Honestly? This sounds a GREAT deal like the music industry. I think we all know how that is turning out! Actually, for the authors it's worse. Music is megs big per song, squish it too much and it sounds like crap. I believe that music is probably easier to make too although I will admit I could be wrong. anyway, a single BOOK can be as little as 700K. Think about that. Megs vs K file sizes. An entire set of works by an author can be had in minutes.
Now then - as a publisher you now have multiple competitors that will happily split profits with independent authors. They even sell devices geared to display this. This is not quite so organized in the music industry - someone like myself couldn't pick up an instrument, record something, and put it on iTunes or the Amazon store but I COULD do that with a book. There are obviously markets for music like that but nothing like either of those two stores yet. Amazon really did something bold there and Apple followed - sorta'. honestly Apple slowed adoption and their store apparently sux so far but oh well.
Sorry man, but I really do think you're working for the guys making buggy whips. They will have a niche but it will shrink as others eat their lunch. Paper won't disappear overnight and shouldn't disappear completely but I suspect that these guys so deeply invested in printing are going to be in for a rude shock before too long... The good news is that depending upon your skill set you can do the same thing - just for different customers directly and you too may make more money if you try. If you read the comment responses to the blog I linked you'll find lots of stories about this I believe.
I did it for all of Harry Potter and then nothing else for years - and yes I owned multiple hard and soft copies of that series. Then earlier this year prices went through the roof and some books were no longer available anymore! I was reading a book+ a week and traveling so like I did with music I turned elsewhere. Music I now get from Amazon for my iPhone, not encumbered and a decent price. When books return to being reasonable I will probably do the same. These guys really are being dumb, thankfully some of the authors are a little brighter. I wish more of them had tip jars....
When I go on a trip I tend to read through multiple books. Carrying more than one on a plane to satisfy this is a PITA. I do also get periodicals on my Kindle and Calibre will download them for me from the WEB if I wish to scrape sites for articles.
DRM on mine is stripped and they have been converted to Epub by Caliber. No worries here! No password needed, no license server either - even when they were encumbered. I think you need to look into how these things work a bit more as I believe you have some poor assumptions.
GOING to find themselves? Dude, an entire author's collection can be had for 9megs on a torrent server. Folks put collections up because single books are so damned small it makes no sense to torrent them! Look into Calibre to manage things BTW.
Amazon is no longer setting the prices of books. Amazon would LOVE to drop them BACK to where they were but cannot because the Publishers now set the prices! Look at most any Kindle book on Amazon now and note the "This price was set by the publisher" statement just below the price...
From this guy's experience it seems the publishing industry is doing a pretty shitty job of it too -> http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
He's doing it on his own and doing FAR better. His return rates are low, he stays on the "shelf" forever, and he doesn't have to work his ass off promoting like he used to. He gets a greater cut of the profits and makes more money doing it himself too. the publishing industry had better wake up quick, folks like myself who see ebooks at prices nearly as high and sometimes HIGHER than print books aren't happy. A 9meg torrent can contain an entire author's library but honestly I'd rather buy and support authors - and I used to! That changed when you guys jacked prices to the Moon....
To take it a step further - if you have additional Kindles in your home tied to the same account - say family members - then they too get to read the same books just as you do.
You'd think so - however it also means that authors don't NEED publishers much like musicians no longer need the RIAA. Publishers are SCARED of ebooks and are doing just about anything they can to kill them it seems to include not marketing them well and charging WAY too much!
These guys aren't much different that the music industry - this is a new thing and it scares them, best to kill it they think.
I hear you. Check out the torrent sites and look for the Python script that strips Kindle books of their DRM. Right now I'd agree things are a mess and the book publishers are making the RIAA guys look like Einstein!
Bullshit. You can sell ebooks for less than $3 and make a profit. The overhead is WAY lower. Authors are starting to realize this and publish on their own and it scares the crap out of the publishing industry which is so stupid they actually use the cost of PRINTING paper books as an excuse to inflate ebook pricing!
Strongly suggest you check out a Kindle - no not an iPad. the Kindle screen is as close to paper as you're going to get in a portable form right now. It's NOT backlit but can be read anywhere the light is good enough to read paper. It doesn't strain the eyes either - it's NOTHING like a computer screen. Give it a chance, you just might find that you liek it. I know being able to carry a few hundred books in my pocket sure is nice. Just be sure to review ebook prices first - right now they suck!
They WERE lower and then Apple cut a deal with the publishers to allow the PUBLISHERS, not the retailers, to set pricing. They then beat Amazon over the head with this deal and forced Amazon to capitulate. Overnight book prices for E-books in many cases were changed to be HIGHER than hardcover sale prices. The publishers tell you this is a deal though because it's still lower than hardcover LIST prices - who buys at list?! Retailers still set those prices! Want to know when you're getting boned by a publisher? Look for "This price was set by the publisher" on the sales entry.
When this occurred I went from buying multiple books a month to torrenting them - I haven't bought anything other than a Sci-Fi subscription to a magazine in MONTHS as a result of this bullshit. When they bring back $9.99 pricing I'll start buying, until then - fuck 'em. I can't resell, trade, or give away an e-book like I can paper. I no longer want paper books in my home either - I have too many as it is! grrrr!
When E-books cost MORE than some hardcovers of course they don't sell. Put them back under $9.99 and I'll stop torrenting and begin purchasing again! The publishers are trying to use E-Books to support their print overhead - and have said as much. MacMillan and others are thieves so far as I'm concerned. As soon as they began setting prices vs Amazon the cost of E-books went through the roof. that they try to make them sound like a bargain because they cost less than LIST hardcover even though they cannot be traded, shared, or sold is a sad sham. some authors are starting to go it on their own and skip the publishers altogether - I wish some of the authors *I* like would do that. You know it's sad when a published author makes MORE money going through Amazon direct and selling for a pittance than they do going through a publisher!
You're obviously not a parent. Probably a good thing actually. If you had managed to reproduce and had bought the little darlings DVD or heaven forbid BD you would most certainly know the importance of backing up said material before it gets used as some sort of air hockey disk or coaster.
I started backing up MY media when some folks came into my home to do some work and stopped dead in their tracks in awe at seeing the multiple racks of DVD I had out in my living room. "Maaaan, that's ALOT of DVD!". It was at that moment that I remembered what it felt like to have my car broken into - more than once - only to have my CDs reappear at the local used CD shop. All of my media is now kept boxed up out of sight and their content stored on servers that don't ever see the light of day. Gone are the fears that someone will steal my media and I no longer have friends and family mooching DVD from me. It's also a damn bit easier to select a movie from a list on my TV than it is to crawl around looking at covers on the shelf when I want to watch something.
So, pull your head out of your ass and realize that not everyone is just like you nor does everyone act as you'd expect. It's not hard at all to find people with collections of disks, legally purchased, that are FAR larger than mine too....
It would seem that you don't understand how DVD works if you think this allows them to make copies where they couldn't before. To make a copy all they need to do is... copy it. Crypto and all, it will play just fine on any legit BD or DVD player. HDCP has done NOTHING to hamper the professional pirates but has been no end of trouble to many home theater enthusiasts and even video professionals who have to jump through hoops to get around it doing their work.
It mostly has come to mean breaking free of the signature required code found on iPhone. It most certainly is NOT something involving SIM cards - that would be "unlocking".
Slashdot Mirror
Honestly? This sounds a GREAT deal like the music industry. I think we all know how that is turning out! Actually, for the authors it's worse. Music is megs big per song, squish it too much and it sounds like crap. I believe that music is probably easier to make too although I will admit I could be wrong. anyway, a single BOOK can be as little as 700K. Think about that. Megs vs K file sizes. An entire set of works by an author can be had in minutes.
Now then - as a publisher you now have multiple competitors that will happily split profits with independent authors. They even sell devices geared to display this. This is not quite so organized in the music industry - someone like myself couldn't pick up an instrument, record something, and put it on iTunes or the Amazon store but I COULD do that with a book. There are obviously markets for music like that but nothing like either of those two stores yet. Amazon really did something bold there and Apple followed - sorta'. honestly Apple slowed adoption and their store apparently sux so far but oh well.
Sorry man, but I really do think you're working for the guys making buggy whips. They will have a niche but it will shrink as others eat their lunch. Paper won't disappear overnight and shouldn't disappear completely but I suspect that these guys so deeply invested in printing are going to be in for a rude shock before too long... The good news is that depending upon your skill set you can do the same thing - just for different customers directly and you too may make more money if you try. If you read the comment responses to the blog I linked you'll find lots of stories about this I believe.
I did it for all of Harry Potter and then nothing else for years - and yes I owned multiple hard and soft copies of that series. Then earlier this year prices went through the roof and some books were no longer available anymore! I was reading a book+ a week and traveling so like I did with music I turned elsewhere. Music I now get from Amazon for my iPhone, not encumbered and a decent price. When books return to being reasonable I will probably do the same. These guys really are being dumb, thankfully some of the authors are a little brighter. I wish more of them had tip jars....
I have a Gen1 Kindle - I have had no issues with either contrast or turn speed. Not liking Kindle 2 much, Kindle 3 may yet get my money!
I wish they hadn't taken out the ability to use SD cards though :-( The little joystick thingy sux too.
When I go on a trip I tend to read through multiple books. Carrying more than one on a plane to satisfy this is a PITA. I do also get periodicals on my Kindle and Calibre will download them for me from the WEB if I wish to scrape sites for articles.
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
from someone doing it.
DRM on mine is stripped and they have been converted to Epub by Caliber. No worries here! No password needed, no license server either - even when they were encumbered. I think you need to look into how these things work a bit more as I believe you have some poor assumptions.
GOING to find themselves? Dude, an entire author's collection can be had for 9megs on a torrent server. Folks put collections up because single books are so damned small it makes no sense to torrent them! Look into Calibre to manage things BTW.
BZZT!!!
Amazon is no longer setting the prices of books. Amazon would LOVE to drop them BACK to where they were but cannot because the Publishers now set the prices! Look at most any Kindle book on Amazon now and note the "This price was set by the publisher" statement just below the price...
Kindle readers can often go WEEKS on a single charge. I guess if you camp in the woods for months at a time your argument still holds...
From this guy's experience it seems the publishing industry is doing a pretty shitty job of it too -> http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
He's doing it on his own and doing FAR better. His return rates are low, he stays on the "shelf" forever, and he doesn't have to work his ass off promoting like he used to. He gets a greater cut of the profits and makes more money doing it himself too. the publishing industry had better wake up quick, folks like myself who see ebooks at prices nearly as high and sometimes HIGHER than print books aren't happy. A 9meg torrent can contain an entire author's library but honestly I'd rather buy and support authors - and I used to! That changed when you guys jacked prices to the Moon....
To take it a step further - if you have additional Kindles in your home tied to the same account - say family members - then they too get to read the same books just as you do.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/44546-e-book-sales-jump-150-in-july.html
and possibly complete crap
You'd think so - however it also means that authors don't NEED publishers much like musicians no longer need the RIAA. Publishers are SCARED of ebooks and are doing just about anything they can to kill them it seems to include not marketing them well and charging WAY too much!
These guys aren't much different that the music industry - this is a new thing and it scares them, best to kill it they think.
I hear you. Check out the torrent sites and look for the Python script that strips Kindle books of their DRM. Right now I'd agree things are a mess and the book publishers are making the RIAA guys look like Einstein!
Bullshit. You can sell ebooks for less than $3 and make a profit. The overhead is WAY lower. Authors are starting to realize this and publish on their own and it scares the crap out of the publishing industry which is so stupid they actually use the cost of PRINTING paper books as an excuse to inflate ebook pricing!
Read this: http://blog.macmillanspeaks.com/ completely to see how far up their ass the publishers have placed their heads
and this: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/ to see what smart authors are starting to realize!
Strongly suggest you check out a Kindle - no not an iPad. the Kindle screen is as close to paper as you're going to get in a portable form right now. It's NOT backlit but can be read anywhere the light is good enough to read paper. It doesn't strain the eyes either - it's NOTHING like a computer screen. Give it a chance, you just might find that you liek it. I know being able to carry a few hundred books in my pocket sure is nice. Just be sure to review ebook prices first - right now they suck!
Well, you can also strip the DRM off of the Kindle book and share to as many friends as you want but frankly it's a hassle...
They WERE lower and then Apple cut a deal with the publishers to allow the PUBLISHERS, not the retailers, to set pricing. They then beat Amazon over the head with this deal and forced Amazon to capitulate. Overnight book prices for E-books in many cases were changed to be HIGHER than hardcover sale prices. The publishers tell you this is a deal though because it's still lower than hardcover LIST prices - who buys at list?! Retailers still set those prices! Want to know when you're getting boned by a publisher? Look for "This price was set by the publisher" on the sales entry.
When this occurred I went from buying multiple books a month to torrenting them - I haven't bought anything other than a Sci-Fi subscription to a magazine in MONTHS as a result of this bullshit. When they bring back $9.99 pricing I'll start buying, until then - fuck 'em. I can't resell, trade, or give away an e-book like I can paper. I no longer want paper books in my home either - I have too many as it is! grrrr!
When E-books cost MORE than some hardcovers of course they don't sell. Put them back under $9.99 and I'll stop torrenting and begin purchasing again! The publishers are trying to use E-Books to support their print overhead - and have said as much. MacMillan and others are thieves so far as I'm concerned. As soon as they began setting prices vs Amazon the cost of E-books went through the roof. that they try to make them sound like a bargain because they cost less than LIST hardcover even though they cannot be traded, shared, or sold is a sad sham. some authors are starting to go it on their own and skip the publishers altogether - I wish some of the authors *I* like would do that. You know it's sad when a published author makes MORE money going through Amazon direct and selling for a pittance than they do going through a publisher!
Some reading:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
http://hauntedcomputer.blogspot.com/
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/01/amazon-macmillan-an-outsiders.html
http://www.teleread.com/drm/macmillan-ceo-tells-his-side-of-amazon-spat/
http://blog.macmillanspeaks.com/ Make sure to read ALL of the entries in this one - there are some truly stunning doozies! I wonder what planet this moron comes from?
Yeah, no chance in hell of that working huh?
http://vodo.net/pioneerone
No one I know uses Limewire as it's lame and most of the folks I know aren't young pups wet behind the ears ie younger than 30 ;-)
Get off my Lawn!
You're obviously not a parent. Probably a good thing actually. If you had managed to reproduce and had bought the little darlings DVD or heaven forbid BD you would most certainly know the importance of backing up said material before it gets used as some sort of air hockey disk or coaster.
I started backing up MY media when some folks came into my home to do some work and stopped dead in their tracks in awe at seeing the multiple racks of DVD I had out in my living room. "Maaaan, that's ALOT of DVD!". It was at that moment that I remembered what it felt like to have my car broken into - more than once - only to have my CDs reappear at the local used CD shop. All of my media is now kept boxed up out of sight and their content stored on servers that don't ever see the light of day. Gone are the fears that someone will steal my media and I no longer have friends and family mooching DVD from me. It's also a damn bit easier to select a movie from a list on my TV than it is to crawl around looking at covers on the shelf when I want to watch something.
So, pull your head out of your ass and realize that not everyone is just like you nor does everyone act as you'd expect. It's not hard at all to find people with collections of disks, legally purchased, that are FAR larger than mine too....
It would seem that you don't understand how DVD works if you think this allows them to make copies where they couldn't before. To make a copy all they need to do is... copy it. Crypto and all, it will play just fine on any legit BD or DVD player. HDCP has done NOTHING to hamper the professional pirates but has been no end of trouble to many home theater enthusiasts and even video professionals who have to jump through hoops to get around it doing their work.
It mostly has come to mean breaking free of the signature required code found on iPhone. It most certainly is NOT something involving SIM cards - that would be "unlocking".
Stringly suggest you take a hard look at unRAID - it will do much of what you want in the way of spinning down drives etc.