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Copyright 2001-2004 by Ed Howdershelt http://abintrapress.netfirms.com A science fiction e-novel on a CD, published by... Golden Zephyr Beer? Sure. Why not? The company could hand out CD's at science fiction conventions like DragonCon in Atlanta. Some Ebook CD's distributed in this manner would instantly become collectable items, as have many other advertising gadgets, and the company could take a hefty tax write-off. The company could also set up a website library where people could download ebooks that have been If you're a wanna-be author who is deeply offended by this blasphemous idea, please suffer gracefully and either read on or go back to sorting your rejection-slips. If, instead, you are a published author who is deeply offended, you may also read on or move on. Why do I think this idea will work? Back in the earlier days of the web, an outfit called Themestream paid authors two cents per page view of whatever an author cared to place on their site. Themestream existed for only a couple of years -- due to mismanagement and corporate looting, in my opinion -- but some of my casually-produced works of that time accumulated a total of $1328.76 within 5 months. In the course of reading my stuff, people were exposed to Themestream's advertising banners at least 66,438 times. ($1328.76 divided by $.02) To a sizeable corporation, the cost to produce or fund an ebook would be minimal compared to some of the other stuff they buy and give away in their efforts to attract customers, but an ebook would have one distinct advantage over t-shirts, cups, keyring bottle openers, etc... Someone could make copies of the ebook with friends, complete with whatever advertising might be embedded in the ebook. As with the sponsored holiday music CD's that circulate every year, authors would be paid. Also, every time an ebook was downloaded from the company website the author would receive a royalty. This ad-sponsored system would also render inconsequential the issue of pirates copying the ebooks, since the ad-sponsored ebook would be published for the specific purpose of encouraging maximum exposure for both the sponsor's products and an author's works at a price even thieves would be happy to pay, ie; free. How this idea could work: (still using Golden Zephyr Beer as an example!) On Golden Zephyr's website, readers would register or log in before being able to download or read as much as they like during their visit. I also suggest that there be a complete list of titles and authors available to entice non-registered visitors to join. The ebooks would be available in two main methods; by download as a single file in various formats or as chapter-by-chapter webpages with advertising framework. Dear Golden Zephyr Beer people: (should you happen to exist) If you object to the use of your company name in this article, I can change it. No problem. Just send me a few cases to cover editing expenses. Thanks, Ed Howdershelt - Abintra Press Science Fiction and Semi-Fiction http://www.abintrapress.com Fictionwise: http://tinyurl.com/26v45 Mobipocket: http://tinyurl.com/239v3 Powell's: http://tinyurl.com/388jc Back to SITE INDEX Email Address on this page |
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