Sci-Fi Publisher Tor Ditches DRM For E-Books

First time accepted submitter FBeans writes "'Science fiction publisher Tor UK is dropping digital rights management from its e-books alongside a similar move by its U.S. partners. ... Tor UK, Tor Books and Forge are divisions of Pan Macmillan, which said it viewed the move as an "experiment."' With experiments, come results. Now users can finally read their books across multiple devices such as Amazon's Kindle, Sony Reader, Kobo eReader and Apple's iBooks. Perhaps we will see the *increase* of sales, because the new unrestricted format outweighs the decrease caused by piracy?"

Comments

Re:It's about time

[Junta]

No, I buy media that is not DRM protected. I refrain from purchasing DRM encumbered content for the most part. I've passed on many a movie or ebook simply because of DRM.

The DRM mechanisms are frequently useless anyway. ePub drm can be stripped away instantly (I used some promotional credit to acquire a DRM encumbered epub and stripped the DRM in short order).

Re:It's about time

[allcar]

That's not it at all. I'm not prepared to pay for content that is inconvenient to use. I am much more likely to buy content if it is DRM free. This is great publicity for Tor. More power to them.

Re:It's about time

[lxs]

Not really, but stripping the DRM from my Kindle ebooks just so I can convert them and put them on my epub reader is a hassle I could do without. Besides, DRM wouldn't stop me from getting pirated ebooks, if I were so inclined.

Re:What about the price?

[crafty.munchkin]

The printing costs of a book are negligible in comparison with the editorial, typesetting, proof-reading and other costs associatd with releasing a book. Go and read Charlie Stross's essays on common misconceptions about publishing to discover WHY it's impractical.

As an aside - games on Steam are almost always more expensive than the copy I buy with a disk from a store, with the exception of when the steam sales are on.

Re:A Move in the Right Direction!

[CrimsonAvenger]

Again, kudos to the publisher for not using DRM, and for setting a positive example for the rest of the publishing world to follow...

Might be better to say "kudos to the publisher for following Baen's lead and not using DRM".

Do keep in mind that Baen's ebooks have NEVER had DRM.

Re:Sure thing

[Anonymous Coward]

Tor has Charles Stross and Vernor Vinge.
No true geek should pass them.

I'd also look at Steven Erikson myself.
I think a lot of Windling's crew are at Tor too, for the early urban fantasy.

That's off the top of my head, with no access to my dead-tree books right now.

Re:It's about time

[fifedrum]

Anecdotal and all, but I certainly will gravitate towards their offerings. Immediately. The very reason I don't buy any ebooks for my wife's kindle is that we can't read them on anything else. I'm certainly not reading a 400 page tome on my phone.

So I say, "Good on them, and here's some money."

(posting to remove misplaced mod, because I'm an idiot and clicked the wrong text)

Recommendable Tor Authors

[ryzvonusef]

Amongst the ones I can personally recommend, Tor has:
1-Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn)
2-Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time)
3-Steve Erikson (Malazan)
4-Orson Scott Card (Ender)
5- George R.R. Martin (Song of Ice and Fire)

Brandonson has been itching for DRM free ebooks, and even offers a totally free ebook on his website (Warbreaker). Good to see his nagging has had some effect.