Free Textware?I've been thinking a lot recently about Linux, StarOffice and the whole Free Software movement. Specifically, I've been thinking of applying that model to eBooks. So far I, like most writers who publish electronically, have been charging for my work, asking for maybe half of what that work would go for in paperback. It seemed like the thing to do, and everybody else was doing it... but now I'm not so sure it's right after all. I grew up wanting to be a published writer, to go into a bookstore or library and see my name up on the shelves. At the Rocky Mountain Book Festival last weekend, I got to rub elbows with SF heavy-hitters like Greg Bear, Kevin J. Anderson and Connie Willis, and I couldn't get over how cool it woud be to one day take my place among them. Unfortunately, most publishing houses are compacting their lines right now, and it's harder than it has has been for a very long time for a new writer to break into print. The irony, however, is that it's easier than any time in history for a writer to find an audience, thanks largely to the internet. I'm one of a new generation of eBook writers, people who, tired of fighting the paper publishing system, are putting original works out there as eBooks, self-publishing in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes) and Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass). While we e-authors don't have a shelf of tomes we can point to, we can get internationally published at the click of a button, with no distribution headaches. My big question, though, is does this new publishing frontier, which breaks from the traditional print paradigm in so many ways, have to mimic the way print handles sales and pricing? I've been thinking a lot about the Free Software movement and I wonder if the time has come for Free Textware. Put down those ropes and hear me out. I think I'm on to something here. The idea behind the Free Software movement is that software and sometimes the source code is given away for free, and the companies make money through alternative channels, like support. We e-authors could do the same with eBooks making them available to download for free, and optionally supply print-on-demand hardcopies at cost. This eliminates a lot of headaches we've all experienced recently, like how to protect the content from piracy (it's not theoretically possible to steal something that's free). A lot of you are probably screaming, "what about compensation?" right about now, and I have a reasoned, carefully thought out answer for you. I don't care. Personally, I've long since given up on the idea of making a living, or worse, getting rich, off my writing. I'll have a day job for the rest of my life, as will I suspect most of you. Writers rank just above Catholic priests in annual compensation, and I'm not frugal enough to live that way. To me it's more important to have recognition, to have my works read and enjoyed. I don't write for monetary gain, I write because it's what I do. I'd take a million readers who paid nothing any day over a hundred that bought my book. That's not to say there isn't any compensation in the Free Textware model, it's just that it's more indirect. Things like banner adds on the website people go to when they download your book, that sort of thing. I'll leave more inventive options to the economics majors out there. The downside to all this (aside from not getting rich off your writing directly) is that some people perceive the value in something as a function of what they paid for it. The idea is that if it's not worth buying, it's not worth reading. This attitude isn't as common among Linux-using, net-savvy people, but many in "the masses" still think this way. Should e-authors charge some token fee just to convince people the product is worth having? I don't have the answers here. What do you think? Should textware be free? I welcome your comments at jkirvin@myself.com, or join our discussion list. The list also provides announcements about the site (new columns, etc.) and discussions of eBooks, writing and PalmOS. |