Ray Bradbury Discovers The Internet Is Real After All; Publishers Force Him To Offer Ridiculously Overpriced Ebooks
from the does-it-burn? dept
It's pretty firmly established that acclaimed author Ray Bradbury is a bit of a technological curmudgeon (understatement alert). Way back in 2001 we wrote about an interview where he bitched about the internet, and how it was really a big scam perpetrated by the computer companies. Video games? Those are "male ego crap." In 2009, he expanded on his complaints, talking about how "the internet is a big distraction" and "it's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere." Not surprisingly, he has absolutely and steadfastly refused to allow his classic work Fahrenheit 451 to be published as an ebook... until now.A bunch of press reports are noting that Bradbury has finally joined the latest millennium by allowing an ebook of Fahrenheit 451... but the details suggest that this wasn't a choice he made willingly. Basically, his contracts were up, and no publisher would take him on without ebooks:
Bradbury's agent, Michael Congdon, said Tuesday that rights for Bradbury's book were expiring and that the growing digital market, estimated at 20 percent or higher of overall sales, made a deal for e-books inevitable....Of course, if Bradbury is worried that people are going to leave behind his precious paper (more on that in a minute), perhaps his publishers are saving him... by pricing the ebook at a ridiculous $9.99. This is for a book that you can buy in a paper copy used for a penny and new for $2.84. And the publisher thinks $9.99 for a version that doesn't require materials, packaging or shipping should be many times the cost?
"We explained the situation to him (Bradbury) that a new contract wouldn't be possible without e-book rights," said Congdon, who added that six publishers had been interested. "He understood and gave us the right to go ahead."
Either way, it appears that Bradbury, despite his visionary nature, simply can't get past the idea of a flashy screen, and still fails to realize that his fears were totally unfounded, and digital technologies mean that more people read today than in the past. But, who knows how many will read his ebooks at that ridiculous price.
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Filed Under: ebooks, fahrenheit 451, internet, ray bradbury
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Authors... sheesh!
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Re:
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The conversation
RAY: HARUMPH.
Publishers: However, due to your stature as a respected writer and general curmudgeon, we are making every effort to ensure ebook fans won't actually purchase it.
RAY: SPLENDID. NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I'M LATE FOR MY LUNCHEON WITH HARLAN ELLISON IN WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH EVERYBODY ELSE, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO SPEND TIME PUSHING AROUND ELECTRONS OR WHATEVER [trails off....]
(I have no idea if Bradbury actually speaks in all caps, but given his general distaste for modern technology, it just seems likely, as if he spoke BASIC. Or something.)
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Re: The conversation
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Re: The conversation
Now, I haven't heard any quotes from him denouncing how crappy computers are or anything, but maybe I just missed it somewhere.
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Re: Re: The conversation
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Ray, Ray, Ray ...
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Re: Ray, Ray, Ray ...
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Re: Re: Ray, Ray, Ray ...
*tips hat in respect*
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Re: Re: Re: Ray, Ray, Ray ...
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Re: Re: Re: Ray, Ray, Ray ...
Of course, by the age of 21, they should realize that it's absolute bullshit, worthy only of mocking contempt. See, for example:
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/books/200911/ayn-rand-dick-books-fountainhead?printable=true
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Ray, Ray, Ray ...
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Agree and disagree
Agree - Not at that ridiculous price.
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The e-book will be released at $9.99
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6.99 is for the paperback from Amazon. The article says the ebook will be offered at 9.99.
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There you go again making up "facts" to try to give you blog more credibility.
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Re:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/886902-312/ereader_users_likely_to_read.html.cs p
Your reply?
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He's not as crazy as you may believe
Hard copies (like physical books) matter. The situation that Mr. Bradbury describes in Fahrenheit 451 is coming true. Should the government censor a book in the near future, the only alternative to preserve it would be a hard copy, or outright memorization. If no hard copies are made, the book will vanish in a puff of bits and electrons.
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Re: He's not as crazy as you may believe
Your argument is against centrally controlled storage or the "cloud". It's a fine argument to have and would be a fun debate with pros and cons, but it's only slightly related to whether or not you or a publisher should spray ink on dead trees.
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Re: He's not as crazy as you may believe
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Science fiction fan here
I couldn't get through it. I did make it through most of the stories in "The Illustrated Man" but once I read it I took it to the used book store and traded it in. I've read and enjoyed books by dozens of authors but Bradbury is entirely over rated IMHO.
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Publishers
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Of course don't even get me started at pricing digital goods as if they were the same as physical ones.
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Re:
That's their current business model, not their purpose. Their business (purpose?) is to make money in a way related to providing entertainment and information to people who want it. They would not fail in their goal if people paid for production instead of copies, or if sponsors/advertisers provide the money instead of end-users.
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Seems to be exactly what I said. If they actually saw their businesses that way, they would have a much better financial outlook than they seem to have at this point.
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oops
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Farenheit 451 would have been about scroll burning.
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451 F
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Re: 451 F
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Re: 451 F
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Here's the reality:
I see that there are 13.75 MB of Bradbury's e-books in this bittorrent download....
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Re: Here's the reality:
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I get that. What I don't get is how Bradbury refuses to admit that it's the censorship that's the harm, not the complacency of the many. There has never been any time in history where the majority of people were intellectually curious. The intellectually curious are always in the minority. Thus the problem in the world of Fahrenheit 451 is not that the vast majority of people are intellectually complacent, that's the norm, it's that those intellectually complacent people make it illegal for anyone to be anything else.
Thus, it's the censorship.
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I think that is something natural to all human beings, we fail to transmit a message or the meaning of something to others because we don't understand how others see the world and try to impart that blame on the others not being able to see it, well that is true, some people just can't see it, but if you fail to pass that information to the majority of people than it is not them the problem it is you who failed to communicate something by failing to understand the current common sense of the day.
That is why it doesn't surprise me to hear about such ludicrous statements by him, he didn't get it then and he doesn't get it now and probably never will.
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If I recall, he actually walked out of a Q&A he did at a university when the students refused to accept his explanation of the book's meaning and flat out told him he was wrong and it was about censorship whether he knew it or not.
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isn't this fucker dead yet?
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Re: isn't this fucker dead yet?
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Wouldn't have to copy it - but dang - at the Library it's FREE - how do you compete with that?
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Yes, either way he spins it - or the way most of us understand it to mean - it's about *control* - to the demise of the people and the natural urge for freedom; as evidenced in Montag's 'hiding out' in the end.
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the future
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Realistically, we're safe for a long time.
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Fire is not needed any more...
Releasing F 451 as an ebook brings a totally new context:
"The book is available in Adobe DRM format from Simon & Schuster site."
You don't need fire. DRM is enough and works in every temperature.
http://ebookfriendly.com/2011/11/30/fahrenheit-451-in-digital-times-drm-instead-of-f ire/
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I'd like to know of a retailer who sells this book for one penny. They don't exist and what kind of moron would buy merchandise where the shipping costs more than the item you're ordering.
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Re:
So what? New copies are being sold on Amazon in the screenshot for $2.84. I don't care what the publishers would like for the product, it's worth what I wish to pay. If I think $2.84 is the better price point, they won't get $6.99.
"I'd like to know of a retailer who sells this book for one penny."
Some Amazon Marketplace sellers are retailers, so you have your answer already.
Sorry if you don't like it, but the market value on the story is currently $0.01 used. People may like to pay more for a new physical copy, some may be willing to pay more to ensure the author gets money, but the text alone of the story is currently worth $0.01 without additional value being added.
The digital version may be worth even less to some people, as restrictions and DRM make it unobtainable and/or unusuable. Strange that S&S think that it's worth more than the physical version, but it's their choice to lose those sales. Especially for a story that should really be in the public domain anyway by now.
"what kind of moron would buy merchandise where the shipping costs more than the item you're ordering."
If you have the order including free shipping, they wouldn't? If you have to pay shipping, the $0.01 book may still be cheaper than the new copy. In your eyes, moron = frugal shopper who doesn't care about buying new. Do you also think library users are morons, or is it only the internet that attracts this opinion?
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Another conversation
BRADBURY: I guess so...is it $10 for the hardcover ebook or the paperback ebook?
PUBLISHER: ...?!
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I guess he's OK with new media as long as he makes money
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Larger Point
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Random fact
I've heard at least one source suggest that his reversal was due to censorship no longer conjuring up the sort of "Political Correctness Gone Mad" images the conservative author wanted but -- especially in the wake of Bush -- government silencing opposing political views; a very conservative form of censorship that he would not be so much against. But that's just a guess.
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