Hey, everyone. A year or so ago, there was a discussion on Madison Avenue. People in expensive clothes sat around a sumptuously appointed board room and discussed their fears of the future. One elderly man looked at his fellows.
"What should we do about the e-book menace?"
A young man, a leader because of his cold, calculating business sense, stood.
"First of all, we have to embrace the new technology. It is, quite obviously, the way of the future. But we have to do a better job of handling this than the music industry did. I, for one, don't want to give up my condo in Vail. So, we have to manipulate things to enhance our position. We have all the famous, popular authors on a string. We pay them a pittance for their hard work. We tell them what to write and when to write it. They have put up with our abuse and they are wealthy. If their readers want their books they have to come through us. Any contracts rendered from henceforth must include a clause to include ebook sales."
A middle-aged woman, a marketing guru, stood.
"Here's what else we should do. We'll start out pricing eBooks at, or near, the price of print books. If we make them significantly cheaper it will be no time until print books go the way of the dinosaurs. We'll go up on the price gradually, say about $1 a month. At least until all those piggies out there in Bookdom start to squeal. That way, not only will we make far more money, due to the fact that we will have no paper, no ink, no shipping to deal with, but there will be other benefits. If that turns everyone off concerning ebooks and they return to print, since it's cheaper, we have our empire back. If they are so stupid as to pay $14, $15, $16 for an ephemeral book, then we get even richer than we are now. We win either way."
The response was loud and enthusiastic. The elder statesman of the crowd rubbed greedy, shaking hands together.
"So, we have what is known in poker as a 'pat' hand. We can't lose!" There were nods and words of agreement around the room. One little, wormy guy stood.
"I see one possible problem." This was not warmly received but he was asked to explain himself.
"Well, technology will enable most anyone to publish a book. Suppose that our prices are undercut. I hear rumors of a guy named John Locke who is starting to sell ebooks for 99 cents. Another guy named CE Wills is doing the same."
The older man snorted. "None of those books will be worth reading without our editing and marketing skills, they'll do nothing." There was general assent. The little guy pressed his point.
"J.K. Rowling was rejected something like 37 times. When she was discovered it was merest accident. A clerk was in the slush pile, throwing away manuscripts and found her book about Harry Potter." He paused for effect. "You sir," he pointed at the old man. "Your own grandfather called Edgar Rice Burroughs a 'writer of impossible trash'. Don't tell me that none of these independents can write. That's bullshit."
The room was aghast that the youngster had the gall to beard the lion in his own den. (Even though his words were true). Finally the lady stood again.
"We control a lot of journalists and media people. Every word they print about Indie writers will be about how crappy and substandard their work is. We'll play the snob card to the hilt. Don't forget, in the dark ages, the wealthy people shut up books in Latin so that common people couldn't even read."
"Yes," sniffed the little guy. "That's why they called that the dark ages." The old man shook his head.
"Oh, no. We want everybody to read. We just want them to pay us for that privilege."
The little guy shook his head. "A lot of people can't afford $15 for an eBook."
"We can put a certain number of free titles on the web. Stuff that's out of copyright, that doesn't cost us anything." This idea was well received.
The old man was happy. "So, a full media blitz with all our puppets, gradual increases in prices and careful monitoring of public reaction. If any of these Indies get very popular we'll offer them a Hardcover deal and bring them into the fold. Cool?"
There was general assent and the meeting broke up. The old man stopped the little guy on his way out the door. He noticed the man had an e-reader in his hand.
"So, Billingsly, what are you reading on that thing?" The little man shook his head with a wry smile.
"You don't want to know."
From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
"What should we do about the e-book menace?"
A young man, a leader because of his cold, calculating business sense, stood.
"First of all, we have to embrace the new technology. It is, quite obviously, the way of the future. But we have to do a better job of handling this than the music industry did. I, for one, don't want to give up my condo in Vail. So, we have to manipulate things to enhance our position. We have all the famous, popular authors on a string. We pay them a pittance for their hard work. We tell them what to write and when to write it. They have put up with our abuse and they are wealthy. If their readers want their books they have to come through us. Any contracts rendered from henceforth must include a clause to include ebook sales."
A middle-aged woman, a marketing guru, stood.
"Here's what else we should do. We'll start out pricing eBooks at, or near, the price of print books. If we make them significantly cheaper it will be no time until print books go the way of the dinosaurs. We'll go up on the price gradually, say about $1 a month. At least until all those piggies out there in Bookdom start to squeal. That way, not only will we make far more money, due to the fact that we will have no paper, no ink, no shipping to deal with, but there will be other benefits. If that turns everyone off concerning ebooks and they return to print, since it's cheaper, we have our empire back. If they are so stupid as to pay $14, $15, $16 for an ephemeral book, then we get even richer than we are now. We win either way."
The response was loud and enthusiastic. The elder statesman of the crowd rubbed greedy, shaking hands together.
"So, we have what is known in poker as a 'pat' hand. We can't lose!" There were nods and words of agreement around the room. One little, wormy guy stood.
"I see one possible problem." This was not warmly received but he was asked to explain himself.
"Well, technology will enable most anyone to publish a book. Suppose that our prices are undercut. I hear rumors of a guy named John Locke who is starting to sell ebooks for 99 cents. Another guy named CE Wills is doing the same."
The older man snorted. "None of those books will be worth reading without our editing and marketing skills, they'll do nothing." There was general assent. The little guy pressed his point.
"J.K. Rowling was rejected something like 37 times. When she was discovered it was merest accident. A clerk was in the slush pile, throwing away manuscripts and found her book about Harry Potter." He paused for effect. "You sir," he pointed at the old man. "Your own grandfather called Edgar Rice Burroughs a 'writer of impossible trash'. Don't tell me that none of these independents can write. That's bullshit."
The room was aghast that the youngster had the gall to beard the lion in his own den. (Even though his words were true). Finally the lady stood again.
"We control a lot of journalists and media people. Every word they print about Indie writers will be about how crappy and substandard their work is. We'll play the snob card to the hilt. Don't forget, in the dark ages, the wealthy people shut up books in Latin so that common people couldn't even read."
"Yes," sniffed the little guy. "That's why they called that the dark ages." The old man shook his head.
"Oh, no. We want everybody to read. We just want them to pay us for that privilege."
The little guy shook his head. "A lot of people can't afford $15 for an eBook."
"We can put a certain number of free titles on the web. Stuff that's out of copyright, that doesn't cost us anything." This idea was well received.
The old man was happy. "So, a full media blitz with all our puppets, gradual increases in prices and careful monitoring of public reaction. If any of these Indies get very popular we'll offer them a Hardcover deal and bring them into the fold. Cool?"
There was general assent and the meeting broke up. The old man stopped the little guy on his way out the door. He noticed the man had an e-reader in his hand.
"So, Billingsly, what are you reading on that thing?" The little man shook his head with a wry smile.
"You don't want to know."
From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
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