Living in obscurity.

[ein_myria]

Does it mean you've hit the limelight if e-book pirates chose to share your work online? If so, congratulations!

Curiously, I was looking at Karin Kallmaker's list of Ye Olde Myths of Piracy and was unsatisfied with the supporting evidence. The "myth" about authors actually earning more money? Well, it's not a myth in the sense that it's not real. Mercedes Lackey and several other authors who were part of the Baen Free Library experiment had sales of their books increase after they released it for free in 2002. Even MIT press and other academic presses had several works lifted out of obscurity and sold more printed copies precisely because the works were available for free. Obviously, this does not translate unilaterally across the board, but it's good to know all the facts on hand before we make a judgment.

Comments

Re: whoops for the delete.

[ein_myria]

Hi, thanks for writing in. You're right, it's a double-edged sword. That adage of "don't quit your day job" is sounding more and more true. Not only does one have to be a great writer but also a savvy businessperson--to know what appeals to the market. I think though that the publishing industry should be seen as a service rather than an evil entity that has all the solutions. Actually, I championed a lot of the web to print authors in the past, but the fall of the POD has made me much more guarded. Even though people might adore it on the web, it doesn't automatically translate to a cash sale over the counter or an actual sale at an online bookstore. I think that it's great that you're continuing to write despite all of the hardship. It's also nice that your work is being recognized; the visibility should do well for future works, no? It gets you a leg in the door, if nothing else. :)

Nowadays I've heard that academic publishers (yet another niche market) are asking potential authors to fork out their own money (upwards to $10,000) for an initial print run, so that the editors who believe in their work can justify bringing it up to the marketing department even if it doesn't sell well. It's a strange world that we live in if academia is ruled by marketing people. *sigh*