Interview Toni Weisskopf, publisher of Baen Books
Teleread has a very good interview with Toni Weisskopf, the publisher of Baen Books. Now, as those of you who have followed my ramblings for a while know, I’m a fan of Baen and their policies on e-books. Go read the whole article, but here are some of the “money quotes.”
TW: Well, part of the “secret” there is that we don’t pay for expensive DRM (“digital rights management”) schemes. I’ve never understood why we should add to our costs with the sole outcome that it’s harder for readers to buy and read the books we want to sell. On the contrary, I want to make it as easy as possible for my readers to find, purchase and read my books. That goal influences every publishing decision I make from our marketing to what typefaces we use.
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Specifically, I think ebooks will extend the market for books, not reduce it. But then what I am selling is good stories; I don’t care what medium I sell those stories in. If my readers tell me they want it chipped on stone, I will find some way to do that. If they want me to beam the story directly to a chip in the brain, I will do that.
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In a nutshell, the problem of the midlist author or publisher is not piracy, but lack of exposure.
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The other side of the coin is that Jim Baen didn’t believe our readers are thieves and neither do I. I believe they will buy the book when they have the money. And I don’t believe our readers are ignorant. The understand TANSTAAFL. Our readers understand that we can’t continue to find great books and the authors continue to write them if we don’t get paid. So we don’t treat our readers badly by trying to micromanage the use of the ebooks, and we have been amply rewarded for that trust.
Friday B-Movie: The January Man
From 1989 comes this nicely done murder mystery, were tracking down the serial killer is only half the mystery. The cast is top notch. It includes Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Keitel and Danny Aiello. They really breath some life into a so-so script and make this movie worth watching.
Senator Reid’s wife & Daughter were injured in an auto accident
The most serious injury was to Mrs. Reid, who suffered a broken neck and back in an auto accident today though her injuries are not life-threatening according to a report in Business Week.
May all the injured parties recover swiftly.
Quote of the Day
“The reason the first three Star Wars movies were so terrific, and the second three sucked so bad, is actually very simple. The first three were about rebels, shooting guns and driving fast, and speaking with American accents. The second three were about politicians, discussing treaties and holding court, and speaking with British accents.”
Bill Whittle, LAND OF THE MOSTLY FREE, HOME OF THE OCCASIONALLY BRAVE
You can also watch Mr. Whittle deliver the entire speech at PJTV.
Obama puts a stop to the popular off shore drilling option
Barbara Hollingsworth reports in the DC Examiner:
The Obama administration’s six-month delay in approving new offshore drilling leases in federal waters will become a new three-year ban, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar quietly told reporters last Friday. Which means that no new oil and gas leases will be approved during President Obama’s term even though two –thirds of the American public supports such activity, according to a December 2009 Rasmussen poll.
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“Secretary Salazar has finally confirmed what had long been feared – that the Obama Administration has no intention of opening up new areas for offshore drilling during his four-years in office,” said Rep. Doc Hastings, the ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee.So for the next three years and probably more, trillions of dollars in domestic energy assets will remain untouched while billions of dollars more are spent on foreign oil.
Clearly, as in the Health Care “debate”, our Dear Leader has absolutely no interest in what the American People, whom he was elected to represent, care about in a vitally important subject. The President’s ban on domestic energy sources also tells us that he has no interest in halting rising energy costs or taking any steps toward improving the economy. Opening up these resources will immediately create many “shovel ready” good paying jobs, providing a short term benefit to the economy as well as long term benefits. Why is our Dear Leader opposed to actually improving the US economy?
House Speaker Pelosi needs a few basic civics classes
San Fran Nan (a.k.a. Nancy Pelosi, democrat – San Francisco & Speaker of the US House of Representatives) has said that Congress needs to pass ObamaCare so that the public can find out what’s in the bill.
Reality to democrat Speaker of the House Pelosi: Tell the people first, and then they will tell their Representatives in Congress if they want them to vote for it. That is how the system works.
What is in that bill that you are so afraid of the American People finding out?
Monday Book Pick: The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy’s first novel, which not only launched his career but revitialized the techno-thriller genre. This Cold War era novel introduces the reading public to Jack Ryan, whom Clancy continues to use as his main character in a string of wildly successful bestselling novels.
SciFi Sunday: H. Beam Piper
In addition to the Monday Book Picks and the Friday B-Movie posts, I’ll be posting about Science Fiction on random Sundays.
To kick things off, I am starting with one of my favorite SciFi authors, H. Beam Piper. Piper was in inspiration to many in the field today, including the massively best selling author, David Weber.
A lot of H. Beam Piper’s works are available in the public domain. You can find them on the Gutenberg’s SF CD, and there are also audiobook format versions available.
My personal favorites are Space Viking and Uller Uprising, but you should take the time to read his entire catalog. Sadly, it is not as large as it should have been.
What the MSM isn’t telling you about the Pentagon Shooter.
CNN has a long, detailed story about John Patrick Bedell, the fellow who traveled across the country in order to open fire at guards at an entrance to the Pentagon.
What that long, detailed story leaves out is any mention that Bedell is a registered democrat, a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, and a rabid left wing liberal who hates former President George W. Bush.
Don’t expect to hear that particular bit of truth to be utter at MSNBC, ABC or CBS “News.” It doesn’t fit their particular brand of reality.
Quote of the Day
“Having lived with Global Thermonuclear War with the Soviet Union, Global Cooling, the Population Bomb, DDT, AIDS, the Elbola virus, a half dozen other doomsday issues, and now Global Warming, life like living in one long 1970’s disaster film.” — Mark Urbin