Online life

[ksmith]

Much discussion these past few days. Howard Hendrix, the current SFWA Veep, unleashed a bit of a firestorm with his post in the sfwa LJ, especially the comment that those who post free books/stories on the web are scabs:

A scab is someone who works for less than union wages or on non-union terms; more broadly, a scab is someone who feathers his own nest and advances his own career by undercutting the efforts of his fellow workers to gain better pay and working conditions for all.

Other writers took exception to this assertion. Given that I am planning to post the odd free short work on my website in the hope of drumming up interest in ENDGAME and the other Jani books, I felt the sting myself. Whether it's justified or not, an accusation of undercutting fellow writers hurts.

John Scalzi responded, among others. "Pixel-stained Technopeasant Wretch" has entered the lexicon, and there should be items available at CafePress even as I type.

In this, as in just about every other damned subject, I can see both sides, and my feelings abide in the grey between.

The web is here to stay--duh. It offers marketing and promotion opportunities of possibly amazing scope and breadth--double duh. Publishing is changing. Ways of getting one's name and work out there.

That being said, the jury is still out, imho, as to whether free distribution leads to increase in sales. The writers for whom this apparently is working quite well--Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, Charlie Stross, were, I believe, strong online personalities with major followings whose work aligned with the sorts of tech they discussed. Cory and Charlie write near future cutting edge stuff. Scalzi seems to write more space opera, but he's a savvy marketer with a strong online presence, and that matters when you decide to promote online. Like most self-promo, it's not for the faint of heart. But consistent strong self-expression works like a gravity well, pulling in the miscellaneous floating bodies looking for places to orbit. There's a lot of vague out here on the web. Strong signals attract.

I would like to see numbers. I recall an essay of Cory's in which he discussed the 300K free downloads of, iirc, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, and the subsequent increase in print runs and sales. I don't recall specific numbers though--numbers of copies sold that could be related to the online exposure. I do recall some hand-waving explanation that direct comparison with other writers at similar stages in their careers couldn't be made. Sorry, but those are the sorts of comparisons I need in order to decide whether or not releasing big chunks of free work is a viable marketing strategy. Even a guesstimate would have been nice. 25% bump in sales? 50% 100%

5% 10% Not sure if it made a difference, but it seemed to?

Even additional print runs are relative--2500 copies? 5000? 10,000? If Cory's 300K free downloads led to 30K sales, that would be really nice for a skiffy hardcover, an incredible bump. Even 15K additional sales . But assertions that it must be obvious that it's helping, that some folks are laughing all the way to the bank, aren't data. They're assertions by people who are not shy about expressing their opinions, and whose sureness about the whole set-up may be working to attract eyeballs to their sites and possibly, readers to their work.

IOW, when I see that quiet fantasy authors without much of an online presence experience substantial bumps in sales when they release free work on the web, I'll believe that it's truly a viable across-the-board marketing strategy. When I see it working for writers who don't already have the Cult of Personality working for them. Who don't already operate as online gravity wells.

I believe that Peter Watts, whose Blindsight sales was driven along by a CC release, said that he wasn't sure the it would continue to prove a viable strategy if everyone did it.

Don't get in my face and tell me that I'm simply failing to see the obvious. Don't tell me that it has worked for music--different medium, with a different level of concentration required in order to enjoy and simple ways to download and listen. I would like to believe that something that I have some control over, namely the free release of my work, could help my career and my sales. But until I see numbers, percentages, hard data, until I see some consistency and workability across a broad range of writer styles/personalities/genres, I'm going to walk along the edge of the shore and let others wade in up to their chins.

Comments

[sleary.livejournal.com]

Have any of these writers we're discussing done a survey of their readers? I haven't seen one. It's hardly the most accurate tracking method, but I think actually asking people "how did you hear about my book?" is about the only method that would work in this situation.