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

[facetofcathy]

This is the post I would have made if I'd been able to strip the profanity out after I saw a couple of barely competent authors joking about how it would be awesome if their publisher could infect electronic copies with malware that would affect people who illegally downloaded. Nice to know where their consideration lies.

The last classical music store in the entire region closed this week. Oh well, indeed. Sometimes you can't change the forces of the market, even in this land of government meddling and cultural protectionism.

[darkemeralds]

Thanks for putting it so clearly. I agree. My father was a bookdealer. My mother was a librarian. One passed on and the other retired before books essentially vanished, but even before that, I could see the digital writing on the virtual wall--and I felt kind of guilty for being excited about it.

I've seen comments on certain fanfic to the effect that "this is so good you should publish it," honestly intended as sincere praise. And it's not an insult or anything, but...why? What pittance could the author get after stripping the heart and soul and grit and porn from their work to meet publisher's guidelines? A thousand bucks? Five, tops?

And what's more, little or no feedback! It's not worth it--at least, it doesn't seem worth it to me. I know one or two writers who are hoarding their novels, trying to get them printed on paper and distributed in trucks to the last two bookstores in the world, and while I wish them joy of the enterprise, I think: I can put my stuff out there today, and have reactions tomorrow, and I'll make just about the same amount of money.

Thanks for the link to a good Rivkat story, by the way.

[yourlibrarian]

I have more stuff to read than ever before.

Exactly this. Were I a writer I would be far more concerned about the declining literacy rate than pirated books. Movie and TV makers do not have to worry (much) about their audience's general ability or willingness to access their product. Print writers do.

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. Secondarily, the problem is the intransigence of a publishing industry that has apparently learned nothing from the music industry.

[jumpuphigh]

Out of all of the posts that I've read over the past few days, I think this one is my favorite.
I have more stuff to read than ever before.
Yep. Me, too. I try not to think about it too much since it would overwhelm me if I did.