John Scalzi was a guest on our show not too terribly long ago talking about his book Old Man’s War. John also runs a very active and popular blog called Whatever. While I don’t get a chance to read it as much as I’d like (read: hardly ever), articles like “Writing in the Age of Piracy” make me kick myself in the ass for not making the time.
He’s talking about writers figuring out new business models which personally work for them and go well beyond “1) collect underpants 2) … 3) profit”:
No, these new business models are not going to work for everyone. Guess what: The publishing model now doesn’t work for everyone, either. And guess what else: The group of Writers Making Money in the Pirate Age will not be the same as the group of Writers Making Money in the Age of Publishing. Why? Because some people can’t do it, and some people won’t do it. Furthermore, some people will make less money in this new age of piracy.
But guess what again? Some people will make more, too. Will the per capita income be as great? Doubtful, since this pirate age model will encourage more people whose writing would have been laughed out the door in the publishing age to make a go at monetizing their work. But I don’t know how much time you need to spend worrying about the per capita income number. You have to worry about your income number.
Brilliant stuff again, John.
