[UA] Bizarre text distribution model

[Alec Fleschner]

I'm in. Where do I send money? I'm a poor grad student. I can go  
without eating $20 of ramen. Gimme the number.

Alec Fleschner

On Feb 18, 2004, at 10:00 AM, Greg Stolze wrote:

> This came to me the other night as I was contemplating the sorry state  
> of
> RPG distribution all up and down the tiers.  Mixed in was stuff about
> iTunes and Morpheus and how discouraging it is to sell your indie DIY  
> stuff
> as a .pdf and spot it on Kazaa a week after you release it.
>
> How do you get around this?  Writers are getting fucked (fiscal-wise)  
> when
> their work gets pirated and given away free.  Ditto musicians, ditto  
> film
> makers.  Most people are willing to pay something for their  
> entertainment
> but only (reasonably enough) if they can't easily get it for nothing.
>
> It occurred to me that the solution is a ransom model.
>
> For instance: I've been toying with REIGN, the fantasy version of the  
> One
> Roll Engine used for the the game GODLIKE.  No publisher resides in the
> overlap of "interest" and "ability to actually do anything about their
> interest".  I could sell it as a .pdf, with the attendant hassles of  
> doing
> e-commerce and getting art and layout and all that jazz.  But that's a  
> very
> uncertain return on investment, especialy when the .pdf might just pop  
> up
> for free within days of release.
>
> Instead, what if I do this?  I set up a web site with a PayPal link  
> and an
> address where people can send their checks and cash.  You can pay as  
> much,
> or as little, as you want, but until I hit my goal -- say, a price  
> reached
> by doing a word count and multiplying it by six cents -- nobody sees  
> the
> book.  However, when I hit that goal, I release the whole text, to
> everyone, for nothing.
>
> This means that any publisher who wants can print and sell the book.
> Anyone who wants it can download and print it.  Kazaa?  Fuck, Kazaa is  
> now
> working FOR ME, because everyone who steals it and likes it is more  
> likely
> to invest in my next work.
>
> The advantages are pretty clear: No piracy occurs until I'm paid in  
> full,
> after which I presumably don't give a fuck what people do, I've made my
> nut.  Lots of people see the game, with little hassle.  Nobody pays  
> more
> than they feel it's worth.
>
> The disadvantages are equally clear: I need a good reputation to make  
> this
> work, since that's what I'm trading on.  If I set my goal at $4000 and
> people only pre-pay $2000, what do I do then?  If I release it anyway,  
> the
> system collapses because everyone with a grasp of economics figures, "I
> shouldn't pay -- in a year, Stolze will cave and release it  
> regardless".
> If I don't release it, I've effectively stolen two grand from my  
> closest
> fans, which is not a route I want to go.  Plus, I can never earn more  
> than
> what I get up front.  (Not that long-term royalties have ever paid out  
> for
> me in gaming.  But I suppose there's still time.)
>
> What do you all think?
>
> -G.
>
> "These hardhat deconstruction-workers harass stories as if they were  
> gals
> passing on the sidewalk.  They yell out stuff that's not only  
> obnoxious,
> but completely bizarre and impenetrable.  It's like they yell: 'Hey,  
> check
> out the pelvic bio-mechanics on that babe!  What a set of hypertrophied
> lactiferous tissues!'"
> 		-Bruce Sterling
>
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