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• davharris commented on The monetization paradox (or why Google is not my friend)
  All these suggestions about ransoms, auctions, and patronage... they sound sensible and maybe the sums can be made to add up - but to me it seems very complicated from the point of view of the poor reader. As things are, you want a book, you go to the shop and buy a book. Or you order one online. Or perhaps you download an e-thingy (ugh). In that future, instead you have to join in an auction, or wait till your author's ransom point comes up, or sign up as a sponsor. I just can't see people doing it, much...
• vatine commented on The monetization paradox (or why Google is not my friend)
  Preson with a long URL @ #233: -Problem with the ransom model: what is known as "the Prisoner's dilemma" (incentives to "free ride" are huge). Stephen King tried this model with "The Plant", and I think it was a failure. Incentives to a "free ride" are indeed huge, but once the work has passed through the ransom/street-performer bit, the end results are (in essence) paid for. That means you can charge a much smaller amount for tangibles afterwards and could even provide an electronic version for free. davharris @ #235: The main idea of ransoms and/or auctions is taht they're...
• davharris commented on The monetization paradox (or why Google is not my friend)
  vatine @ 237: "The main idea of ransoms and/or auctions is taht they're only ever entered into by a relatively small core of harccore fans, once they're done with, the work is then available and people who are not part of the crunchy fancore can just enjoy the results." So the core fans end up subsidising the halo? I suppose they already do that to a degree, as they're more likely to buy earlier therefore hardbacks. But at present presumably publisher counts on making money from a reasonable mass paperback run, which would go, on this plan, so core fan...
• vatine commented on The monetization paradox (or why Google is not my friend)
  davharris @ #246: Well, my ideal "author", "publisher/broker", "consumer" model has the publisher/broker printing paperbacks and sending that on to retailers, as long as there's a perceived market for them. Don't know what a sensible price point would be (printing cost, royalty, shipping cost and retailer profit; maybe?). I suspect a sufficiently slim operation could take enough profit from the ransom stage (not necessarily as an actual cut of the money, purely from interest gathered holding on to it between initial gathering and either returning it or handing it to the author) so as to be able to treat physical...
• Charlie Stross commented on The monetization paradox (or why Google is not my friend)
  Comments now closed due to a surfeit of spam ......