Yes, Baen's bundled CDs with some books, but those are CDs not "We pass your email address to them and you get a personal download link for your DRM-free copy." I've emailed them with the link to this article and suspect Toni Weisskopf will at least be interested in the idea.
One thing about content publishers who DON'T try to own their customers. We're a helluva lot more loyal to them than we are to the (too damn numerous) crowd who DO try to own us such as Hachette or the MAFIAA.
I cut the cord back in 1992 when ComCast insisted that I had to buy a five-channel package (four of which were garbage) in order to get the SciFi channel. I canceled my service and haven't gone back or gone to any other service since.
As for the current situation, I think the key item in the article cited was the phrase "regular programming blackouts," as the studios and distributors squabble over who gets to keep which slice of the rapidly shrinking pie, leading to more and more customer desertions.
We're finally seeing a (sort of) answer to the old question "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" There's a war, and the customers are leaving in droves.
Me, I'm stocking up on popcorn, laughing like hell, and watching the show. I don't think there's going to be any programming blackout on THIS soap opera.
Because of publishing restrictions, there are a LOT of eBooks available in the UK that they won't sell to us unlettered Yanks. Orion Books has a bunch of Poul Anderson's stuff I'd maim for, but you can't buy them from the US, just to name one prominent example.
Many authors are terrible proofreaders. And everybody's bad at checking their own work. I've read some self-published stuff that worked very very well as stories, but the endless arrays of typos and grammatical errors kept throwing me right back out.
If the publishers can quit their bitching about digital pennies and start providing quality editing at reasonable costs, they can make themselves "brands" for real.
Amazon knows their customers. Publishers don't. Amazon won't give them the information and what little the publishers can draw together demographically comes from brick-and-mortar sales.
This really should come as no surprise, given the way they've bullied online distributors and committed felony price fixing, but it spells doom for the publishers. If you don't know your customers, you have no clue as to what the heck they want.
Namely, it will feed Hollywood's attitude that they don't have to deal with their serfs (aka the public) and can go back to swapping back-room deals with Google et. al.
Gather the movies and have a pro editor link/set them together and sell a subscription to the "premium/pro" edition. Basic movie(s) are free, and the pro is at some reasonable price possibly also with screen credit, kudos for the people who took the videos, and discount tix for future concerts?
And not a dime goes to the RIAA if you keep a gimlet eye on their contracts. Talk about revenge as an art form! :)
On the post: Publisher Angry Robot Bundles Free Ebook With Physical Copies And Triples Sales
Re: Baen's done it quite a few times.
One thing about content publishers who DON'T try to own their customers. We're a helluva lot more loyal to them than we are to the (too damn numerous) crowd who DO try to own us such as Hachette or the MAFIAA.
On the post: As Label Funds To RIAA Dry Up, Top Execs Still Make Over $1 Million
Typical Modern Business Success Story
On the post: Band Calls 1st Amendment A 'Buzzword' In (Plagiarized) C&D To Mitt Romney Over (Licensed) Use Of Song
Buzzwords
Modern examples employed by the government include:
First Amendment
Fourth Amendment
Fifth Amendment
posse comitatus
All of the above (and more) were already buzzwords before the letter cited in the article was written.
On the post: US, UK Betray Basic Values To Get Assange At Any Cost
Governments vs. Reality
On the post: Massachusetts Realizes That Maybe GPS Isn't Too Newfangled After All; Reverses Order & Allows Uber
Why shouldn't they default to "Ban it!"
On the post: Boston Shuts Down Uber Because Massachusetts Doesn't Approve Of The GPS
Bureaucrat Protects Cushy Sinecure
On the post: Humans: Still The Weakest Link In The Security Chain
Errare humanum est
On the post: Seizing Domains Is Only Training Criminals To Improve
Re:
I had to go to prison to [learn how to] become a criminal.
On the post: Over 400,000 Homes Have Cut The Cord So Far This Year... But Cord Cutting Is Still A Myth?
Cord-Cutting is NOT a new phenomenon
As for the current situation, I think the key item in the article cited was the phrase "regular programming blackouts," as the studios and distributors squabble over who gets to keep which slice of the rapidly shrinking pie, leading to more and more customer desertions.
We're finally seeing a (sort of) answer to the old question "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" There's a war, and the customers are leaving in droves.
Me, I'm stocking up on popcorn, laughing like hell, and watching the show. I don't think there's going to be any programming blackout on THIS soap opera.
On the post: Desperate RIM Gives In And Lets Indian Gov't Spy On Blackberry Communications
What's POTUS going to do?
On the post: NYTimes Columnist Explains How He Torrented 'The Bourne Identity' Because It Wasn't Available... Then Sent A Check
Re: Weird
http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/authors/anderson-poul
On the post: The Indie Ebook Scene Is Growing: Here's Over 170 Authors Who've Sold More Than 50,000 Copies
One Problem With Self-Publishing
If the publishers can quit their bitching about digital pennies and start providing quality editing at reasonable costs, they can make themselves "brands" for real.
On the post: Google Doodles Obvious Nod To...Some Games...Or Something...
Just Curious
On the post: Nielsen Sued For Billions; TV Network Claims It Manipulated Ratings
Manipulation Has Been Known For A Long Time
On the post: If This Is What Big Publishers Call Promotion, No Wonder They're In Trouble
Re:
We'll catch it via Netflix. In fact, I literally can't remember the last movie I DID see in a theater.
On the post: If This Is What Big Publishers Call Promotion, No Wonder They're In Trouble
The Most Important Line In This Post
On the post: Patton Oswalt Explains That There Are No More Gatekeepers In Entertainment
Gatekeeper Mentalities
1. Fear
2. Inability (or lack of imagination) to envision positive results.
It's not so much that they're selfish and greedy (that goes without saying) as the poor pakhtash are simply ... limited.
On the post: SOPA/PIPA Wakes Up Internet Giants To Realize They Need To Be More Engaged In DC
One Problem With This Group is Obvious
On the post: Rocker Creates App To Better The Bootleg Video Experience
Extra Angles to This
And not a dime goes to the RIAA if you keep a gimlet eye on their contracts. Talk about revenge as an art form! :)
On the post: Olympics Crack Down On Anyone Mentioning Them Without Paying... As White House Tells Everyone To Set Up Olympics Parties
Actually, this whole situation is very useful.
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