Opinions are divided among Western authors and publishers as to whether free fiction available online boosts or damages the sales of physical product – witness Pixel-stained Technopeasantry. Wired reports that the book business in China is in fact undergoing a renaissance thanks to the increasingly popular pastime of reading novels online, and that the stories go on to be used in other media like television and computer games. The question is, will the same model work in the West?
Tag Archives: publishing
Wolfram’s Magnum Opus Online
Stephen Wolfram’s immense tome “A New Kind of Science” is now available online, for free, in a really sharp, full color format. I won’t even pretend I’m going to read it, but if I ever do get the gumption to tackle it I’ll probably try it out online before I refinance my house to buy the book. [boingboing]
Nobel winner writing new novel online – and giving it away for free
The science fiction genre is full of authors who, with a few exceptions, understand the value of giving content away for free as a marketing ploy (and we love them for it, too). The same attitude is less prevalent in the world of ‘proper’ literature, but the literary cachet of Nobel prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, combined with her enthusiastic adoption of a new publishing paradigm may change that fact. A recluse in real life, Ms Jelinek feels more able to communicate with people online, describing the internet as “the most wonderful thing there is. It connects people. Everyone can have input.” As an experiment into using the internet to raise an author’s profile, I’d say it’s been a success – Nobel Prize or no, I’d never heard of her before now. I wonder if the story’s any good?