400,000 downloads/Bit Torrent's 1st novel release - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T15:59:54Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/400000-downloadsbit-torrents?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A287207&feed=yes&xn_auth=noOnce Captive goes into the di…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-06-01:537324:Comment:2929342011-06-01T20:56:58.176ZMary McFarlandhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/MaryMcFarland
<p>Once <em>Captive</em> goes into the digital commons, BitTorrent can mash it up and repackage and <em>sell</em> it any way they choose, completely removing your name from a <em>product</em> that you've created, same as the worker making Hershey's kisses, or hard drives, or jewelry, etc. Books, digital books, are products, and I would like to get paid in money, so I can pay my bills, but even moreso, because like any professional, if I do a job I want to be paid for it. Freemium doesn't pay…</p>
<p>Once <em>Captive</em> goes into the digital commons, BitTorrent can mash it up and repackage and <em>sell</em> it any way they choose, completely removing your name from a <em>product</em> that you've created, same as the worker making Hershey's kisses, or hard drives, or jewelry, etc. Books, digital books, are products, and I would like to get paid in money, so I can pay my bills, but even moreso, because like any professional, if I do a job I want to be paid for it. Freemium doesn't pay my bills and, frankly, it's an insult.</p>
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<p>At this point, the law for protecting intellectual property in the ether is gray at best, so authors are simply unprotected once their work goes out there. Democratizing the media is a myth, since the same entities (BitTorrent, for example), who take and freely use your product, your intellectual property, are installing digital fences right now to prevent us from getting at the material they are presently grabbing. </p> I love the quote and the mess…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-05:537324:Comment:2877172011-05-05T18:14:56.655Zmegan lisa joneshttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/meganlisajones
<p>I love the quote and the message (essentially that we do the best we can in any given environment). Hopefully, as authors experiment new (profitable!) models develop. I actually believe that they will. If no one can get paid the work involved in writing and publishing a book just isn't sustainable. And people still read books...</p>
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<p>But totally agree that stealing isn't ok.</p>
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<p>I'll keep people posted on the BitTorrent promotion and related audience...if you're…</p>
<p>I love the quote and the message (essentially that we do the best we can in any given environment). Hopefully, as authors experiment new (profitable!) models develop. I actually believe that they will. If no one can get paid the work involved in writing and publishing a book just isn't sustainable. And people still read books...</p>
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<p>But totally agree that stealing isn't ok.</p>
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<p>I'll keep people posted on the BitTorrent promotion and related audience...if you're interested.</p> It's perfectly OK with me if…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-05:537324:Comment:2876672011-05-05T13:17:50.340ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>It's perfectly OK with me if Megan wants to give her novel away for free. A lot of would-be authors do the same with free Kindle versions.</p>
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<p>What is not OK is stealing someone's book in order to give it away.</p>
<p>It's perfectly OK with me if Megan wants to give her novel away for free. A lot of would-be authors do the same with free Kindle versions.</p>
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<p>What is not OK is stealing someone's book in order to give it away.</p> Thanks for contributing Megan…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-05:537324:Comment:2876372011-05-05T10:12:49.002ZTimothy Londonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/TimothyLondon
<p>Thanks for contributing Megan.</p>
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<p>It's interesting to note that, as with the music business, there are the polar opposites of evangelists for online and traditionalists on the other, with a lot of people hoping and praying in the middle.</p>
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<p>Because books have always had such an important place culturally it's hard to grasp that, for the likes of Amazon, they are just so much product. Somehow it's easier to dismiss something if it only exists as an idea in a series…</p>
<p>Thanks for contributing Megan.</p>
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<p>It's interesting to note that, as with the music business, there are the polar opposites of evangelists for online and traditionalists on the other, with a lot of people hoping and praying in the middle.</p>
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<p>Because books have always had such an important place culturally it's hard to grasp that, for the likes of Amazon, they are just so much product. Somehow it's easier to dismiss something if it only exists as an idea in a series of words, as opposed to a burn-able book.</p>
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<p>So, as with a lot of internet content, we're still trying to work out what's important as well as how to make money from it and the fact that your book is read in countries where it would normally need to go through the difficult process of being sanctioned and imported is an important one.</p>
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<p>The closest to a neat summing up of the situation I've read so far comes from author Iain Sinclair in an <a target="_blank" href="http://www.argotistonline.co.uk/Sinclair%20interview.htm">interview (read here)</a>: </p>
<p align="justify"></p>
'I think the climate has changed, colder in some spots, meltdown in others. The slippage from the small-press world (where such as Peter Ackroyd got their start) won’t happen again. “Literary fiction” has lost its marketing niche: speed has increased, front-of-house display to smoky oven in nanoseconds. What publishers are looking for is the photogenic, one-idea pitch, the first novel. Novelty as a form of celebrity: look good, look wild-but-safe. Have a story. The author is being sold as much as the property.<br/>
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The answer is, as always, to ignore the system and stake out your own turf. Through Internet publishing, events, private circulation. Don’t accept the fruit-fly demands of the chains: books don’t lose value because they fail to shift thousands of units in the first week.<br/>
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It’s bleak, but it always was. Time and place contrive the voices that time and place require.'<br />
<p align="justify"></p> So I'm the author of Captive…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-05:537324:Comment:2876072011-05-05T04:40:41.099Zmegan lisa joneshttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/meganlisajones
<p>So I'm the author of Captive and the BitTorrent partner. I agree with a lot of the points made below. Having said that, as a new author, the options, in my opinion (I come from the business, specifically high tech..not surprisingly...world) are very limited. But people are still reading books.</p>
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<p>I will disagree with one point...I don't think that 400,000 times zero always equals zero. I've gotten amazing support and feedback from readers as a result of the BitTorrent…</p>
<p>So I'm the author of Captive and the BitTorrent partner. I agree with a lot of the points made below. Having said that, as a new author, the options, in my opinion (I come from the business, specifically high tech..not surprisingly...world) are very limited. But people are still reading books.</p>
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<p>I will disagree with one point...I don't think that 400,000 times zero always equals zero. I've gotten amazing support and feedback from readers as a result of the BitTorrent promotion. Some has come from people in places like Iran or Syria where Captive wasn't going to get published. Some has been in the United States. I like knowing that people are reading and enjoying my book. Will they stay my audience if I charge next time? I don't know...but had they not read or heard about Captive they would never have been my audience in the first place.</p>
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<p>I loved working with BitTorrent; they supported the release and know how to reach an audience. I look at the promotion as a "freemium" model (a business decision) and, as a friend told me when I mentioned that 400,000 plus is a lot of "free" - freemium always starts that way...then it's up to me to figure out how to make money. Will I? Let's hope. And let's hope others do the same.</p>
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<p>Thoughts and inputs are welcome... </p>
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<p>And, this book could very easily have been pirated...but no one knew that they wanted it. I prefer to focus on the fact that we reached across borders and windows to democratize media. I truly wish there were more options for new writers and artists. Perhaps I'm missing something, but getting any traction is hard with so many media options out there.</p>
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<p>Thoughts?</p> OK, the competition is a prob…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-03:537324:Comment:2873262011-05-03T15:03:27.781ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
OK, the competition is a problem, but as for publicity and promotion, most of us haven't been getting that anyway,
OK, the competition is a problem, but as for publicity and promotion, most of us haven't been getting that anyway, That's the nub! There are a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-02:537324:Comment:2872072011-05-02T21:47:41.033ZTimothy Londonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/TimothyLondon
<p>That's the nub! There are a lot of dreamers who see online as a way to bypass the trad route. But the DIY revolution hasn't happened in the music biz, not in the way everyone was hopeful for and that should worry those who believe the world of publishing has suddenly opened up to the world.</p>
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<p>My fear is that authors will come up against the same problems as musicians, which are the cost of effective PR & promotion, the lack of financial support and being swamped by the…</p>
<p>That's the nub! There are a lot of dreamers who see online as a way to bypass the trad route. But the DIY revolution hasn't happened in the music biz, not in the way everyone was hopeful for and that should worry those who believe the world of publishing has suddenly opened up to the world.</p>
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<p>My fear is that authors will come up against the same problems as musicians, which are the cost of effective PR & promotion, the lack of financial support and being swamped by the hundreds of thousands who decide to self-publish.</p>
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<p>The effect could be that there are less options for the struggling author, rather than more!</p> That sounds really hopeful fo…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-02:537324:Comment:2872062011-05-02T21:03:49.259ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>That sounds really hopeful for the book business!</p>
<p>Actually, there is already a lot of evidence that publishers are going that route. Mind you, I think those huge advances are idiotic, as is the fact that they buy books back from stores.</p>
<p>Considering that authors can go directly to Kindle, they can bypass those really rotten deals. Who wants to finance those publisher lifestyles?</p>
<p>That sounds really hopeful for the book business!</p>
<p>Actually, there is already a lot of evidence that publishers are going that route. Mind you, I think those huge advances are idiotic, as is the fact that they buy books back from stores.</p>
<p>Considering that authors can go directly to Kindle, they can bypass those really rotten deals. Who wants to finance those publisher lifestyles?</p> Well, the loss leader argumen…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-02:537324:Comment:2871602011-05-02T19:40:42.139ZTimothy Londonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/TimothyLondon
<p>Well, the loss leader argument has proven wrong with music and film - instead the losses remain permanent. Those 400,000 readers are more likely to be 400,000 readers who will expect to read digital books for free, which will be the attitude generally, with good evidence from the music industry.</p>
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<p>The music business didn't really make many mistakes, when you look at the whole business - they just accepted the inevitable. They've had to readjust, slim down and carry on with…</p>
<p>Well, the loss leader argument has proven wrong with music and film - instead the losses remain permanent. Those 400,000 readers are more likely to be 400,000 readers who will expect to read digital books for free, which will be the attitude generally, with good evidence from the music industry.</p>
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<p>The music business didn't really make many mistakes, when you look at the whole business - they just accepted the inevitable. They've had to readjust, slim down and carry on with several new players (Youtube/iTunes/Amazon) and a new business model which reduces manufacturing costs by paying out less in advances and with less risks by making the artists prove themselves before signing and then signing them to really rotten deals when they have signed them.</p> The implication here is that…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-05-02:537324:Comment:2871872011-05-02T19:00:40.341ZMike Dennishttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/MikeDennis
<p>The implication here is that she's losing money on 400,000 potential sales. There's no question that most of those pirates wouldn't pay for the book anyway. Or for any other book. And those who might have paid for it? Well, this is only going to introduce her to that market that might otherwise never have heard of her. A loss leader, so to speak.</p>
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<p>As for the music business? Instead of trying to figure out how to adapt to the new digital world, the record companies instead…</p>
<p>The implication here is that she's losing money on 400,000 potential sales. There's no question that most of those pirates wouldn't pay for the book anyway. Or for any other book. And those who might have paid for it? Well, this is only going to introduce her to that market that might otherwise never have heard of her. A loss leader, so to speak.</p>
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<p>As for the music business? Instead of trying to figure out how to adapt to the new digital world, the record companies instead poured their resources into lawsuits against their own customers. How's that working for them, I wonder?</p>