451

From the author: My next book is The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation: it's a Big Tech disassembly manual that explains how to disenshittify the web and bring back the old good internet. The hardcover comes from Verso on Sept 5, but the audiobook comes from me – because Amazon refuses to sell my audio.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] potterpockets@sh.itjust.works 57 points 1 year ago

Tangental but somewhat related, one of the most popular modern fantasy authors (Brandon Sanderson) recently did something similar where he released/is releasing 4 books this year funded via Kickstarter due to not wanting to work with Amazon.

It actually currently holds the record for highest funded Kickstarter project ever. Granted, it helps if you are an established and popular author already, but id be curious to see if this trend expands.

[-] Carighan@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I hate that its Kickstarter though.

Yeah, he sells it really well. "Stick it to the man, down with Amazon". Sorry, but you're one of the biggest authors around, you do not need some common schmuck barely making it through their monthly fees to carry your business risk. You can have ~any publisher you want in the world, and trivially have them release that book not on Amazon if you wanted to.

And that's sadly the same in board gaming Kickstarters. Sure, the tiny mom&pop games that could never happen outside of Kickstarter exist. But the vast majority is big names and publishers using it to offload their business risk onto the consumer so they can have 0% risk 100% reward.

If the "I just want to get back at Amazon"-statement had truth behind it, the book would be sold independently. But not kickstartered. Shoulder the business cost in creating the product, then make the profit selling it.

[-] Squids@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 year ago

It's a trend that's popping up in quite a few places - it also happens in 3d printing. Some of the biggest companies out there still do kickstarters for their more risky products under the guise of "trying to figure out demand"

Creality you're like the name in entry level 3d printers and people have been clamouring for you to release a new product for years. I'm pretty damn sure you can afford to take a risk on a concept that people have been wanting for years.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
451 points (95.6% liked)

Technology

58872 readers
5398 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS