Noah's ARC: A Merchandizing Adventure.: seanan

Noah's ARC: A Merchandizing Adventure.

Until I went into publishing (which makes it sound so studied and intentional—"went into publishing," instead of "wrote a book and somehow got the damn thing published"), when I heard the word "ARC," I was likely to start singing that old camp song about Noah and the Arc. God said to Noah, there's gonna be a flood-y, flood-y...

But anyway.

In the world of publishing, the ARC is not King. The ARC is sort of like the King's herald, the one who goes beating at the doors of every noble in the land to announce that way-hey, there's a ball coming up, and every marriageable girl in the Kingdom is invited. When the ARC arrives, all the local lords assess it, maybe take a peek at it behind closed doors, and decide just how much they're willing to spend on new dresses for those pretty little maids in waiting. The ARC sets the stage, and gets the discussions started.

The ARC isn't your only marketing tool, of course. There are hundreds of ways that people learn about books, from author websites to word of mouth to advertisements in industry magazines. But it's the ARC that kicks things off, much like Noah and his ark kicked off an international boat-building industry. You know. Later. After we got over that whole "fear death by water" thing that was going on at the time.

I'll be honest: There are issues with ARCs. Some people sell them, which is bad and wrong and totally uncool, and also makes me die a little bit inside. Some people don't actually get around to reading them, turning them, instead, into somewhat expensive, really weird paperweights. They're fragile, so they fall apart under any sort of rough or extended use—and for people like me, who tend to read their favorite parts eight times, take books in the bathtub, and generally...let's not say "abuse," but, instead, "experience" their reading material, this can result in my finishing the ARC in its new incarnation as a handful of unconnected pages. They aren't perfect.

That said...the ARC is a way to build buzz early. The ARC is a way to get the book out there into the world, gaining support, courting blurbs and positive reviews, and basically saying "Hi, how are you, I'd really like it if we could get to know each other better." Have I had ARCs show up on eBay? Yeah. I have. I've gritted my teeth when people came up to me to proudly tell me about the ARC that they just bought off of the Internet, and tried not to say anything when they went on to tell me that they wouldn't be buying the mass market edition because "This one is more special."

But I've had more people come up to me and tell me, in all sincerity, "I heard about your book when a friend loaned me the ARC." Or: "I saw a review posted of an ARC of your book, and that's when I decided I wanted to read it."

What brought all this on? John Scalzi has some comments on the concept of the "eARC"—an ARC issued only as an electronic file, and I found them really fascinating, from both a practical and a philosophical point of view. The discussion in the comments is also fascinating, with people calling out both the good and bad aspects of the physical and virtual ARCs. One of the ones that really spoke to me was the concept of scarcity. See, ARCs are intrinsically scarce. Only so many are printed; there is no second print run. If there's an error in the ARC, that goes out to everyone. If an ARC gets out before you want it to, well, that's your tough luck. And I look at all the fuss and bother about runaway ARCs, and wonder...

How long is really going to take for somebody to break the encryption on the eARC? And really, how long is it going to take before some people start saying "Well, if you're posting the text of something that was always intended to be free (because ARCs are not for sale, remember?), how is that piracy?" I can see the justifications from here. (No, I don't think the majority of people would ever even consider that. Sadly, as keeps coming up, piracy isn't going anywhere, and it makes my cats cry. Making my cats cry is a cruel, cruel thing.) Going eARC-only limits the chance for surprise readers, for readership on buses and in bathrooms, and for readers who don't have an ebook reader. If we go eARC-only, I won't be reading my own ARCs. Pardon me while I find this...ironic.

I hope we can find good answers. I hope we're asking the right questions. And I hope that when you're invited to the ball, you'll put on a nice dress, and you'll come.

Please?

tesserae_

May 11 2010, 04:25:10 UTC 7 years ago

New comment

I've got a couple of autographed ARCs that I bought from their writers. My little Hollywood branch library was full of them - I think local writers/reviewers/producers donated them, which meant they did get into the commerce stream occasionally, too. But I suspect eARCs would be a huge piracy issue and one more way to cut writers & publishing cos. off from reader dollars... And, seriously, publishers going out of business benefits no one, least of all readers. I don't necessarily want to read lightly-edited/self-published books, and I *certainly* don't support my favorite writers being unable to make a living writing more books...

seanan_mcguire

May 11 2010, 04:28:49 UTC 7 years ago

I just worry that going electronic-only will cut into the serendipity stream, as well as making things much harder on the potential reader. If I have a choice between "go here, enter this code, download this, sign that," and opening a cover, it's the physical ARC that's getting read. Add the piracy concern, and...

I just get woobly. And yeah, ARCs definitely enter the commerce stream from time to time. I don't actually object all that much if they do it after the book has been released.

hasufin

May 11 2010, 05:05:56 UTC 7 years ago

Honestly, I can kidn of see the eARC as being, well, another revenue stream for the publisher. People like feeling Important and Special - and I think there are those who would pay for the honor of being Important and Special enough to get access to the Important and Special online library where one gets to read books before they're even released.

But that's not the point of an ARC. And, yes, you're very right that someone will break the encryption, and that will cut into your revenue. Which is kind of a shame, because the whole "electronic with DRM" model would add a lot of desirable function, and could make the ARCs more valuable to you and to your publisher, and given the nature of the ARC, I don't see nearly so many ethical problems.

May 11 2010, 16:35:20 UTC 7 years ago

I'm not comfortable with you paying for an "early" copy of the book, before it's been corrected and edited and generally slammed into line. I don't mind DRM on ARCs, because they're not meant to be kept forever, sold, or generally permanent parts of your library, unlike a finished book that you pay for. But if there's DRM, people will make it a point of pride to break it.

I have a headache.

May 11 2010, 22:26:56 UTC 7 years ago

Oh, I get that - ARCs aren't supposed to be for people to get the book early. They're for editing, reviewing, and publicity. Unfortunately, I can see where that model might end up going. The current hard-copy system kind of inhibits this; eARCs would not. Which may simply be a perception thing, but there you have it.

And, yes, I agree that DRM on an eARC isn't the same as DRM on an eBook: ARCs are not sold, they're given with the direct knowledge and intent that it not be a permanent copy, and I see no problem at all with revoking access to the eARC once the book is actually published. It's simply not the same issue as a product which a consumer purchased and which shouldn't have a revocation date.

I'm sorry for the headache. IP stuff is rather painful.

keristor

May 11 2010, 06:52:23 UTC 7 years ago

Going e-book only will lose you customers. Seriously. Me, for a start. I'm not going to buy a 600 pound (Sterling, not weight) e-book reader (and so far that is still the price of the only one I consider has a decent size screen) only to have it fail or break (because I take books when I travel, and luggage handlers aren't gentle, you can guarantee that it will break). I am also not at all convinced about the lifetime of electronic media -- I have paper books over a century old which are still perfectly readable, and I heard just yesterday from a friend with 10 year old CDs which won't read any more (not to mention the differences in formats over the last 20 years).

I second the point about Baen who sell e-ARCs. Almost everyone I've heard of buying them has bought the dead tree version when it came out (or will when it comes out) as well, and the amount of copying seems to be minimal. Part of that, I suspect, is that there is no challenge -- if everything is locked up tight then there is a thrill in getting a 'pirate' version, but if everyone can get it for a reasonable price then why bother? (The same happens with software, I've never heard of anyone pirating or trying to unlock Noteworthy Composer at $45, the market is in the heavily locked expensive software.) The Baen ones are in PDF and HTML and open e-book formats, easily copied but few people do make them available for download, it isn't worthwhile. Those which do get passed around seem to be in the same category as people lending books to friends, they increase sales of the other books.

As to the 'fragility' of paper ARCs, the one you sent me (and thanks!) seems to be no more fragile than any other trade paperback (and considerable less so than some MMPBs, several of which (Tor) have not survived even one reading being careful without the cover and at least one section coming unglued.

May 11 2010, 16:39:00 UTC 7 years ago

To be clear, I don't think any major publishers are talking about going ebook-only. This is just about ARCs. I think you're right about the lack of DRM making piracy less appealing, but I also think that only works because they're on a controlled distribution stream. "Normal" ARC distribution would be a very different thing.

kyrielle

May 12 2010, 05:09:24 UTC 7 years ago

If I have a choice between "go here, enter this code, download this, sign that," and opening a cover, it's the physical ARC that's getting read.

Assuming a non-DRM eARC, or a DRM eARC that I can read on my iPhone, the eARC will win every time. In fact, I mostly don't enter contests for ARCs because as much as I want to read the book early (and I'd buy it in any case), I do not want a physical ARC. Not unless I've seen and touched it first. Some ARCs are not a standard size. I don't like anything markedly bigger than mass-market paperback (and I will wait for paperback on authors I adore because I loathe hardcovers and trade papers so much). Most ARCs are fragile. And 90% of my available reading time I don't have anywhere to have a book and/or couldn't have reasonably brought one along and/or can't hold the thing. But I can read on my phone.

If there were eARCs, I might actually be interested in ARCs. Of course, I'm not the target audience for an ARC, being not particularly heavily read by other people, not a book reviewer, and short on time to actually write a review. So I don't think it makes much sense to give me an ARC.

But it's not hard to imagine that there are others like me, with similar time constraints, where it would make more sense. (Also, accessability. An eARC done right could be read by screen-reader software. An eARC done right could be read with magnification on. All sorts of lovely advantages there for people with impaired vision.)

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