Neil Gaiman: Free Sells Books

The results of Free

You have to scroll down for the salient bits, which I'm certain David Rothman over at Teleread will masterfully analyze and post about at some point [I will post a link to it here when that happens].

How many frikkin times must this happen before the ballpeen hammer of the Internet finally cracks the thick skulls of the print publishing world?

All of you print publishers -- have you been contacted by Apple yet for Apple's ebook effort?

If not, here's a wake-up suggestion: Why not get on the damned phone and call up Apple and beg beg beg them to do it?!

How sure are you that sales aren't already draining away due to Google Book Search? Have you had a look there? At least one author was surprised by it! While everyone can read over there for free, people like me -- who want legitimate help-writers-pay-their-rent copies are left twisting in the wind and possibly even considering turning to the DarkNet for interim unformatted versions just so we can dump another pound or two of shelved paper!

What part of the words Market Demand do you not yet understand?

I'm telling you lot this right now: If you don't do it, your writers will. You print publishers will be left in a boutique industry. You'll be nothing but reprint publishers -- of ebooks. And how many employees do you think a big global conglomerate will require to do just that?

Previously here:

eBook On An iPhone: One Example
Read Nathan Singer — Like A Thief!
Free eBook: Whisky Sour
Free eBook: Publishing
Free eBook: Hal Spacejock
iPhone eBook Reader Stanza Available
Memo To Steve Jobs: iPhone Owners READ!
New One-Shot Blog For eBooks
Reference: Stanza eBook Reader For iPhone
eReader On iPhone: What It Looks Like
More Long Tail Debate
Call It “Direct Publishing”
Today’s Oprah: Women And Money Is Repeating!
Video: eBooks On iPhone/iPod Touch
Globalizing Copyediting
What Apple Better Not Miss About eBooks
For God’s Sake, Get eBooks Going, Steve Jobs!
iPod Air: See You In September?
Quote: Eleanor Randolph
A Gadget Too Far
First Apple eBook Device?
East Coast Corporate Liberal Meets An eBook
It’s Now All Down To Apple Vs. Google
Writer Mark Billingham On eBooks, More
Writer Steven Poole Gets Bad News Too
What eChanges Will High Oil Prices Bring?
Writer Richard Herley Gets Bad News
eInk eBook Readers: They’re All Dead, Jim!
Amazon: Already Toast
More About That HarperCollins Plan
Future iPods: Piper Jaffray’s Blind Spot
Quote: Warren Ellis (Again)
Writers Don’t Fear The Future: Publishers Do!
D.I.Y. Book Anthologies?
The Long Tail: A Lie?
David Rothman Just Saved Google’s Android OS
The Three Companies Apple Should Acquire
Apple And eBooks: Why The Delay
For The Record: Apple and eBooks
I’m No Fan Of The Kindle. Nor Is He.
Memo To Steve Jobs: People DO Still Read!
HarperCollins Tries Free eBooks — World Laughs.
Self-Published Ebook = DIY Or Vanity?
The Three Big As: Apple, Amazon, Adobe
One More Time: Apple And Ebooks
Steve Jobs Is Up To Something. Probably Big.
Today’s Oprah: Women And Money
Today’s Oprah Is Worth Watching
Does Apple Want To Be King Of Ebooks?
Ebooks Are Now
Print Publishing Is In Self-Destruct Mode: eBook S.O.S.
The Urgency Of eBooks