Dogpile the luddite!

[chaotic_nipple]

According to the current Vice President of the Science fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, authors who put their work online for free are "Webscabs" who are stealing food from the mouths of the children of those writers who don't chose to "give away their work".

I remember at DragonCon a few years ago, there was a panel on the "Future of Ebooks", and right after John Ringo gave a spiel about how every book that was put up for download on the Baen Free Library sold more paper copies afterwards, one of the other writers on the panel made the same argument. John's face went through such amazing contortions, I wish I'd had a video camera...

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/little_e_/]

Seems to me that (if there's a problem at all,) it's a collective action problem.

Ain't no one going to pay me to make comics. Seriously, I've sold one item in the past two years, and that was to someone who wanted in my pants. Whopee, I made a quarter!

So I have two choices: give away content for free, and hope that someone out there likes what I draw and I make them happy, or publish nothing at all.

Now, personally, why the hell should I give a crap about anyone else? I enjoy my comic. It's actually the thing in my life of which I am most proud. I'm not giving up my comic just because some other writer doesn't want to get a fucking day job.


All that said, if the content ain't out there, people can't buy it. Increase the distribution of your content, and more people will buy it, even if some people mooch. Keeping the market artificially small and limited to benefit the elite few does not help the vast, vast majority of us, either writers or readers.

[dracphelan.livejournal.com]

I never understand this attitude. No matter what numbers are presented, these idiots can't understand the free books are advertising. They have the attitude that the people who are reading for free would have bought the book if it was not free. This is just not true, especially with new authors and/or series. I call it the RIAA syndrome.

[http://users.livejournal.com/little_e_/]

Indeed. An enormous amount of the free stuff on the internet is not in fact worth paying money for.

All of the Harry Potter fanfiction in the world has not hurt J.K. Rowling's sales in the least...

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

One _could_ argue that the poor quality of that fan-fic hurts her reputation, and therefore costs her sales. Personally I'm inclined to dismiss such arguments, though.

[http://users.livejournal.com/little_e_/]

Well, yes, one *could* make any number of absurd arguments, but it seems like they'd be a waste of time...

[cmorley.livejournal.com]

I was going to comment on Mr. Hendrix's stance, but whatever I say would be largely irrelevant. *He's* largely irrelevant. Time marches on, for better or worse, and you either take advantage of it, or... well, or you can become the RIAA.

[inhuman14.livejournal.com]

email me your address, so we can send cool things to you. suzuki.ian@gmail.com

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

5318 South Ridge Way
Middleton, WI
53562

BTW, I would totally recommend that you go see This guy's (http://jonathancoulton.com/) show next month, but it's at a bar so you probably won't be able to.

Dear SFWA,

[trifles.livejournal.com]

Please stop embarrassing us, omg. Next thing you know the RWA will be scooping all the misunderstood geek children because they don't have a problem with the Internets -- and then we'll just have to shoot ourselves.

[reikimaster.livejournal.com]

weird. I was at the panel. in the audience, I mean.

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

"It's a small world after all..."

Did you notice the small group of "Baen Barflies" who were drinking heavily and occasionally clinking their beers together and shouting "Hear hear!" in lieu of applause? One of them was me. :-)

Tempest in a Teapot

[(Anonymous)]

This is silly on so many levels. Eric deconstructs the argument well, but let's talk about the silly stuff.

One: This guy isn't a writer. He's a fricking hobbyist. Six novels in, what, a decade? Christ, that's my output for last month.

Why? Gotta pay the rent. I'm not a hobbyist.

And he's the past-president of SFWA? Says all you gotta know about SFWA. It's an organization of hobbyists, run by hobbyists who give each other blue ribbons for best orchid.

Two: Taking money out of the mouths of his children? He doesn't have any children. I do. I just had to pay for two sets of braces. Know how I did it? Wrote a frickin' book you moron. Go try it. Go ahead. We'll wait. Not a fricking decade but we'll wait.

Three: Helloooooo! New technology! Effects thereof, one fucking each. You know, the sort of shit that SCIENCE FICTION authors write about?

"I'm gonna go cut my wood."

Yeah, well, I'm gonna go turn up the heat. Cause I don't have time to cut wood and I'VE GOT TO WATCH MY HANDS CAUSE THEY'RE WHAT I MAKE MONEY OFF OF.

There are so many things stupid and silly about this I could take all night writing them.

But, oh, I've got a book to write. I guess I won't have the time.

Lord this sort of shit pisses me off.

Yep, I'm a scab. Gonna go scab some more because, you know, gotta eat.

Dumbasses.





John Ringo

[corwynofamber.livejournal.com]

have you read his clarification of the remark?
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/web_tech/exclusive_hendrix_clarifies_scabrous_remarks_on_web_publishing_57032.asp

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Too late for his reputation. He shall forever more be remembered for the original rant. :-)