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Libertarian writer dissects Chris Anderson’s ‘Free’
July 12, 2009 | 7:13 am
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By David Rothman
“Business strategy…seeks not only to create but to capture value. Free is about a phenomenon in which almost all the new value goes to consumers, not producers. It is false to assume that no price means no value. But it is equally false to argue that value implies profitability.” – Libertarian writer Virginia Postrel in the New York Times—reviewing Free, Wired Editor Chris Anderson’s book, which, yes, is free online.
The TeleRead take: So what do you think, gang? Some luminaries within publishing have likened some book giveaways to the tragedy of the commons. That is, if used by some writers and publishes, this will harm publishing as a whole, because the audience grows accustomed to paying $0. The counter argument, of course, is that “free” can lead to income from other revenue streams, book-related or not.
Related: Tweet RTed by Clay Shirky, from Net-skepetic Andrew Keen originally: "Digital revolution resurrects value of physical products and slow services. That’s where $ is in the new economy." Hmm. Isn’t that what p-books are—slow and physical?
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Customers pay for nothing, or practically nothing, in a lot of areas now… newspapers, web sites and television shows come immediately to mind. That’s evidence that providing something the consumer does not directly pay for is do-able. It just requires investigation into other revenue streams.
As the above examples suggest, ad revenue is an obvious choice to replace consumer charges. The trick is always to find a way to include ads in your product that don’t turn off your customers.
It’s not true that “no one likes ads,” despite everyone’s claims to the contrary… no one likes obtrusive ads for things they don’t want. Properly tailor the content and delivery method, and people don’t generally complain about ads… and if you do it properly, people love the ads, because they take them to things they want.
There are other methods of making revenue, but it takes effort to find those ways. As soon as the publishing industry takes that leap, the sooner they will solve many of their print-to-electronic transition issues.
Steve said, “It’s not true that “no one likes ads,” despite everyone’s claims to the contrary… no one likes obtrusive ads for things they don’t want. Properly tailor the content and delivery method, and people don’t generally complain about ads… and if you do it properly, people love the ads, because they take them to things they want.”
Easier said than done. Look at all the howling protests on Facebook about “targeted” ads. And, Facebook, as I understand, still isn’t even making any money. To say nothing about the issues of privacy “targeted” ads bring up.
Not saying that it can’t be done – Google makes a mint off AdSense – just that it’s tricky. I, for one, would be extremely annoyed to find an ad in my e-book, say.
As for the virtues of free, I’d say it all depends. There’s going to be lots of routes to publishing success, and lots of definitions of “success.”
All ads, by their vary nature, are obtrusive and obnoxious. I wouldn’t accept ebooks with advertising; I’d put my Kindle away for good and read only books printed on paper before allowing ads. I’d rather pay $10.00 an ebook with DRM then to get the same book for free, without DRM, but supported by “targeted” ads. In cases like that, “free” would cost too much, so just let me pay cash.
I’ve been reading Anderson’s book online. I’m enjoying it, and I may buy a physical copy in the future — but not until he fixes the inexcusable documentation errors in his first edition.
But to your point . . . I am a creative writer and I do give electronic versions of my books away for free. I also publish physical copies via POD services; these are not free, simply because there are real costs involved in manufacturing a “p-book.” Such costs are either minuscule or non-existent when it comes to e-books, though.
But one of the main reasons why I offer e-books for free is because I don’t expect to earn a living off of my creative writing. Profit is not my motive for writing stories and poems. I do it because I love to do it; it fulfills me as a human being; and I get more satisfaction simply knowing that there are people out there downloading, reading, and enjoying my books. In a way, demanding money from my readers would corrupt and demean the art that I am trying to make.
But I’m an idealist, so I don’t expect anyone else to follow my example. If anyone reading this wants to try to make money through their creative writing, I say more power to you. Money doesn’t drive me, though.
I think the publishing industry has a habit of overreacting to ‘perceived’ threats to their outdated business model. They decried mass market paperbacks, saying they would kill the market for more profitable hardcovers. Yet, since then, the market for hardcovers and paperbacks alike has increased substantially.
That said, ‘free’ can be used to help drive sales of newer titles (for example). I think ‘free’ can compliment a paying market, not compete with it.
As far as ads go, it’s too early to say if they’ll become mainstream in ebooks. Publishers would have to be very careful in making the ads non-intrusive – in that’s even possible.
If publishers can start utilizing ebooks within the framework of a new publishing model, then I doubt ads would become necessary. But if publishers keep resisting ebooks and continue to view them as a threat to the traditional publishing model, then all of us are going to suffer.
Brad touches on an interesting concept. Those decreeing advertisements as unwelcome are ignoring the fact that the content can be the advertisement. Would people really reject a “First One’s Free” book club known for providing quality, free copies of the first book in a series just because the publisher paid for its positioning?
I don’t really buy the “tragedy of the commons” argument, although there might be something to it if giveaways became customary practice.
First, books are not fully interchangeable with one another, so just because one is free does not mean that I’ll substitute that one for another title that isn’t free. The “tragedy of the commons” is about a commodity resource, which doesn’t really describe books.
Second, there is a long-running practical experiment (Baen Free Library and Baen Webscriptions) that fails to show this kind of problem; if anything, their experience suggests that free samples (esp. earlier books in a series) drive further sales (both ebook and physical book). Their experience also shows that some people will pay extra (or pay twice) to get the same content earlier. All this despite using absolutely no DRM.
Another great discussion. I absolutely believe that free eBooks have helped popularize eBooks, and have also made it difficult to charge “fair” prices for eBooks. I also have a hard time buying the t-shirts and speaking engagement approach, at least as it applies to fiction.
Of course, the DRM discussion should be very different from the pricing discussion…unless we assume that DRM is the only way to keep prices from going to zero. This is not an assumption I’m prepared to make.
Rob Preece
Publisher, BooksForABuck
It seems to me that Baen has no difficulty charging fair prices for ebooks ($15 for advance copies, $5 to $9 for most current titles), in addition to physical books. Perhaps I just have a different notion of “fair” price.
I agree that the “T-shirts and speaking engagement” approach is a poor fit for fiction. But then, I’m not noticing an abundance of *good* free fiction legitimately available on the net (aside from sites like Project Gutenberg, Baen Free Library, etc.). I don’t see novelists being crowded out quite the way, for example, political commentary is. So I suspect that the central thesis of ‘Free’ is overstated in this case.
I agree that the DRM discussion is *mostly* a separate issue from pricing, but in fact I see Baen’s DRM-free model as an advantage (from a customer’s viewpoint); I can actually *own* my purchases, rather than renting them at someone else’s whim. That makes me more willing to part with the cash.
It’s a mistake for Postrel to include creative content with business content in the same discussion. The strategies for selling a business writer’s content are different from that of a novelist or singer. Also, the first-to-market advantage comes into play here. Ok, so Cory got a lot of lecture gigs with his free stuff. What about the 1000 writers right behind him doing the exact same thing?
By the way, Postrel is perfectly capable of discussing the arts in a serious way. (See her book Substance of Style). She just did not do it here.
Stephen, I think speaking engagements would work for authors — although that assumes that critics are reading free writers, which many are not. Unlike Doctorows and Andersons, speaking engagements don’t have to be didactic or persuasive; they can simply be a personal introduction. I guess, if you’re a writer not comfortable with speaking in public, you’re out of luck.
For writers/novelists, I think it makes sense to offer one or two complete works for free, and then the rest for modest sums. (and free RSS feeds, etc). All writers have different kinds of output; the strategy for “selling” a writer differs from writer to writer (note that I did not say “from book to book”).
I haven’t read Chris Anderson in depth (I will), but it’s important to remember the profound effect that free has on content production. You can’t produce big-budget Harry Potter movies on free. ON the other hand, with a bit of legwork and motivation, you can produce great content on a shoestring budget which can compete with it. I worry though that restrictions on fair use make it hard for DIY people to do even that.