Talli Ruksas
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I own most of your books in ebook and eaudio format but get most of the rest of my e-reading/listening from the library. Did you know publishers charge libraries crazy amounts for their ebooks? The example of a current popular book my library gave was $55 for a $15 ebook and $95 for a $40 audio. Then they have to rebuy in either 2 years or a certain number of checkouts. I realize publishers are in it for money but..
Lois McMaster Bujold
Authors are in it for the money, too, or else they have to stop writing and get another job. Or become destitute in their old age, not uncommon, or medically destitute at any time. (Not me -- I've planned ahead, and also been very, very lucky.)
The thing about e-books is that they don't wear out, so placing one in a library without restrictions is tantamount to giving it away for free forever. The money has to come from somewhere, or everyone goes out of business. In the US, libraries are supported by property taxes in their respective communities, and you know how much everyone loves to pay taxes.
I personally would be in favor of a charge-per-e-checkout model, but the complexities of getting such in place are large, especially in the US with its diverse and independent libraries and publishers.
Ta, L.
(If you do the arithmetic in your example, $55 barely replaces 4 lost e-book sales. A popular title may have dozens or even hundreds of checkouts. How does this compare with libraries buying 4 paper copies of a hot title, and then discarding 3 of them when the demand wears off or the books wear out? These problems are more complex than they appear at first glance.)
Authors are in it for the money, too, or else they have to stop writing and get another job. Or become destitute in their old age, not uncommon, or medically destitute at any time. (Not me -- I've planned ahead, and also been very, very lucky.)
The thing about e-books is that they don't wear out, so placing one in a library without restrictions is tantamount to giving it away for free forever. The money has to come from somewhere, or everyone goes out of business. In the US, libraries are supported by property taxes in their respective communities, and you know how much everyone loves to pay taxes.
I personally would be in favor of a charge-per-e-checkout model, but the complexities of getting such in place are large, especially in the US with its diverse and independent libraries and publishers.
Ta, L.
(If you do the arithmetic in your example, $55 barely replaces 4 lost e-book sales. A popular title may have dozens or even hundreds of checkouts. How does this compare with libraries buying 4 paper copies of a hot title, and then discarding 3 of them when the demand wears off or the books wear out? These problems are more complex than they appear at first glance.)
More Answered Questions
bedlambelle
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I had a brief moment of panic when I saw an "outline" of the plot for gentleman Jole on wikipedia because there was a whole menage a trois storyline which feels so wrong for Aral and Cordelia. Then I saw someone had fixed it to directly quote you. I feel like the answer is yes, but were Cordelia and Aral monagamous throughout thier relationship?
K
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
How does it feel to be a visionary? https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/11/12/biggest-insect-farm-record/ "The race is on to build the world’s biggest bug farm. A nascent drive to cut greenhouse emissions from animal feed has spawned a new industry, that promises to one day produce vast amounts of protein* with fewer greenhouse emissions than traditional suppliers." *for pets, fish and livestock.
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