Publishing — No comments
28
Jul 10
I received a nice e-mail today from David Israelite, the President of the National Music Publisher’s Association, regarding my book, Starving the Artist.
He’d just finished reading it, and had the following to say:
“Starving the Artist makes a compelling case why songwriters deserve to be compensated for their creations. Aicher exposes the illogical nature of those who try to justify the theft of music. Everyone who loves music should read this book.”
So there you have it, if you love music, buy my book. 
Intellectual Property / Life / Web — No comments
30
Jun 10
Recently I was contacted by The Copyright Alliance to answer a few interview questions about my latest book, Starving the Artist. Part One of the Interview is now available, and Part Two is coming tomorrow can be read here..
For those of you unfamiliar with The Copyright Alliance, they are a “a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization dedicated to the value of copyright as an agent for creativity, jobs and growth.” They’re also the recent recipient of the Arnold Broido Award for Copyright Advocacy.
All-in-all, they’re a fantastic organization (in my opinion), and one that any creator or individual who cares about copyright or artists’ rights should be aware of and follow. You can learn more about them here.
Technology / Web — No comments
29
Jun 10
It appears that the web site for Amazon.com is down. Reports have been coming in through Twitter and elsewhere. From what I’m seeing, it is very likely a database issue, as the site loads but no products seem to be working.
Seeing as how both links for Starving the Artist here go to Amazon, and Amazon.com is down, I should point out you can also buy it at Barnes and Noble (plus it’s on sale there!).
I wonder how much money Amazon’s losing. I’m guessing it’s a lot.
BTW, If you’re ever looking for a good way to see if a site is down for just you or for everyone, use http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com
Writing — No comments
03
Jun 10
Just a quick update for those of you who are interested in picking up a physical paperback copy of my new book, Starving the Artist: How the Internet Culture of Free Threatens to Exterminate the Creative Class and What Can Be Done to Save It – the book is now eligible for Amazon.com’s 4-for-3 promotion, where when you purchase any three eligible items, you receive a fourth for free. So, if you were looking to get three other eligible books you could get Starving the Artist for FREE. Also, if you want a quick preview of the book, the Look Inside feature is now live on Amazon’s listing as well.
If you’re a fan of Barnes & Noble, or just like to save a buck or two, Starving the Artist is currently on sale there for 10% off at just $8.95.
And of course you can also get it on Kindle for the everyday low price of just $4.95.
Intellectual Property / Marketing / Publishing / Web — 6 comments
01
Jun 10
So this past Sunday, independent author, J.A. Konrath decided to run an experiment. In order to prove his theory that piracy doesn’t hurt sales he’s encouraging people to steal one of his books for the next month. Yes, that’s right – he wants people to freely trade, post, share, and distribute his eBook, Jack Daniels Stories for the next thirty days. The way the experiment is set to work (note this is my simplified explanation) is that he will keep track of the current sales and ranking of the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. and see how free trading of his books affects their sales.
To help spur this trading/sharing, he’s offering a zip file containing multiple formats of the e-book on his site. He’s also encouraging those who download the file to upload it to all the file sharing sites they use and distribute it in any way possible (or, if they prefer, not distribute it at all). Basically he’s giving permission for people to steal his book so he can see if it really hurts sales.
The problem with this experiment however, is that it’s really nothing more than a marketing tactic. By giving permission for people to share this book he’s not, in any way. embracing piracy, but rather he’s embracing alternative distribution channels. Copyright law grants the copyright holder or administrator the right to determine the price and distribution allowed for any work owned/administered, so obviously if he’s telling people to trade the file and download it without payment, that’s his right to do as the copyright holder. All he’s done is lowered the price of this book to zero for the duration of his experiment. (If this non-price will continue to be enforced once the thirty days are up, and if so, whether he decides to do anything about it are unknown.) Continue reading →
Music / Web — No comments
26
May 10
In case you missed the news, Limewire is begging the music industry for a second chance. You know, after they stole from it for a really long time.
What do you think? Should the music industry forgive and forget, instead taking this opportunity to try to monetize the immense userbase of Limewire users? Is it even possible to convert them to paying customers? Or are Limewire users just going to move on to another service? Seeing as how it takes years for the music industry to stop a service like Limewire, maybe another can hop in for a bit (maybe dupe a few users) and make a couple million $. Or, perhaps due to the precedence set by this case the next one will fall all that much faster.
It will definitely be interesting from here on out.
