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No one buys books

elysian.press

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Re: No one buys books

#491

Post by bazoom42 »

serial_dev wrote: post #490
bazoom42 wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, is publishing a book which gets a lot of readers through the public libraries now “leeching” and “corruption”?

What a strawman! Depending on how they got the deal with the library, and how much they get compensated for that, yes it is.

What do you mean “the deal with the library”? What deal are you referring to? Libraries does not make individual deals with publishers or authors. They buy the books at market price and pay authors some additional royalties determined by objective criteria according to an agreement with the organization for authors and illustrators. It is all public information.

If you want to make an accusation of corruption you need to be more specific.

Re: No one buys books

#492

Post by Zenzero »

atoav wrote: post #455
ddingus wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are. Every single public resource is seen as a potential market opportunity being squandered away, or as competition other players do not want to see in play.

Well a library is a place where a population can spend the day getting smarter while not spending money. If you're rich, powerful and an unethical asshole those are two things you definitely do not want. Sadly many people seem to think they are really showing the folks up there by retreating from any form of self-education once they are out of school. The opposite couldn't be more true.

> Well a library is a place where a population can spend the day getting smarter while not spending money. If you're rich, powerful and an unethical asshole those are two things you definitely do not want.

This is conspiracy level thinking. Nobody wealthy is sitting around scheming how to keep the proles dumb and subdued.

The assault on public institutions like libraries comes from 2 places: 1) Stop wasting my tax dollars on stuff I don't use or care about. Or 2) I bet there is an untapped commercial market that can be built, and people will love my solution more than public libraries.

Re: No one buys books

#493

Post by vidarh »

bjelkeman-again wrote: post #70
joshuamcginnis wrote: post #38

I'm currently writing a book about independent thinking and I have zero expectations that it will sell even a single copy. However, the net gain I will get from having completed the goal of writing the book is invaluable to me personally.

I had this idea for a hard science fiction story that I have been thinking about for years. Nobody else is going to write it, so I started. 20 000 words in my beta readers say it is good, so I think I will continue. And I don’t expect to sell it, but I want to know what happens and so do the beta readers. So on we go.

Keep at it. I've self-published my first two (and beaten the odds - somewhat - judging by this article, while still paying substantially below minimum wage for my time, but that's ok), and the experience is "interesting". The first time I had someone somewhat accusingly message me on twitter to ask when I'll get the next one out (I'm way overdue) was exciting.

Re: No one buys books

#494

Post by vidarh »

chromanoid wrote: post #460

I would assume that the lack of sales publishers see is directly related to self-publishing and web novels success. Nice numbers from a self-published LitRPG success: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/comments/1c2a3x4... Other authors and people on Kindle Unlimited: https://www.reddit.com/r/litrpg/comments/15o4f5d/ku_payouts_...

I would not. There's not much indication that this curve and the dominance of a small number of top sellers is a new thing.

Re: No one buys books

#495

Post by tasuki »

initplus wrote: post #371
grepLeigh wrote: post #332

From the article: >>> "Wouldn’t it be great if you could pay $9.99 a month and read all of the books you want?" I sincerely hope nothing "disrupts" public libraries in my lifetime. As a California resident, I can walk into ANY public library in the state and get a free library card with access to physical books, audiobooks, ebooks. Some branches have laptops, hotspots, tablets, e-readers available to borrow. My local…

It's not disruption to make me wait 5 weeks to read a digital file through my local library's Libby service. It's an outdated business model using artificial scarcity that isn't effective at getting books onto readers devices. Spotify doesn't make me take out a hold on the artist I want to listen to. Netflix doesn't make me queue to watch the latest release.

> It's not disruption to make me wait 5 weeks to read a digital file

That seems very much like a disruption to me. In the "interruption to the regular flow or sequence of something" meaning of the word.

Re: No one buys books

#496

Post by nottorp »

Tor3 wrote: post #478
nottorp wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You still can't turn off the light on a Kindle completely can you? Always felt like a waste of battery on a beach...

There's a tiny amount of light, yes. I don't know why Amazon made it that way. It's not really visible.. not to me, at least. But it's probably one reason the battery is slowly drained, over weeks, even if not in use.

It does turn off when you're not using the kindle. But you can't turn it completely off while reading.

I suppose the use case is picking up the kindle at night in a dark room while you disabled the light when you were reading outside during the day.

Re: No one buys books

#497

Post by theshrike79 »

lithiumii wrote: post #399
lannisterstark wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think they can do that with my calibre, and calibre-web collection lol.

But if you accidentally exposed your calibre-web online, they may be able to DMCA you?

If someone a) finds my calibre-web installation on the public internet b) manages to crack my username and password to log in c) scan the contents d) notify the correct rights holders e) send a subpoena for pirating content

...they can get my money.

Re: No one buys books

#498

Post by theshrike79 »

tombert wrote: post #366
yreg wrote: post #51

I recently started buying paper books. Yes, it's not particularly ecological, but I found that I'm able to focus at the text much better this way. My Kindle (despite plenty of obvious advantages) just doesn't really work for me. It took me years to realize this, but I always start to tinker with the brightness settings, switch pages back and forth, go into the book library and back, play with highlighting words, etc.…

I am kind of the opposite; I have found it much easier to read on Kindle simply because I can make the text as big as I want. In high school, I remembered that I really struggled to read The Once and Future King, and I never finished it. I eventually assumed I was too dumb to understand it, and that it’s just not for me. Fast forward about 13 years, and I decide to give the book a try again, this time on the Kindle,…

> I am kind of the opposite; I have found it much easier to read on Kindle simply because I can make the text as big as I want.

This and the fact that the kindle is _exactly_ where I left it, no need for physical bookmarks.

Re: No one buys books

#499

Post by Karellen »

nox101 wrote: post #423
j45 wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Limiting or undermining literacy remains important to those who benefit from it.

what logic leads to this conclusion? I tend to lean to the rising tide lifts all boats. who benefits from illiteracy?

The number of vastly unequal societies throughout history who have banned the lower classes from learning how to read, or from any kind of education at all - beyond whatever narrow training will make them better perform their specific duties for those on top.

...and not just historically. Some societies where significant minority groups are banned from getting an education, in order to further perpetuate their marginalisation, still exist today.

Re: No one buys books

#500

Post by theshrike79 »

TheCapeGreek wrote: post #386
AlotOfReading wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the third and fourth failure modes: weight and bag space. Books take a lot of it. An e-reader is thinner than any book and weighs the same no matter how many it's holding. I used to take my e-reader on field expeditions when I was an archaeologist. Never had one die or break even after months in places like Siberia. The number of notebooks that were ruined during those same expeditions is non-zero, usually…

Considering you're on HN, it's likely a safe bet to say you also travel with a laptop. In which case, an e-reader is still a waste of space because your laptop can just open ebooks too. Or if you don't, then your phone is still a better space saver for reading books with. Yet, you will likely prefer to take your e-reader with anyway (and its charger if it isn't the same as other devices). This is why I find "saving s…

The ergonomics on any laptop is dogshit compared to a dedicated e-ink reader. Just the amount of brightness the display beams to your face makes it suboptimal for reading in low light.

And the "charger" I need with my ancient Kindle is a standard micro-USB cable, not exactly exotic. And as soon as this one breaks down, the next one will be USB-C like a good 90%+ of my devices I travel with.

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