I was listening to NPR this morning and they did a story about HarperCollins giving away their books on their website. On their website you can read 5 books they have available in their entirety and they're tracking has shown them people read somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 pages before many of them go on to buy the whole book. Harlequin has offered their entire catalog on-line since 1999 without worrying about illegal file-sharing because readers tend to be older and it takes much longer to read a book than listen to a song. One author on Harlequin (forget her name) said the publisher gave away 1000 copies of her book and sold an additional 3000. What they're all trying to figure out is the magic number to give away that won't be too much and will create the maximum amount of sales.

BAEN Books has done something similar: giving away online editions of their books, and then turning around and selling more copies of print and electronic editions. There was a recent story about another company (perhaps Audible, not sure) tracking electronic editions. They watermarked some stuff that they sold, but no DRM. Turns out what showed up on file sharing sites was not the DRM-free watermarked copies, but ripped from CDs. Also, another story about a classic movie called His Girl Friday proved interesting. The copyright wasn't renewed and various editions floated out there of differing quality. The many editions actually rescued this movie from obscurity, nice prints were produced, and copyright re-asserted. There's a ton of stuff out there in dying in dusty boxes, all because of the continually extensions of copyright pushed by the house of mouse and other big companies.

Anders

I was listening to NPR this morning and they did a story about HarperCollins giving away their books on their website. On their website you can read 5 books they have available in their entirety and they're tracking has shown them people read somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 pages before many of them go on to buy the whole book. Harlequin has offered their entire catalog on-line since 1999 without worrying about illegal file-sharing because readers tend to be older and it takes much longer to read a book than listen to a song. One author on Harlequin (forget her name) said the publisher gave away 1000 copies of her book and sold an additional 3000. What they're all trying to figure out is the magic number to give away that won't be too much and will create the maximum amount of sales.

"Free? There's nothing 'free' but the air. And in Luna, you pay for that too. Right, Prof?"

"Exactly right, Manny."

adapted from THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS
by Robert A. Harlequin

Free? Death is free. You stiff the guy that does you in, what's he gonna do?

(hey, I need to use that somewhere.)

Free? Death is free. You stiff the guy that does you in, what's he gonna do?

(hey, I need to use that somewhere.)

"Death? You think death is free? Even death has a price. And I will soon find your price, my friend."

--from THE THING IN THE CRADLE by H. P. Hovercraft

"Free? There's nothing 'free' but the air. And in Luna, you pay for that too. Right, Prof?"

"Exactly right, Manny."

adapted from THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS
by Robert A. Harlequin

"There's something else," he went on. "We know there are aliens out there. We know interstellar travel is possible. The next time we meet aliens they could be even worse than the Invaders. They might want to exterminate us, rather than just evict us. I think we ought to keep some fighting skills alive in case we meet some disagreeable critters we can fight."

Brenda sat up, wide-eyed. "You're a Heinleiner!" she said.

It was MacDonald's turn to shrug. "I don't attend services, but I agree with a lot of what they say."

John Varley, Steel Beach

Free? This is what Vlad Tepes would think of that:

" "A perfect example of the dichotomy that was Dracula is woven into an old Nuremburg legend. It tells us of his sympathy for the downtrodden of his land – the poor, the invalid, the cripple, the infirm. But, this "sympathy" extended to a morbid result. One evening, he invited hundreds of paupers to his dining hall at his castle, treating them to something they had not had in years: a filling meal. After the desserts were served, Dracula and his staff slowly meandered out, leaving only the ragged guests alone in the hall of stone. This is when Dracula's skilled archers shot arrows of fire through the hall's tall windows from outside, igniting the treated tapestries, curtains, carpets and dinner linens into a blaze that erupted into an inferno. While the peasants banged helplessly against the bolted doors for egress, Dracula in a room beyond replied, "The poor unloved creatures, it is best that they leave this world now, on a full stomach." "
--http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/vlad/impaler_5.html

BTW, please join my "Vlad the Impaler Appreciation Society". Membership is "free" (hee hee). It's time we "spike" all these rumors about Vlad. Join now and receive a free "Vlad ain't so bad" bumper sticker, along with an "Impalement is Fun" coffee mug and blood red "Got Blood" T-Shirt. For more info call: (666) 666-6666.