[A2k] Any examples/ any evidence?

[Marko Loparic]

Hi Alan,

In computer science, many authors put their books online. Bruce Eckel
is an example. This blogger claims that "Giving it away free only
cemented your reputation as the Bono of the Java world"
http://firstpartners.net/blog/2007/01/

This article discusses free books, and claims "Book publishers like
Baen and O'Reilly, however, have found that they can increase sales of
their printed books by giving away the digital versions for free".
http://www.lightandmatter.com/article/sneaky.html

The novelist Paulo Coelho claims to have increased the sale of his
books by putting them online:
http://torrentfreak.com/alchemist-author-pirates-own-books-080124/

This is his blog, he calls himself Pirate Coelho:
http://piratecoelho.wordpress.com/

Regards,
Marko

On 07/02/2008, Alan Story <A.C.Story@kent.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Would anyone on the list have concrete and specific examples of books that
> prove the following proposition:
>
> Allowing free, open, and ongoing access (online) to the full text of a
> commercially-published, non-fiction book does NOT hurt sales of that book
> and, in fact, can (and does) stimulate sales of that book, especially if
> the online version gets sufficient "buzz" on the Internet, in blogs, in
> e-mail lists, etc.
>
> Examples from anywhere on the globe appreciated. And the harder and more
> specific the "data", the better.
>
> There is one current examples of this phenomenon; see Levine and Boldrin's
> book "Against Intellectual Monopoly"  -
> http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/againstfinal.htm
>
> However, this book does not come out as a published book until July
> 2008...and so, to date, there is no evidence to gather about this book and
> may not be for some months.
>
> Please send to me ( acs3@kent.ac.uk) and if I get enough examples,
> I will send a little report back to the list.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Alan
>
>
>
> Alan Story
> Senior Lecturer, Intellectual Property Law
> Kent Law School
> University of Kent
> Canterbury Kent
> United Kingdom      CT2 7NS
> acs3@kent.ac.uk
> Phone: +44 (0)1227 823316
>
>
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