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#1 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
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July AUTHOR EARNINGS report brings focus on DRM
![]() http://authorearnings.com/july-2014-...rnings-report/ Among the expected focus on publishing path data, this time they looked at the prevalence and effect of DRM on Kindle ebooks: Quote:
Quote:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...wn-on-drm.html There is way, way more at the source, highlighting how BPH ebooks constitute only 16% of Kindle's top 120K sellers, and how it turns out indie publishing works fine for less popular genres like litfic and non-fiction. Reach for the muchies; plenty of fireworks incoming in the next few days. |
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#2 |
Groupie
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Thanks for sharing this. It's not something I'd have come across otherwise.
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#3 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I'm not sure I see what this proves or disproves about DRM. I've only read what was quoted here, and it's interesting, but books aren't interchangeable commodities. There are so many variables beyond the presence or absence of DRM that affect a purchase decision.
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#4 |
Wizard
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I'm kind of surprised anyone really notices DRM on the kindle store. If indeed they do, and it isn't just down to the fact that the good indies don't use DRM, or something. ("Not Using DRM Improves the Quality of Your Writing.")
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#5 |
Grand Sorcerer
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They're only claiming correlation, not actual causation.
DRM-free titles earning twice as much as the DRM'ed ones could simply be an indication that business-savvy publishers, the ones who know how to promote their titles effectively, also know that DRM does nothing meaningful for them. It does, however, allow for TTS, simultaneous reading on unlimited multiple devices, and easy conversion to non-Kindle devices. All of which add marginal value to consumers. So it says nothing about the quality of the book itself but it says a bit about the publisher. In any industry, there is a body of knowledge of "best business practices" that correlate with success even when they don't always cause it or guarantee it. DRM-free might be in that category, not a guarantee of quality or success but it clearly doesn't hurt. Last edited by fjtorres; 07-17-2014 at 06:50 PM. |
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#6 |
Well trained by Cats
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Could part of the better earnings be that there is no per book DRM License fee being paid?
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#7 |
Grand Sorcerer
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#8 |
Is that a sandwich?
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How do they know if a Kindle book has DRM or not?
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#9 |
Guru
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If you are comparing two books, one with DRM and one without, better sales for the non-DRM'd book would not tell you if the better sales were due to the lack of DRM, a better book, more publicity or other cause. Comparing 120,000 books whose only difference is the presence or lack of DRM the other variables tend to average out. Maybe all the non-DRM'd books all had something else in common that none of the DRM'd books did that was increasing their sales but that seems unlikely. In any case have you heard of any individual choosing not to buy a book because it didn't have DRM? I have heard of the opposite case.
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#10 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Amazon tells you.
"Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited" Like here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...rd_i=154606011 |
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#11 |
cacoethes scribendi
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It is interesting to have some actual numbers around the DRM issue for a change. Obviously there's lots of stuff we'd all like to know that doesn't exist in this data, but they are still reassuring results for all not using DRM.
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#12 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
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#13 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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Quote:
2- The only metric where the BPHs "dwarf" indie ebook sales is reader spend. Unit sales are comparable and author income favors indie over BPH. Again, they aren't claiming DRM has a causal link with sales, just that it correlates with it. Edit: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corre...mply_causation Last edited by fjtorres; 07-18-2014 at 07:46 AM. |
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#14 |
cacoethes scribendi
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I am willing to believe that DRM is not a significant factor in sales overall, there may be other factors influencing the results when isolated by indie. But that in itself is interesting, don't you think?
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#15 |
Grand Sorcerer
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To some of us, apparently.
![]() My read is that indie publishers that are effective in driving sales of their titles tend to go DRM-free. And that, like Tor, going DRM-free doesn't seem to be hurting them. Absent any actual direct pro or con causal data, a rational publisher would take this report as a hint to go DRM-free. |
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