ebooks and all that

[erda]

I've been reading a small fraction of the posts about DRM and ebooks and all that, since it appears it would take a lifetime to read all of it.

I just want to say that for almost 30 years I ran a used bookstore that supported our family, and it was a much loved enterprise until the internet came along and killed it. Oh well.

I think also there were untold numbers of women who made a living making lace in the 17th century, and the overwhelming majority of them lost their livelihood when machine lace took hold. They couldn't compete with all the cheaply, quickly, uniformly produced lace a machine could spit out. Oh well.

Things change, jobs disappear, you have to move on.

So, I have to say, if writers can no longer make a living writing books, I don't really give a shit. This thing about how they will not have time to write if they have to earn a living some other way? Well, boo hoo.

There are tons of people writing online everyday who are not getting paid for it. And yes, most of it is not going to give you that punch in the gut that good writing delivers. But you're just as likely to get that punch from the unpaid stuff as from something that went past some publisher's idea of what kind of writing has enough mass appeal to make a lot of money.

People will write, others will read, we will sort it out. Things change, careers come and go, people kick and cry and act like the world will end. Oh well. I have more stuff to read than ever before.

Comments

[erda]

There are more people who are willing and able to write than there are audience members willing and able to read their writing. This is the main problem.

Yes, nail, head.


When a skill, like hand sewing or writing, becomes something so rewarding that many people will do it for free, things have to change. It's wrenching and life altering for many, but it has to happen. Whining about the time consuming aspect of your skill, or how it ought to be worth more money to people, is useless if there are enough people giving it away.

Hey, I was unhappy when every Tom, Dick and Harry started selling off their used books for $.50. I couldn't make a living by selling things for that low a price.
But if books sell for so little, then that is what they are currently worth.

[yourlibrarian]

You actually bring up another point when discussing the "true value" of used books which is the true value of convenience to many people. One could always find used books for 50 cents or less, it's just that your selection was often limited and it would take time to find what you wanted if you wanted something specific. The real value of a used bookstore was organization and reliability (not having to wait for the library's spring fundraiser, or for hand me downs from a relative, for example).

Frankly, although I see scores of books at Amazon selling for a penny, once one adds shipping to the cost, they run about the same as they would at one's local bookstore. However the convenience factor of being able to find a recommended book within minutes and buy it is very high. I see this as the major factor in the success of the Kindle, because it sure isn't an economical choice, and it's astonishing how many eBook users are unaware of free content.

[erda]

That's true. There were always $.50 books, but if you wanted a specific book, it was much more difficult to find before the internet become easy to use, and so people were willing to pay more. Now, not so much. So, yes, convenience is a huge factor, too.