like watching two massive stars collide in space, wondering what the result is gonna look like.
Writers weren't paid a lot, yes. But economics being what they were, nobody really got paid a lot. Stamps were 3 cents. A loaf of bread a nickle. Cars about $300.
And when I speak of the pulp age in glowing terms its because there were literally thousands of markets out there. If you were prolific you could make a very good living at writing.
And to me, the internet could be that again. With lots of paying outlets for writing, again a prolific writer could make a bundle.
I meant for the time, writers weren't paid a lot. In fact, many of them received assistance from the government. If a writer were prolific today, they could still earn a comfortable income.
What tomorrow brings, we've yet to see, but I think being prolific has always been the key. A single idea has never been enough to support a writer, unless they were willing to produce multiple books a year, radio/TV shows, etc., based on that single idea. Of course, for that to work, it has to be THE idea that wins over a significant percentage of the audience.
Most writers that I know of, who make a living at this, write more than one thing. They write in multiple mediums, give talks, instruct others, and/or produce multiple books a year.
Nice post, digitization made huge difference in publishing industry and it becomes best tool to generate the revenue for the print publishers. Many of the publishers are following this trend as online readership rate is increasing rapidly. There are more benefits from digitization of publications when compare to traditional publishing. There are some companies like http://www.pressmart.net helping the print publishers in distribution of the publications through web, blogs, social media, IPods, RSS, mobiles, etc… These kinds of services will definitely more helpful to the publishers.
What do you see the benefits being?
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