It's absolutely true that it's not easy to be successful writing. The hardest part is being *good* at writing.
My first experience with an "e-book" that was free and self-published informed my outlook on aspiring authors. I don't remember the author or the title, but it was about anarcho-capitalists in conflict with an incompetent federal government and a space vehicle launched from a semi-plausible maglev ramp. Despite the intriguing premise, it read like a political wish-fulfillment fantasy. It wasn't really that good overall, but it wasn't a waste of my time.
The reason I regret reading it was because of the author's attitude as he presented his work. He complained about not making money when he had tried to sell his book. He complained about pirates posting copies of his book on message boards. He sounded downright petulant when he explained that he was now offering it for free because it was being pirated anyway.
He did have other writing available for sale on his website, but between his attitude (CwF fail) and his lack of finesse in writing (RtB fail) I had no desire to part with my money to compensate him for what I had read or to buy additional stories.
Perhaps this author had the bad luck to be unskilled at his desired trade?
If you want to get a feel for the costs of physical books, look at public domain books. Retail prices on hardbacks can be as low as $10-$12. About half of that is the wholesale cost to the retailer, which is the printer's cost for manufacture, shipping, and profit. Without royalties to authors and publishers and without retail costs, that slab of beautiful dead tree *still* only costs about $6. A new release from a popular author in hardback will cost at least $25, list price. It probably has higher quality paper than the cheap public domain edition, but $13 wholesale minus $2 in upgraded raw material minus $6 base manufacture and distribution STILL only equals $5 FOR ALL THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR OVERHEAD! If your e-distributor is taking 30%, you, as a publisher, can make the SAME profit per copy on a $7 ebook as you can on a $25 hardback.
The idea that ebooks should cost anywhere near the same as a print book is beyond silly. The people who are buying them currently put a high premium on convenience. The market will decide how long that lasts, unless price-fixing, vendor lock-in, or rent-seeking legislation breaks the market.
I think "Go Canucks, Go! NHL, Go piss up a rope!" would both accurately represent the dealership's attitude and disambiguate the question of sponsorship.
I don't know the details of what makes a work a work for hire, but I know there is such a thing. This seems like the most obvious, common sense solution. The person who hired the artist and received the tattoo should the tattoo and all rights to it.
Tattoo artists should want it that way. If they don't, they'd be liable every time someone got a sport team tattooed on them.
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It's absolutely true that it's not easy to be successful writing. The hardest part is being *good* at writing.
My first experience with an "e-book" that was free and self-published informed my outlook on aspiring authors. I don't remember the author or the title, but it was about anarcho-capitalists in conflict with an incompetent federal government and a space vehicle launched from a semi-plausible maglev ramp. Despite the intriguing premise, it read like a political wish-fulfillment fantasy. It wasn't really that good overall, but it wasn't a waste of my time.
The reason I regret reading it was because of the author's attitude as he presented his work. He complained about not making money when he had tried to sell his book. He complained about pirates posting copies of his book on message boards. He sounded downright petulant when he explained that he was now offering it for free because it was being pirated anyway.
He did have other writing available for sale on his website, but between his attitude (CwF fail) and his lack of finesse in writing (RtB fail) I had no desire to part with my money to compensate him for what I had read or to buy additional stories.
Perhaps this author had the bad luck to be unskilled at his desired trade?
Re: Re: Books don't cost all that much to print.
If you want to get a feel for the costs of physical books, look at public domain books. Retail prices on hardbacks can be as low as $10-$12. About half of that is the wholesale cost to the retailer, which is the printer's cost for manufacture, shipping, and profit. Without royalties to authors and publishers and without retail costs, that slab of beautiful dead tree *still* only costs about $6. A new release from a popular author in hardback will cost at least $25, list price. It probably has higher quality paper than the cheap public domain edition, but $13 wholesale minus $2 in upgraded raw material minus $6 base manufacture and distribution STILL only equals $5 FOR ALL THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR OVERHEAD! If your e-distributor is taking 30%, you, as a publisher, can make the SAME profit per copy on a $7 ebook as you can on a $25 hardback.
The idea that ebooks should cost anywhere near the same as a print book is beyond silly. The people who are buying them currently put a high premium on convenience. The market will decide how long that lasts, unless price-fixing, vendor lock-in, or rent-seeking legislation breaks the market.
Stick figures in peril
I love this sort of thing. It reminds me of an old website called "Stick Figures in Peril". It looks like it's now a flickr pool, but still funny.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/stickfiguresinperil/pool/
My always and forever favorite warning sign cautions against a) falling into the giant saw or b) getting bits of the first guy flung at you:
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~tbone/warningsigns/photos/Death%20wheel.html
No, these never get old.
Revised sticker
I think "Go Canucks, Go! NHL, Go piss up a rope!" would both accurately represent the dealership's attitude and disambiguate the question of sponsorship.
Work made for hire
I don't know the details of what makes a work a work for hire, but I know there is such a thing. This seems like the most obvious, common sense solution. The person who hired the artist and received the tattoo should the tattoo and all rights to it.
Tattoo artists should want it that way. If they don't, they'd be liable every time someone got a sport team tattooed on them.
Re: reply
If you use the threaded comment replies, we'll know what you're talking about.
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Buy broadband service, become a sysadmin! It's the way of the future! All the cool kids are doing it!
No Netflix on that ISP, for sure.
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Congratulations. You're paying for 12 hours of Internet per month. Sounds like the good ol' AOL days.
If your telco advertised in those terms, they'd never get another customer.