I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the open model of publishing, but haven’t really spelled it out. Allow me to start spelling.
The open model, in it’s most basic form, is the idea of giving something away for free and then trying to find some other way to make money. It’s the old razors and blades notion. You give away a free razor, and then sell blades to make money.
Bars and Taverns have used this model for years, giving away salty pretzels or peanuts to assist their patrons in feeling thirsty. Nearly every gaming console also practices this idea, selling the console at a loss, and then making money on selling games.
The open model hit the music industry in the mid 90s, and the music industry was unprepared. Napster and the mp3 format revolutionized the way we listen to music, and the recording industry has fought it ever since. What savvy musicians have realized, however, is that the open model works just great for artists–it’s the record labels that are being left out in the cold.
Take Jonathan Coulton for instance. He gave 52 songs for free over the course of a year. That is roughly 4 full CDs worth of material. Is he crazy? Crazy like a fox. Hid music is good. People show up for his concerts, buy his shirts, and yes, even buy his CDs, in spite of the fact that they can download his music for free. He now makes a ‘comfortable living’ doing what he loves. He went from part time musician to full time musician, all by giving away his work.
It works the same way in several other industries such as TV and film, but as writers our turn has been slow in coming. The problems lies in the face that people don’t sit at their computer to read an entire novel. They may sit there long enough to do it, but usually they’re jumping from site to site on the Internet. The idea of reading 300 pages on a desktop is daunting.
But e-books have changed all of that. Now people are finding the beauty and benefits of e-books, and as authors we finally get our turn to take advantage of this not-so-new medium.
I’ve talked a lot about the merits of e-books, but selling your book on Amazon is not using the open model. Giving away your book on Amazon is an example of open publishing, and believe it or not it works, even in the publishing industry. Cory Doctorow gives away digital copies of all his books, and feels this has affected his print sales positively.
Giving away books is not a magic bullet. I’ve said it with e-books, and it holds true to the open model. You must first master the craft, or readers will quit after 3 pages. But the idea of giving away something for free, and making money some other way, is a time tested method.
If you’re interested in reading more about this model, I highly recommend Chris Anderson’s article on the topic, as well as his book.
