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Beware, publishers and writers: Apple can be a slow payer, not just a censor
May 3, 2009 | 8:14 am
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By David Rothman
The censors at Apple’s iPhone App store just won’t quit.
Boing Boing reports that “Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails iPhone app, ‘NIN iPhone,” has been removed.” What’s more in a separate incident, it also threw out a comic book version of a Cory Doctorow short story, perhaps because of the beheading of an orc.
S-l-o-w payments to indie developers
But who says censorship is Apple’s only threat to publishers and writers?
In the case of iTunes, how about the problems of some developer in collecting timely compensation?
“Some cases, says Gizmodo, “are dramatic, deeply affecting indie developer’s families in the middle of the crisis.” Examples:
“30 something year old family man with bills to pay owed 1,000′s (soon to be 10′s of thousands if March is missed also) here.”
“I’m with you. I am a 30 year old work-from-home Dad of 2 kids. I’m owed probably about $10k at this point ($2k from past months, $8k from the month with no payments or financial reports yet).”
“This is a BIG deal for me and my family.”
“Over $10,000 here. Family, kids, mortgage etc. Mails unanswered etc. In dispair. No where to go. They don’t reply to emails and there is no number. Can’t do anything physically because I’m in the European Union.”
If you’re a publisher or writer, will Apple diss you and your wallet? And how about other giants? You already know how Amazon could be unwittingly harming sales of The Solomon Scandals, my Washington novel published by a tiny house in Tennessee. A good deal of the time, my book listing won’t pop up when you search Amazon’s catalog—well, unless you type “The” in front of “Scandals.” Who know what is happening under the hood, unknown to me? So what else is now? Although exceptions abound, huge conglomerates as a rule don’t give a squat about small fry. Even big companies may suffer.
In an e-mail to me, Dear Author’s Jane notes that “Apple 3.0 OS will allow for micropayments from within Applications that will be funneled through iTunes account. Thus, what will major publishers do if their payments are significantly delayed because of Apple’s inept accounting abilities? Will stories like this [from the iTunes-shafted developers] delay adoption of the iPhone e-book platform or will the demand for e-books on the Apple device require major players to swallow their frustration and live with Apple?” Excellent questions!
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Comments:
Mm. Maybe I don’t feel so bad after all…
I believe it was a comic book adaptation of Doctorow’s short story “Anda’s Game” that was rejected for Orc-beheading.
Thanks, Chris. Changed. David
It seems that ratings for books will become inevitable IF Apple becomes a dominant player in the market. Is it better for publishers to start to own the ratings rather than having it forced on them by a retailer?
I know how he feels. A large publisher I once did contract editorial work for delaying paying me for over three months, forcing me to make meals from dusty cans in the back of cabinets. At least they had an excuse. They’d been bought out by a large publishing conglomerate and their accounting systems were in mess. But I was still hungry, mad and in no mood for their excuses. As far as I was concerned, they should have paid me and fixed their books later.
A year later when a hassle came up over another project, I told them to get lost. It wasn’t that hassle, which was minor. It was the anger I still felt about those delayed checks.
Apple is creating the same situation. In a year or two good, talented developers will be deserting and Apple will be asking itself, “Why are they leaving? The issues they raised don’t matter that much.” It won’t be those issues. It’ll be these checks delays.
Apple should pay these developers in two months at the most. An purchase in early January should be paid by the end of March at the latest. Apple has tens of billions in cash reserves. It can afford to pay promptly.
Apple’s evolution as a publisher has it shedding its cultural origins pretty awkwardly.
Not long ago in the pre-download era, Apple hawked its gear with images of iconoclasts and rebels. As much of a sentimental put-on as this was, the ads and portraits in stores were invitations to the clubhouse. They signaled Apple wasn’t, say, Wal-Mart, which did its own clubby signifying (eg, Support Our Troops signs, George Bush’s speeches pumped over the PA system).
Now, when you open the iTunes store, it’s harder to pretend you aren’t shopping in a virtual Wal-Mart with its botoxed culture. You might be after your Coltrane, but you’re going to wade through Britney, Spiderman and 24 first.
If you cater to mass taste, you invite all the hobgoblins of its discontents to the table. Censorship, that great American rite, is sure to follow.