tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post9125376454466847892..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: Dumbing DownerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-84806550944406583162011-05-18T22:56:05.606-05:002011-05-18T22:56:05.606-05:00I really think that you've put the best reason...I really think that you've put the best reason out there for a reader to buy a self-published book. If it isn't something the big publishers are doing such as the short story collections - then it is safe to say those are good bets. I'm not a big e-reader so I have only bought a few e-books. The short collections and unusual books have all been the best of the bunch.<br /><br />And yeah - write the book you want to read. Always good advice!Joelle Charbonneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13608552691748018256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-81871474701767049482011-05-18T09:13:21.632-05:002011-05-18T09:13:21.632-05:00Yeah, Dana, outliers. But maybe if there's eno...Yeah, Dana, outliers. But maybe if there's enough of us...<br /><br />Benjamin, I like the idea of getting rid of shareholders. The other option is for them to accept a smaller rate of return. Some people have said that the best publishing has ever done is a five percent return, which was enough when the companies were run by the people whose names were on the doors but not enough for the shareholder-driven multi-nationals that bought them.<br /><br />In the movies and TV it's a lot tougher because much more upfront capital is needed (though Netflix getting involved in production is interesting because they might work out a kind of royalty system with producers based on the number of times a show is viewed) but publishing has a lot of room to move.John McFetridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442198820998606682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-44293915898249269602011-05-18T08:25:03.267-05:002011-05-18T08:25:03.267-05:00Remove the shareholder component, and you'll g...Remove the shareholder component, and you'll get rid of the "safe" decisions. Replace it all with a person at the top who understands what John's saying. It all starts at the top.Benjamin Sobieckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18343962892479384825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-62674606126526835852011-05-18T05:47:05.346-05:002011-05-18T05:47:05.346-05:00Given the popularity of styleless, formulaic books...Given the popularity of styleless, formulaic books, I'm starting to come around to the point of view that a lot of authors ARE writing the book they want to read, and it's devoid of style and based on formula. I've read a couple of self-published e-books lately, and there's nothing wrong with them, if you're looking for the exact same stuff you can find in best sellers. No one forced these people to write this, and a lot of those books get sold, presumably also to writers. So maybe they are writing the books they want to read, and some of us are outliers in more ways than one.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.com