Cory Doctorow and the Freemium model
JA
November 02
Cory Doctorow, science fiction author, blogger and copyleft activist, is embarking on a rather interesting project to test almost every aspect of the ‘freemium’ business model. (The term is a melding of ‘free’ and ‘premium’, denoting any enterprise that works by ‘offering basic services for free, while charging a premium for advanced or special features’).
Doctorow has long been a champion of open content – he was the first writer to use the creative commons licence in 2003 to release his novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom as a freely downloadable ebook, a feat he repeated with his next three publications, all of which went on to sell well. His success has allowed him to work as a full-time writer since 2006 – he relies on blogging, royalties, translations, speaking gigs, grants and other ad hoc writing to supplement his income. Yet in a recent article in Publishers Weekly, Doctorow states that he regularly encounters criticism from both sides of the fence. Those in favour of strong copyright laws either argue that his case is an anomaly or that he’s doing the wrong thing by letting so much profit go willingly. Equally, from the ‘True Believers’, there’s the view that he’s not doing enough and should self-publish, instead of giving about 90% of his profits to a publisher or bookseller.
While Doctorow believes neither of these propositions, he is, as ever, curious about the debate. Enter his latest experiment – ‘an idea to get some facts in evidence, while making some money and raising a little hell’. With the release of his next book, a collection of previously published short stories aptly entitled With a Little Help, Doctorow writes that he will attempt to show that a model based on ebooks and free content is both sustainable and profitable. The collection will be entirely self-published and sold in a range of ‘packages’ costing from zero to up to $10 000(US). Doctorow will post monthly results on Publishers Weekly, where he has already laid down the law in detail. Here is a brief rundown:
Ebook: Released for free on the day of publications in text, HTML and PDF.
Audiobook: Release for free, voiced by various actors friends and colleagues. Along with the audiobook, he will also release a CD/DVD of his 150+ backlist of podcasts, which sound engineer John Williams has agreed to put together for a cut of the sales. Doctorow will distribute these podcasts to various science fiction sites under the creative commons licence. He hopes to reach a good 300 000 fans with this promotion.
Print on Demand: Trade paperback retailing for approx $16. Doctorow will use Lulu.com to self-publish. Designer John Berry will help with the typesetting and interiors for a cut of the sales and Doctorow has also commissioned various artists/designers to do four different covers.
As the book is a collection of previously published short stories, the proofing and copyediting have already been done (just be safe however, Doctorow is proudly asking his mother to do another proof, without charge of course). If readers discover any further typos, he can simply use the POD software to fix them.
Collectible hardcover editions: At a limited run of 250 copies (priced at $250), Doctorow will sell premium bound editions with an original illustration embossed on the cover and endpapers made from ephemera from various writer friends, including Nail Gaiman, Kelly Link, Eileen Gunn and William Gibson. Keeping in line with the sci-fi/techie theme, the book will also include a ScanDick card with the full ebook and all audio.
Commission: Doctorow will also write an additional story for $10 000 (someone has apparently already paid him to do so).
Publishers Weekly: PW has already paid $900 for the initial article, and will pay $400 more for the monthly updates.
Advertisements and donations will also be solicited.
Self-promotion: Doctorow will also stage a media campaign via his blog, twitter etc.
Incidentally, we’re hoping that Doctorow will be able to join us for a Meanland event next year as part of a joint venture between Meanjin and Overland to explore Reading in an Age of Change. Stay tuned for more.
Cory Doctorow
Our Friends
- Overland
- Alien Onion
- Ampersand Duck
- Andrew McDonald
- A Pair of Ragged Claws
- Arts Victoria
- Australia Council for the Arts
- Ben Eltham
- Bookshow blog
- CAL
- City of Tongues
- Crikey
- darkly wise, rudely great
- David Astle
- Elmo Keep Does Stuff
- The Ember
- Fly the Falcon blog
- Going Down Swinging
- Griffith Review
- Hackpacker
- Harvest
- HEAT
- Island
- Killings blog
- Literary Minded
- Lorraine Crescent
- Lynden Barber
- Mandy Ord
- Marcus Westbury
- Matilda
- Meanland
- Melbourne University Publishing
- Mel Campbell
- The Monthly
- Musings of an Inappropriate Woman
- Oslo Davis
- Paul Callaghan
- Read, Think, Write
- Sleepers Publishing
- Sorrow at Sills Bend
- SPLOG
- Tom Cho
- Virgule
- Wet Ink
- Wheeler Centre
Comments
02 Nov 09 at 6:20
Doctorow's latest novel is being serialised at Tor.com.
...02 Nov 09 at 17:37
What larks, Pip. All of it. This is a remarkable person.
...18 Nov 09 at 12:26
The freemium model is already well established. Just look at American Idol. Viewers watch for free (unless its on cable) on an advertiser/sponsorship model but you only need a few per cent to sms their votes or down load the songs on iTunes to get a serious boost to revenue. Newspapers will figure out a way to do this as well one day...
...