Here we are, everyone. The final episode. The guy that got me into this whole thing, Scott Sigler brings us the final Story So Far. Be sure to stay tuned for the end matter — there is new music and a surprise at the end!

Thank you all for listening — it’s been an honor and a pleasure to torture entertain you.

Cast this week (in order of appearance):
Steven H. Wilson as Voleish and Percy Scott
Stephanie Sawyer as Cassy Orinthal
George Chlentzos as Douglas Reeves
Brian Levy as Jim Hartman
Erin Balabanian as Alyssa Hartman

Literacy is like heroin – it’s habit-forming. The more people try out the habit, the more likely they are to retain it. Exposure to books breeds consumption of books, which is good, because the act of reading requires deliberate commitment. This is important to keep in mind, particularly for those who wish to arrest the publishing industry’s current implosion before it becomes more like the razing of Carthage than the decline of the British Empire.

Despite its pretensions to the contrary, publishing is a business. The novel, the newspaper, the short story, and the magazine were all shaped to fit market niches, not vice versa. Eventually, somewhere along the line, the people who actually produce and polish the content (i.e. the writers, editors, and publishers) have to get paid.

We writers – and the publishing companies that once made a tidy profit off our work – don’t have a divine right to exist. If there’s no market, we go away.

ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY IS A LOSING GAME

The artificial scarcity strategies that media companies have (unsuccessfully) employed to preserve their markets won’t work for books, even in theory. All DRM is laughably easy to crack or circumvent. Also much DRM strips both content creators and consumers of their rights. Readers, like music fans before them, won’t put up with that. They will pirate instead.
While publishers try to create market scarcity by fiat, writers are trying to stay alive — and readers are trying to figure out how to find the books they want. In the struggle to limit readers’ ability to read the books they pay for, publishers (like the movie and music industries before them) are cutting their own throats, because readers (unlike movie and music fans) have ALWAYS been able to go elsewhere to get what they want. It’s perfectly possible for almost anyone in the western world to read for a lifetime without ever paying a dime for the privilege. That’s been true ever since Andrew Carnegie started endowing libraries.

Therefore, the game for book publishers is different than it is for music or film publishers. People like to search favorite books for quotes. They expect to be able to excerpt passages. They prefer books that are always available. While DRM doesn’t work well for relatively disposable entertainment like pop music and movies, it doesn’t stand a chance in the world of publishing. No copy protection scheme could possibly work, and no reader will endure draconian limits placed on her for long.

LIBRARY AS PUSHER

Public libraries might be a contained threat for now – but increasingly they are going online like a monster version of Google Books. How can our culture survive that? Authors’ copyrights will be shot, our revenue streams will dry up, and the whole literary establishment of the western world will…

..Oh, wait. I’m sorry, for a moment there I thought I was a record company executive.

But seriously, what of freely available books online? If everything is on Google Books, isn’t our business model blown?

No. Google Books merely samples sections of books – a drug pusher’s trick, wonderful for whetting the reader’s appetite. Our libraries should do the same thing, and go one step further:

Let people rent online access to books.

If someone wants to read a book online — or maintain access to one for a research project, or just have an old favorite at the ready wherever there’s wifi — let him pay a dollar for a week, or $2 for two weeks, or $10 for lifetime access. Let him read it on his Kindle or his Mobi or his laptop or his iPhone. And let it remain on the library’s server accessible only with his library card account.

This approach benefits both authors and publishers by providing a new revenue stream for themselves and for libraries. It creates a new market segment without gerrymandering artificial scarcity. And it does all this without curtailing the existing rights of readers, who may still walk into a library and check out the book, or buy the book in a bookstore.

It might also boost e-book sales: creating a niche market among travelers and others who want access to a broad catalog while away from the ‘net, and who will accept draconian restrictions in exchange.

Of course, there will always be a segment of the literate market who won’t actually read. For a variety of reasons, some readers will always gravitate towards audiobooks. Well, libraries could rent out streaming audiobooks. They could even promote print books with audio samples – call it a “gateway drug” strategy.

The audio sampling method is a proven success. A number of novelists (myself included) are already cultivating new markets by giving away audiobook versions with resounding success. Scott Sigler, the front-runner in this new game, hit the NYT Bestseller list for a print book he’s also giving away online in audio form. His strategy is enough like a drug dealer’s that his fans call themselves “junkies.”

THE END OF THE BEGINNING

Saving its market won’t be enough to save book publishers — but it will help them survive long enough to fix their other massive internal operational problems. Between print-on-demand, e-books, and Google Book Search, we have the opportunity to grow- the literate market share from its current historic lows, rather than letting it continue to shrink.

If we’re going to do this we must adapt to the market rather than try to strong-arm it into standing still for us. Tom Lehrer had it right for heroin, but he could have been talking about literacy, too. Remember the less on of the Old Dope Peddler:

He gives the kids free samples
Because he knows full well
That today’s young, innocent faces
Will be tomorrow’s clientèle.

While Jim and Ali chase down their job on Mars, their employer, Mr. Douglas Reeves, lays his plans for the future of the Lunar resistance.

Philippa Ballantine, author of Weather Child, brings us the Story So Far. This week’s in-show promo is for her new book.

If you’re in the San Francisco Area, join myself, Chris Lester, Seth Harwood, and Scott Sigler at the House of Shields for drinks and discussion at 5pm on Sat the 21st. You can find more info and directions here.

Cast this week (in order of appearance):

Erin Balabanian as Alysaa Hartman

Brian Levy as Jim Hartman

George Chlentzos as Douglas Reeves

Lorien Wheeler as Jade Orin

Percy Scott has some loose ends to tie up, which Joss Kyle has some plans to lay. Neither of them is aware of Bill Shelley’s plans, or how they’re about to make a splash in a big way. Then again, neither does his one-time friend and mentor, Douglas Reeves..

Christiana Ellis join our cast tonight as a pinch hitter. Kitty Nic’iaian, the co-producer of Antithesis also known as Hera Flea of The Polyschizmatic Reprobates Hour, brings us the Story So Far.

This week’s in-show promo is for Scott Sigler and Seth Harwood’s Author Boot Camp. Use the code “Scott1″ when registering to get over $100 off the registration price.

Cast this week (in order of appearance):

Steven H. Wilson as Percy Scott

Chris Lester as Greg Singh

George Chlentzos as Douglas Reeves

Lynx Crowe as Trent Alcock

Christianna Ellis as Charis Chandlay

Kitty Nic’Iaian as the Junior Senator from Massachusetts

Nathan Lowell as Senator Wilhelm Shelley

This is a full-cast, full-production podcast novel. Danny Schade wrote the original score, and you’ll find many other familiar voices here: Philippa Ballantine, J.C. Hutchins, Chris Lester, Steven H. Wilson, and many other gifted voices from across the podosphere have helped bring this story to life.

You’re already a Junkie. Now, join The Resistance. This is more crack for your ears. Subscribe here.

Enjoy!
-Dan Sawyer