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| Hearsay: |
Is there a way to succeed in publishing without, you know, selling books? Yes. But don’t expect to get rich off it. I like the idea, as a niche form of charity work, but traditional publishers might not.
Here’s a crazy idea for these financially straitened times. Why not set up a small book publishing business where everyone works for free, from writers and editors to designers and printers, then give the books away. Insane? Maybe, but that didn’t stop American novelist Stona Fitch.
“I just woke up one morning and told my wife I’d come up with a new way for writers not to make money,” he laughs. “The idea was to produce beautiful, interesting new books and give them away, then ask people to give money to charity instead of paying for them.”
…
“I didn’t know when we started whether people would go for it, but the response has been incredibly encouraging,” says Fitch. “I believe firmly in the power of the book, not just to entertain, amuse and enlighten but to connect with the reader. By giving away these books, it encourages readers to take action. As for writers, they just want to get their work out to readers. We’ve already got our next novel lined up for publication in May, and we’ve got several more in the pipeline after that.”The response from the book industry has been less enthusiastic. “It’s a threatening idea to publishers. A couple have said it’s the death of the business and I should stop immediately,” Fitch laughs. A tiny not-for-profit organisation is not about to topple the bestseller list or reduce J K Rowling to begging on the streets. But it is trying to effect a change in attitude, something reflected in the website’s strapline: “Free their books and their minds will follow”.
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February 18th, 2009 at 8:19 am
“ ‘I just woke up one morning and told my wife I’d come up with a new way for writers not to make money,’ he laughs…” Yes, this is hilarious. It’s a great model for other industries too – I’m sure Detroit would go for it in a heartbeat.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:31 am
“I believe firmly in the power of the book,”
Right, just not as firmly as something you might, you know, pay for.
Is this the upscale version of Crad Kilodney giving away his books downtown? How did that work out?
February 18th, 2009 at 9:55 am
You get what you pay for, which in this case, I imagine, won’t be much. Sort of like reading blogs….
Mary
February 18th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I refuse to sell copies of any of my works to anybody in the literature scene. To do so would be to mix business and pleasure. It would instigate the obligation that demands, “If I purchase a copy of your work, then you must purchase a copy of mine.” But doing so is a hinderance towards peers being able to speak forth with freedom their honest opinion about each other’s works. If anybody within the literature scene would like a copy of any of my works, then they are welcome to trade with me for a copy of one of their works. Otherwise, they may buy me a beer, take me out to lunch, or dinner, or invite me to their house for tea.
It is hardly ever or never good for any person to mix business with pleasure; it is the public in the marketplace that is welcome to purchase copies of my works.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Does anyone else think it is increasingly apparent that Lannie is either crazy or a dummy for some performance art piece at Bookninja’s expense?
February 18th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I give my books away for donations already…but the charity is my sons.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Lannie: So because someone acquiring one of your books creates too great an obligation for you to have to acquire one of their books, you… trade… books?
February 18th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
This model seems particularly apt when the true value of the book comes from the dissemination of its contents, rather than an expected revenue stream. It likely won’t make great inroads into the fiction market, but I can see a number of useful applications of this model in the the world of non-fiction, as George hints at with his comments about charity.
February 18th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I think it can work in some situations, but until my bank gives away mortgages for free, I need to sell books. Besides that, people tend to put more value on what they pay for. Even pricier medication has a greater placebo effect [see link above]:”Telling people they are taking a novel form of codeine (actually a placebo) that costs $2.50 rather than 10 cents increased the number of people reporting pain relief from 61% to 85.4%”
February 18th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Matt S.: Ha ha. But I have met many a person in the literary scene that has felt obliged to buy a book by one of their friends, regardless of whether or not they want to buy any of those books. It is a very real problem within the community, and one that needs to be acknowledged, and addressed.
They say if they don’t purchase a copy, then they are seen as not being supportive of them as a writer, even though they are not an admirer of their work. But if purchased, those books would then most likely sit on their shelf, read once but not thought about twice, or never to be read by them.
If you do not agree with what I have suggested, then what do you suggest?
Or are you too much of a nihilist to put forth a positive example of your own?
February 18th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Lannie: I tease. Being a member of an English department, as well as living in a city with a fairly tightly knit writing community, I know exactly what you’re talking about. Heck, I’ve even done the whole work-exchange thing, back when I was into the music scene, trading my CD for those of other artists. I think, though, that at the end of the day, it’s best if the individual artists in the scene accept that there are limits to how much they can do for one another.
The best example I can think of is when I purchased a book from a local author a few years back. He was signing in the store I was working at and seemed like a great guy, so I bought one of his books. A few months later, when he swung through to do a second round of signing, I apologised to him for not having gotten a chance to read his book. He, being the stand-up guy he is, told me not to worry, and that he’s somewhat surprised when people apologise for having bought his book and not gotten around to it yet. There’s so much out there that it can often be literally impossible to read every work published by those in your community, so there’s no sense in getting upset when someone hasn’t read your latest book.
Instead of fretting about not being able to buy and/or read everyone’s works, it’s best to offer public support of your fellow authors. Go to readings, participate in events, talk to your friends about local authors they might like. If you can help authors increase their public visibility, you’ll likely make up for the sale that you passed on. Trading books is cool, as are the other options that you mentioned, but helping authors gain exposure is probably the most helpful thing you can do for them in the long run. There shouldn’t be an obligation to buy the books of your friends and acquaintances, only the implicit understanding that you’re willing to lend a hand when they might need it.
No nihilism here, just a touch of sarcasm and a bundle of good intentions.
February 19th, 2009 at 1:25 am
I suppose if there was some interesting form of tax deduction this program could be of interest to some. March of Dimes and The Salvation Army getting into the fist fight on Hack Street along with everyone else – what would that be like? I think there is room for a fifty percent commission limit in here to still call it a charity. I don’t actually know the Revenue Canada end. I can see this working out somehow. There’s room here for existing small press, big press and new press to breath in.