Аннотация: A finances of an author and the e-market of books. A civilizational essay.
A finances of an author and the e-market of books. A civilizational essay.
The modern, the post-Soviet Russia is characterized by the gradual extinction of traditional publishing houses and the relative flourishing of electronic the book trading platforms.
What is one of the fundamental differences between a traditional publishing house and an electronic platform?
The publisher was making a forecast (a forecast of sales and sales revenue) and entered into a contractual relationship with the author of the book (the author's fee was approximately known to the author at the time of signing the contract between the publisher and the author).
The platform does not (allegedly) make any forecasts. Contracts similar to those that existed between traditional publishers and authors are not signed.
The platform - at first glance - turns the author into his (author's) own publisher, advertising agent, proofreader, etc. The platform gives the author a "place": for advertising, for trading, for publishing ... The author is a real creative hero - he dares, he plans own achivements on this platform, he performs feats...
It would seem: what prevents the electronic platform from organizing relationships with the author by analogy with traditional publishers?
What allowed a traditional publisher to make forecasts about future sales and revenue from the sale of a book?
First, experience.
Secondly, the presence of many factors that are at the disposal of the publisher.
For example, one of the major US writers of the 20th century began his writing career by writing a book about pirates. Perhaps, at that moment, the American reading public was not particularly interested in pirates. But the publisher paid attention to the fact that the New Year Holiday was approaching, hired a great artist, made a beautiful cover and advertised the book as a best gift for children for the New Year. Sales of the book reached high levels, the novice author received a noticeable fee and gained initial fame.
Advertising and marketing strategies, the design of the cover, the placement of illustrations in the book, and many other factors-all this is in the hands of the publisher.
The electronic platform, as well as the traditional publishing house, passes through itself huge volumes of information, acquires huge experience.
Moreover, the very concept of e-commerce allows you to collect, process information, and make forecasts much more efficiently than in the past.
What topics are currently interesting for readers? What price are they willing to pay? What will be the demand for the book? Is it advisable to spend money on a good cover, on illustrations? Will a book pay off?
These and many other questions can be answered more or less accurately before the book is directed in a trade.
If an electronic platform can make such a forecast, then what prevents it from determining the approximate amount of royalties and concluding a contract with the author, a contract that guarantees the financial interests of the author?
In other words, it is even easier and simpler for modern electronic book trading platforms to make a forecast than for traditional publishers who previously did not have software tools for collecting and processing information, even easier and simpler than for traditional publishers who used only experience and intuition and well-known algorithms.
Naturally, the author - if the proposed fee does not suit him - is free to rationally choose the next line of own future behavior, and not thoughtlessly "upload" the text of his book in favor of unknown person (under the influence of beautiful stories, that e-book trading is a modern lifestyle, and that everyone does it).
At this point in the discussion, we move into the realm of hypothetical philosophical reasoning.
Russia, and to some extent all of Europe, were traditional societies.
A lot of them were based on tradition.
In Russia, many generations of huge masses of the population lived in repetitive conditions, without receiving any new information, without the habit of analyzing new information flows.
The stability of the social environment was creating such a quality as trustfulness.
For all participants in social relationships, moderate truthfulness and moderate trustfulness were mutually beneficial behavioral strategies.
After 1991, we see an active exploitation of such a quality of the population as credulity.
In many areas, the "the carrot - the robbery" algorithm has become traditional.
At beginning, a carrot is hung in front. The carrot encourages the necessary actions. After the actions are committed, there is a scam, a robbery.
In (Western) Europe, however, due to many circumstances, this algorithm may not work or act in a weakened form.
Thus, if the authors are not informed in advance of the approximate amount of remuneration that they can expect, if a contract is not concluded with the authors that guarantees their financial interests, then it's not because such a model of behavior is impossible.
This pattern of behavior is very possible. The collection, analysis, and processing of digital data create additional opportunities for forecasting.
But in the conditions of post-Soviet Russia, there is a certain civilizational model of behavior. And directors (chief performers) do not approve of the rejection and deviation from this model - in any sphere, including in the field of book sales.
As for the authors, most likely, the percentage of authors who would be motivated to write a book by the own (authors') low self-esteem - this percentage is minimal.
To a greater extent, the authors are motivated by high self-esteem and some emotional excitement.
Under the right information background, authors are imbued with the belief that there is an effective (electronic) platform in front of them, where they will certainly show themselves from the best side - not only as authors, but also as agents, as publishers, as advertising specialists, etc.
Their fighting spirit and positive mental projection extend not only to the process of writing a book (in most cases, books are not bad-with sufficient motivation of the authors and with the necessary spending of efforts and time). Their inspiration also promises victory in such complex and highly specialized processes as publishing, advertising, promotion, and selling books.
The main trap for a trusting author is the lack of a copyright agreement, an agreement, that guarantees the financial interests of the author even before the start of printing and before the sale of the book.
The author is soaring in his high emotions. But in reality, his intellectual product no longer belongs to him, and - very often - is used (used actively and very effectively) by those people whom he does not even know by surname.
The general result of modern algorithms of book trading (in the absence of copyright agreements) - in the civilizational space of modern Russia - is that authors receive insignificant, minimal income or the authors in whole are deprived of any financial income.
[MMСLX. A dexterous use of the author's content. A diary note. - May 13, 2021.
MMСCIII. A letter on issue of copyright protection. A diary memo. - June 8, 2021.
MMСCIV. A letter about competition between the rules of players in the electronic market of books and the rights of an author. A diary memo. - June 9, 2021.].
June 10, 2021 06:13
Translation from Russian into English: June 10, 2021 08:30.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Финансы авторов и электронная книжная торговля. Цивилизационный очерк'.