I'll pay you to read my book (2013)
kk.org
kk.org
So the suggested pay-back scheme is assbackwards. Simple solution would make the book free except last few chapters. This would end the need for book pirating totally.
And sometimes it becomes very expensive, recently I bought the whole catalog of one Swedish author from Amazon, because this cunning brat had uploaded only first books of his various trilogies to Pirate Bay.
Not the greatest literature and Swedish is only my 4th best language, but it was important to know what happens when Sweden is under Zombie Attack.
1. Buy ebooks and read them at the same rate as I do now 2. Use the proceeds from reading to buy physical copies of the “best” books I want to have a hard copy of for rereading, reference, or gifting
In looking at my read books from 2020 I probably would have purchased hard copies of about 40 out of the 131 books I finished.
So using the example in the post I would get $131 for my reading (assuming I finish 100% of the books I buy). The post doesn’t say anything about the cost of physical books but I could see them priced at 2x the cost of the digital version for $10. That price would put me at $400 for the physical copies, for a net of $269 for the publisher.
That’s obviously less than the publisher would get if I bought all the books outright. However my current book buying strategy is to wait until digital books go on sale to buy, and the physical copies I purchase are 95% second hand from local book shops. So the publisher might actually stand to make more from me with the Kevin Kelly method.
It’s definitely interesting to think about even though I think this scenario is highly unlikely to become a reality.
The article is long-ish but you can skim real fast https://brajeshwar.com/2020/books-of-2020/
See below for some recommendations based on my 2020 reading.
Fiction recommendations:
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. This book absolutely wrecked me emotionally (in a good way) for weeks after reading it
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. I enjoyed this even more than the Underground Railroad, which was also great. Both also won a Pulitzer for what it’s worth.
- The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea. This book gave me a glimpse into what it’s like for Mexicans who immigrate to the US, and the storytelling was just wonderful.
Non-fiction recommendations:
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Mix together equal parts science, indigenous knowledge and myth, botany, and wonderful writing and you get this book. I love Kimmerer’s voice (both in terms of her writing and her performance of the audiobook) and I read Gathering Moss by her this year as well because she’s just that good.
- American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. In my opinion is the definitive book about the atomic bomb and Oppenheimer. I also read The Dead Hand by David E. Hoffman and I think that was a pretty good follow up about the arms race and Cold War that came after.
- Barbarian Days by William Finnegan. I knew nothing and cared little about surfing before this book. I couldn’t put it down after I picked it up though. I’ve heard the audiobook is great so I might just read it again in that format because it was that good.
Good luck with your reading!
However, I have promised myself to slow down this year and dive deep into few topics and read a lot less.
Goodreads reported 14 books so far (via Kindle), which means I might have crossed 20+ books. 1 in 5 of my reading is usually physical books. This year, I will read more physical books. I still love physical books more.
In my anecdotal experience, a lot of such people don't really read 100+ books; they go over the letters of 100+ books.
I'm not here to judge though, do whatever floats your boat. Personally, I feel a lot of the "100+ books a year" appeal is in the social aspect of "look at me, I am smart."
What it adds to the discussion is raising the question "why would you want to read 1000+ books a year?"
Finally, I'm not sure why I would delete the comment. If it makes you uncomfortable, I'm afraid that's on you...
Well, I might have done a lot more other things than boasting around on social media about the number of books I read. We were discussing books here, and I was just delighted that I stumble on others reading more than me.
[Redacted] Sigh!
Maybe just that what you consider bitter I consider quite matter of fact. This is a cultural difference; if you work with Europeans, you'll encounter it a lot more.
As a published author myself I'm curious about this statement. While I do know about my books' sales (including the geolocation of buyers) I do not know who actually read a book or not.
Normally, the book is $10, and rebates you $6; but if you buy it this week only, it's $5 and it still rebates you $6. Buy now, etc. Then people will be encouraged to buy it to read it later, but mostly just sit on it.
"Teachers read texts because they are paid to care about the students. You've learned to write in a system where you're writing to readers who are paid to care about you. That will stop."
And he goes on to emphasize the importance of writing in a way that is valuable to the reader.