I’m going to send more than he’s asking because if he doesn’t get 75% of the money he won’t publish the last installement. I’ll be damnd if I read the first two installments and don’t get the last one!
I think that he probably will get his money. I mean, this is Stephen King. People really respect him. My sister is also on of those who plan on sending $5.
I think people might respect him more if he offered it for free, to show appreciation for his readers, or if he donated the proceeds to charity.
I’ve bought everything the man has written since Day One (I missed out on “Six Stories”), including the boxed edition of The Stand, and the first edition of The Gunslinger. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on his books, on books about him, and on anthologies containing his stories.
I consider myself a big fan, but I’m gonna take a pass on The Plant. (Not that anyone will notice.)
After reading the message on King’s site, I don’t feel like a Constant Reader. I feel like a donkey chasing the carrot on a stick, or a rat in a lab experiment.
My respect for the man has diminished considerably.
As much as I adore Stephen King, I think I’ll pass too.
Someone pointed out that his books tend to be what, over 1000 pages long? And let’s see, a dollar per download, I heard it was per page…so let’s see, that’d be over 1000 dollars for a damn book.
Or let’s say, he offers it in ten page installments…100 bucks for the freakin’ thing.
No thanks, Steve.
Because his exercise is an experiment in whether:
[ul]
[li]the electronic download format is an effective means of distribution, and[/li][li]people are honest enough to pay for things when they don’t “have to.”[/li][/ul]
Here is the most telling of his statements, near the bottom of that URL:
"I hope this answers your questions. Now go be good to someone, and remember: this ain’t Napster. Take what you want…and pay for it."
He should already know about electronic downloads from what happened with “Riding the Bullet”. He made about half a million from that story, and the demand was so high, some people waited for days to download.
Same with his honesty question – people hacked into that story, not so much to avoid payment, but for the usual reasons hackers hack – because they can.
And Guinastasia – It appears that The Plant is probably no longer than a novella, so it won’t be anywhere near a thousand pages. Shouldn’t be more than five or six bucks to get the whole thing, assuming he finishes it.
Fans of dark fiction (today’s PC name for horror) might want to check out Joe Lansdale’s site. He publishes a new story every week, free. http://www.joerlansdale.com
I hate to be a spoil sport, but I’m not sure if I like this concept of computer books. Sure, for King and others like him, it will be great because it’s self publishing. Aside from the copywriter fees to protect his work, the cost of producing the book is minimal and the profits go right to him. No middlemen.
Me, however, I like real books, paperback or hard bound.
I like to sit in my easy chair with a book in my lap and read for hours. I like to sit in bed and read. I carry books in my car for when I have extra time I can read. I read when I go to restaurants alone. I read one of my books when I’m sitting in some waiting room waiting for an appointment.
I like the touch, feel and texture of a book. I love the smell of a new book. I like prowling through used book stores and buying stacks of paperbacks. I like the cover art. I like stacking the books on my book shelves and rereading them.
Reading stories off of a glowing computer screen is not a thrill. After a time, it hurts my eyes and sitting at my computer desk for hours is annoying. Printing out hundreds of single sheets, one sided is a waste of paper and ink and is not the same thing as a bound book, even though I have these cool folders and a hole punch designed to bind pages with. Stacking up little disks with books on them is not the same as a bookcase full of actual, worn texts, complete with mustard or spaghetti sauce drops on the pages, dog eared and creased like fine old leather.
I think King will get his $$, given his history and his following - I sure intend to pay (and I will be sending $5 to cover the first 3 chapters he intends on releasing).
As for the concept - I just about cried with happiness! He is putting the publishing companies in a tight place, and what I hope will happen is that established & accomplished authors may follow suit, leaving publishing companies more interested in new authors, one of which I hope to someday be!
I am thrilled with books, they are not going to just go away, but I am with SK on his idea of why publishers should make millions from his talent and established following. Let 'em work a little harder and publish a little more variety, opening the door to more new authors who wouldn’t get 5 hits on an e-novel.
I’m gonna go brush the dust off the disc I keep my book on and get back to work!
PRISM02, yeah who wants to sit at a computer or put the Gateway on your lap to read them? Computer screens are hard on the eyes & you cant take them from room to room unless you have a laptop. IN that case, you have to plug it in to wall anyway, eventually.
I agree with you about the publishing companies, but there are two major reasons why new writers are having a heck of a time getting published.
The first is because of word processors and word processing programs. Every klutz can now write volumes of drivel, and, at the touch of a key, have it formatted, spell checked, grammar checked, whole blocks of text moved about, text added or subtracted, and headers, footers and page numbers added. Another touch of a button and their printer spews out as many copies as needed, cheaper than going to a copy machine.
Publishers are being flooded with manuscripts!
The second reason is the high volume, cancerous, multi outlet, discount book stores. (B. Dalton, Waldon Books and so on.) They come in and run the smaller book stores out. They made deals with publishing companies to buy so many million books – but only those which their computer registers show them that sell best. So, the publishing companies naturally mainly accept writers whose work will be acceptable to these major buyers, who, in their own greedy way, have begun to restrict what people may read.
One company has already been investigated for bad business practices because they would locate the busiest book store in a city, and if possible, place two of their stores as close to it as they could get, on opposite sides, and run it out of business by lowering prices. (Sound Walmart familiar?) After they wiped out most of the competition, they would raise prices.
PRISM and Guinastasia, you read my mind! I couldn’t agree more!
I also love the satistfaction of finishing a good book, closing it, looking at the cover for a moment and then finding a spot for it on the bookshelf.
I think a lot of people feel the same way. Why sit at your desk and read from the computer when you can lounge in a comfy chair and lose yourself for a while.
My MIL doesn’t understand why anyone would want to own a book…why on earth would you want to re-read a book when you already know how it ends? She’s crazy, I know, but I have to tolerate her.
From what I understand, the book will only cost $2.00. A dollar for each of the first two installments, and the last one(s) will be free.
I plan to print it out (at work of course) and bind it. There’s no way I could read a novel on the computer. Even the thought of it gives me a headache.
AuntiePam You’re very right. I would love to see the money go to charity, but I’m pretty sure King is just trying to prove a point. That is; folks will pay for that which could be free. Although he does seem a bit of a jackass on his website.
I understand and agree with what you are saying. I guess I am taking the long view (and optimistic) that if this tactic works for King, then other authors may try it. If enough do, and are successful, then the publishing companies and “bigmart” stores will have to re-think their strategy, hopefully opening up more room for new authors.
As for computers making it too easy to pump out manuscripts and thereby swamping publishers, well add me to the list of swampers! If publishers still want to make $$ (assuming the above works) they can evolve and hire more people to read the drivel we send, that’s just how businesses adjust or bust.
I’ll never change from loving to hold and read a book, and I hope I never see the day when I have to, but I love the turn in the business end of publishing that SK may be forcing, and more power to him.
As for printing vs. reading on screen, I’ll try it on screen. For as much time as I spend here reading, I don’t see much difference. The fact that it’s a novel will make it strange, but I’m old enough to remember when I had to adapt to reading anything on a screen, and now I take it for granted.
I chatted with a couple of publishers who were nice enough to return my rejected scripts with personal notes and they pointed out how they are swamped with scripts. So many, thanks to the computer age (I use a computer also), that if the script is not correctly assembled and presented in their stipulated format that they will often reject it without reading it.
Gone are the days of publishers gleefully snapping up hick writers, correcting their spelling and grammar and sending their works out to become best sellers. It is even hard to find one who will return the scripts with helpful comments. (Out of 10, only 3 would scribble me a note by hand and/or red pencil things in my script.)
Many publishers will not accept scripts that do not come through an agent – which means a starving writer (most of us) has to pay him to approve your book first to see if it is worthy of being potentially published. Then, if I a correct, he gets a small chunk of your publishing rewards up front.
If publishers still want to make $$ (assuming the above works) they can evolve and hire more people to read the drivel we send, that’s just how businesses adjust or bust.