Welcome to Biting-Edge, a blog shared by authors and vampire experts, Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein. We’ll cover urban fantasy, vampires, pop culture, and all things Joss Whedon. Unlike other fantasy blogs, we don’t insist on body cavity searches (unless you ask politely). Snarkiness is most welcome...though we won't promise not to bite back!

Sunday, January 31, 2010
  Making crime pay, by the word

Mario here:


Last week, one of my favorite authors, Robert Crais, was in town promoting his newest novel,
 The First Rule.  It's always a treat to see Crais again.  At his signing, he read the less incendiary emails from readers who chastised him, and his Louisiana public school education, for using "bring" instead of "take."   Crais discussed the emotional development of his main character, bad-ass Joe Pike, and how the influx of foreign gangs into L.A. shaped the creation of this story.







If you missed Robert Crais, fear not.  This week, you have the chance of meeting another author of thoroughly bad-ass hombres and mujeres--Lori Armstrong, who will be appearing at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch, Tuesday, February 2, at 7:30PM.  She'll be signing copies of her new book, No Mercy.  Her accolades include a Shamus, a Daphne du Maurier Award, and a WILLA Cather Literary Award.









I got a nice write-up from Ed Hickok who now writes about local authors for the Denver Examiner.  It's another chance to see pics from my comic books.  Hickok gets paid by the visit so use Chicago voting rules: drop by early and often.  

The big tech news this week was of course the Apple iPad.  I thought it was a large, fancy iPhone.  In his press release, Steve Jobs dissed the netbook yet for me, the netbook uses the computer software I need, mainly for the Internet and writing.  
The iPad does have the Apple word
 processing software but as MS Word is the industry standard, I'll pass on the iPad until later.  Not that I have the moola to buy one soon.  But my older son, Mr. Tech Head, is as crazy about the iPad as he is about his iPhone.

We in the publishing business wondered what new tremors the iPad would bring to the whole epublishing earthquake.  While the iPad did introduce color and a more reader-friendly page access method and a landscape format for periodicals, the big shake was that Apple will use an agency model to sell books.  Meaning: the publisher (the agency) rather than the distributor--and we're taking about Amazon--will set the price of their ebooks.  Which means ebooks will be more expensive (less discounts) but more money will flow to the publisher and the writer.  Down the line, expect content providers to start charging access to their material on the Internet.  However, we at Biting-Edge have made the commitment that we would never ever charge you for visiting.  However, we will accept payola and bribes.  

What say you of a pay-as-you-go Internet?

 
Comments:
The apple word processing program can save as an MS Word doc.
 
I asked my techhead friend, Sam, if he had the iPad yet and he said he's waiting for the 2nd generation. He went through the bug phaze with his iPhone and doesn't want to do it again. BUT he did add, I want one, I want one, I want one!!!!

J.
 
Thanks Mark for that correction. Now show me what a great guy you are by lending me $500 so I can buy and test an iPad.
 
Mario, did you know it's NaStyRoMo? (National Short Story of Romance Month) The goal is to write a short romance story involving paranormals in honor of Valentines day, just for fun (mine just may involve Vampire giraffes). Hmmm, maybe Felix tries to seduce Anna (I enjoyed the he said/she said felix and anna story awhile back.

~Suzi (and the tot)
 
Felix wouldn't try to seduce Anna. Quite the opposite, he would have to fight her off!
 
Oh, please--- here we go again!!

J.
 
Jeanne, I think Anna would sent the Vampire giraffes on him, right?
~Suzi
 
Lori Armstrong will up in Longmont, too, on Wed 3 Feb! That's a tad closer than Highlands Ranch to me.....
 
Some content providers already do charge to view their content on the internet -- thinking of online versions of newspapers here.

It makes sense if what they need to charge for is the labor that goes into coding and preparing materials for delivery on a site. But if they are going to do it, they better have a really awesome, highly sophisticated website and lots of highly unique content. Bloggers aren't going to be able to start charging for their blogs!


Personally, I won't pay subscription fees to view content. I am willing to pay a reasonable cost for owning a copy of a book (not a limited-time usage fee, I want a copy that is mine to keep as long as I want.) I am NOT willing to pay an equivalent amount for an e-version of a book as I'd pay for it in print. I don't have the same tangible good -- the cost of paper, printing and shipping aren't applicable.

And I already do pay for the Internet -- I fork over money every month to my service provider.

I think Apple needs to read "Free: Future of a Radical Price".
 
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