Saturday 3 April 2010

Adapt or go bust

In this developing digital age content creatives (authors, musicians, film makers, etc) need to really question what value their publisher/label/studio really adds.

In the book & music world I would argue that they add precious little other than access to the publicity machine. Yet their involvement adds significantly to the cost of the product.

Take the world of books. I have no problem paying £15 for a physical hardback, or £8 for a paperback (as my bookcases will attest.) I'm paying the author for his work. I’m also paying for the paper, the printing process, storage & transport.

Why should an ebook cost the same as the physical book? Surely 99% of the cost should be the royalties for the author. The actual technology costs must be minimal.

Ditch the publisher. Publish straight to ebook. Make the first chapter free, then charge for the rest of the ebook - charge the same as the royalty you currently get per physical book.

The price of the ebook will be modest. With the option to try before they buy more people will give your work a go (and get hooked.) Pirating won't be worth it, and DRM goes away.

Sure the publisher/label/studio are never going to like this model, but we live in a capitalistic society, where the mantra is adapt or go bust.

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