Was going to look at the nonfiction reviews at Publisher’s Weekly. They have a notice up that a subscription is now required to read them. They have “Free Access for All Through June 30, 2011 Sponsored by Harlequin” but after that you will need to pay.
Maybe as there is less and less for free on the Internet people will value their library more as they see they cannot access everything.
See note at Publisher’s Weekly
Free
As things changed at lightning speed regarding digital & print in the last dozen or so years, and particularly in the last two years, many publishers have not anticipated the source–or amount– of their income. It’s been mostly a guessing game (ex., NYTimes subscription, New Yorker, etc.). I needn’t mention all of the costs accrued in the publishing industry…they are many.
Obviously the products (books, magazines, newspapers, etc.) they provide have value and that value translates into dollars in our economy. I think that the rush to provide information at no cost boomeranged into an unfortunate phenomenon of the consumer wanting everything for ‘free’. That was also buoyed up by some of the super-retailers like Amazon. ‘Grease’ is no longer the word…’free’ is the word. Who doesn’t like free? But ‘free’ has a price…for somebody.
The time has come, as they say, to pay the piper. If you want content, it makes sense to pay. Regarding PW, they also have a free daily email, wonder if they’re going to eliminate that too.
Your thoughts, responses are welcome.
Well…
One problem is that publishers think people that read the site when it it free will then pay when it’s not therefore giving them a massive new income stream. It’s a problem as unless your product is SO good you won’t get that transfer. And worse still you will lose out from the side effects of people reading your work, everythign from subscriptions to your existing products, buying new books from your range, people generally buying more books/magazines through being inspired or interested by the material you gave away for free.
Pay the piper yes, but what if the song just isn’t that important?
I pay for The Times/Sunday Times online. I get it online and via the iPad app. I rarely used to buy the paper and I looked at the occasional article on their website when linked to from places like Lisnews. I didn’t subscribe when it came out, didn’t believe in it. But then I knew someone who did and I saw what else you could get. Not only was the price a lot cheaper than the print but you had competitions for members only, deals for memebrs only. I’ve had 3 movie downloads free as a member. That made sense to me and when I got my iPad I also bought a subscription. It wasn’t the convienience or the print vs online cost, it was the extra elements I got. You can’t just switch from one format to another without some added carrot. The Times has it right for me.