Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr08/sms9302a.zip/SMSDATA.ZIP/LETTERS.TXT

Text File | 1993-04-04 | 24KB | 413 lines

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                                WE GET LETTERS!

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       This section is devoted to feedback from shareware authors,
       vendors and subscribers to the $HAREWARE MARKETING $YSTEM or
       other readers wishing to express their views about the shareware
       industry or shareware marketing.

       Files or letters to the editor which are over 50K in length and
       which are accepted for publication earn a free one year
       subscription to the $HAREWARE MARKETING $YSTEM. One free offer
       per author. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of
       SMS and are intended to stimulate discussion about shareware
       marketing methods.

       Please note that older letters from previous editions of SMS,
       many with HIGHLY valuable marketing information, have been moved
       to the SMS archives disks. See the GOODIES section of SMS for
       information on ordering this archived material.

          -----------------------------------------------------------
                           Letter from Colin Haynes
            9297 Siempre Viva Road, Ste. 14-60, San Diego  CA 92173
          -----------------------------------------------------------

       Colin Haynes, an author of books on computing and other topics,
       has been researching the present and future of electronic
       publishing.  He believes that behind all the commercial hype
       about CD-ROM multimedia, there is a unique opportunity for books
       on diskettes and bulletin boards to become the new wave of
       publishing - with shareware channels playing a crucial role in a
       truly historical literary development.  Colin shares these
       research findings and views with SMS subscribers, and would
       welcome our comments.  He travels a lot in Mexico, so the best
       way to reach him is by hard copy via his mail forwarding service
       at 9297 Siempre Viva Road, Ste. 14-60, San Diego  CA 92173, USA

       ELECTRONIC BOOKS - THE SHAREWARE WAVE OF THE NEAR FUTURE

       A particularly significant aspect of the revolution in
       information processing in general - and in electronic publishing
       in particular - is that authors can gain much more control of
       the publishing process.  Sadly, most authors are missing these
       great new opportunities - and so are the originators and
       distributors of shareware programs, who have created the
       marvellous environment in which electronic publishing to
       flourish. But authors are wasting unique opportunities to have
       our work published in the best interests of the two groups of
       people who count most in this word business - those of us who
       write, and our readers.  I include thousands of shareware
       program creators in this author category because your on disk
       documentation demonstrates your writing abilities.  I review a
       great deal of software, and the shareware manuals so often rival
       in written communications skills the expensively printed tomes
       of the commercial software publishers.

       Being an author can be hell!  When the relationship between an
       author and publisher - perhaps with an agent involved also -
       works well, it can greatly enhance the author's working life. It
       can be very satisfying as a writer who has produced a work in
       virtual isolation, to then interact with members of the
       publishing team to improve that work and breathe life into it as
       it goes through the editing, production and marketing processes.
       But, too often, the author and the publisher either do not
       develop a rewarding, effective cooperation, or are in direct
       conflict.

       Every seminar, conference or other gathering of writers, and
       every issue of publications that are sincerely devoted to the
       interests of writers, contain depressing news and comment about
       the woes of conventional print publishing. Authors blame
       publishers for the problems and then, when you speak to people
       in publishing, they blame authors for a lot of their
       difficulties. Whatever the rights or wrongs, the formal surveys
       carried out by the Society of Authors, and the informal
       samplings of author opinions and experiences, reveal that we
       have become dependent on a publishing industry for which most of
       us have very little respect.  With some exceptions, it is an
       industry perceived as treating its principal suppliers, the
       authors, badly, and failing to achieve adequate standards of
       efficiency and ethical behaviour. Turning words from a typed or
       handwritten manuscript into print on paper, bound into book form
       is such a complex, expensive business that it is best handled by
       professional printers and publishers.

       But electronic publishing is a completely different ball game
       that does not require the same technical or financial resources.
       Authors - for the first time - now have an alternative to their
       dependency on publishers.  Consequently, we should stop bleating
       and start thinking and acting positively. We cannot use
       publishers as the scapeboats for all our professional, emotional
       and financial problems. Now that electronic publishing is here,
       the scenario is not one of gloom and doom, unless we allow the
       plot of contemporary publishing history to develop into a
       tragedy. In view of our collective expertise in all aspects of
       communications - including controlling plot development! -we are
       such a potent force that we can achieve meaningful results to
       harness developments in electronic publishing to benefit authors
       in many respects.

       It is now possible for all writers to publish and distribute
       their work with very little expenditure or cost.  But unless we
       understand, guide and exploit the exciting social, economic and
       technical trends that make this possible, there will be a
       repetition in electronic publishing of all the woes of which we
       complain in print publishing. Those with little experience of
       computing - and that includes a surprisingly large number of
       writers - don't understand the many facets of electronic
       publishing.  It is not a limited technical topic best left to
       those who are proficient in computing.  This is the rapidly
       emerging mainstream of publishing, and so of direct concern to
       all of us who write - manuscripts or programs - and who are
       involved in shareware. I have been privileged to have an insight
       into this most stimulating development for authors.  A
       professional writer for 40 years, with publishing experience
       also, I have been writing books about computing recently, giving
       me access to quality information and people in this field.  My
       neighbours while I was working in California included two of the
       best pioneering intellects in electronic publishing  - Ted
       Nelson, the "father" of the hypertext concept, and Stewart
       Brand, the guru of creative information processing and
       communications technology.  They are just two of the most
       visible elements of a great groundswell of activity in the U.S.
       that is changing how we authors can disseminate our words.

       Similar developments are starting in Europe also, but on both
       sides of the Atlantic authors - either individually or through
       their organizations - are not playing the necessary role if we
       are to protect our interests in the immediate future, and for
       generations to come.  While the visual, tactile and intellectual
       pleasures to be derived from a well-produced printed book must
       continue to create a demand that can only be met by professional
       publishers, we can very much define the role that we will play
       in the new wave as, increasingly, the written word will be
       published on floppy diskettes, affordable CD-ROM disks, and
       electronic bulletin boards. Already many of us are being forced
       to create our words electronically.  My American publishers now
       require me to submit manuscripts on disk or via modem in
       specific electronic formats.  For my last book, I even had to
       enter, on my original MS, the typesetting codes for chapter
       headings and subheads, indented paragraphs, bold type, etc. It
       is a very small step - and a very easy one with the shareware
       programs available - for the author to create the whole book as
       a finished work ready for electronic publishing. I wrote the
       manual for such a program and could not believe how easy the
       electronic book production can be.  Cheap, too! Once your text
       is computerized - which can now be done efficiently from a
       printed or typed copy using a scanner if it was not originally
       word processed - you assemble it into a professional electronic
       book with the equivalent of a cover, appropriate copyright
       notice and other end matter, chapters, and appendices, footnotes
       and illustrations as necessary.

       If it is a non-fiction work, then hypertext search facilities
       are added so that the reader can find references very easily.
       Also, of course, there is always the option to print a hard copy
       of the entire text, or sections which are of special interest to
       the reader. Electronic books that can be read - "used" is a more
       appropriate term - on most personal computers are already a
       reality.  An author (or publisher) can produce as many copies as
       are required very quickly and cheaply.  The printed book
       problems of initial print orders and cost, returns,
       remaindering, etc. are virtually eliminated. Marketing and
       distribution channels for electronic books are expanding at a
       rapid rate, and if you are an author with a book for a specific
       market that you can reach cost-efficiently, then self-publishing
       takes on a whole new meaning. This opens up many opportunities
       for authors - including ways to protect ourselves from dubious
       publishing industry practices.

       For example, one of my publishers was recently taken over by a
       big group, which picked the tastiest flesh from its bones, fired
       most of the staff, and then declared "out of print" any titles
       that did not appeal to the bean counters.  One of my titles
       killed in this way was still fresh from the press and had not
       even gone out for review, let alone been distributed. The effort
       and investment required to purchase and try to market the
       remaindered copies of my book as a conventional hard cover trade
       title are prohibitive, as is trying to sue the publisher for
       breach of contract.  But all rights have reverted to me, and
       there are particular niche markets for the book that I can reach
       economically through the editorial columns of a couple of trade
       journals.

       It may pay me to forget those piles of printed books in the
       warehouse, lick my wounds and consider the electronic options.
       It will take me only a few days to update the text - which I
       created on a word processor - and turn it into an electronic
       book using my modest home computer.  The same computer can also
       duplicate the disks to meet orders as they come in.  So I can
       give the book another chance without risking money on buying the
       existing stock, while my up-front investment in marketing and
       production are negligible. As recording and duplicating audio
       tapes to a high standard have now become very cheap also, I can
       create an audio book version. And I can test another niche
       market using part of the text as the basis of a business
       training program on disk using shareware software that turns
       text into interactive tutorials.  Neither of these ancillary
       markets were of interest to my original publisher. I might well
       get more satisfaction and money from republishing this
       particular book electronically than from the original publishing
       deal - maybe electronic is the route I should have taken in the
       first place! Academic and scientific publishing will be
       revolutionized by this ability that authors now have to
       duplicate and distribute their work so economically, and
       customize it to particular target audiences.

       At the consumer/reader end of the process, the role of libraries
       will be transformed, and the written word will become far more
       accessible to the disabled and to those who cannot afford to buy
       expensive hard cover copies of books that they need or like to
       own. To reverse the communications maxim for the sighted, "a
       word in ASCII is worth a thousand pictures" to a blind person,
       who with a PC can turn an electronic book into sound or Braille.
       Updating of texts becomes so easy and economical that some
       authors may give away a first edition in order to build a
       database of subscribers who will pay to get updates. Similar
       concepts have worked well for computer shareware and to launch
       consumer magazines, why not for books?  I co-authored a book a
       few years ago with a computer software engineer who gave away as
       many copies as he could of a program that he had created.  He
       invested his savings in giving away his creative work! His name
       is John McAfee and now he has one of the most successful
       shareware businesses.  His success is based on giving away
       Viruscan to people who find it so useful that they keep on
       sending him small payments to keep up with new editions.

       Authors now have opportunities to publish works which are not at
       present perceived by publishers as attractively profitable to be
       printed on paper, or which are blocked in other ways.  The
       repercussions of this can be enormous.  For example, the peer
       review process which dominates so much academic and scientific
       publishing will itself have to be reviewed.  In some fields it
       has already fallen into disrepute because of professional
       rivalries and money motives.  Now the scientists and scholars
       who have to publish to advance their research or careers can get
       more control of the publishing process - and may even make some
       money out of it!

       Books that challenge rigid academic establishment thinking can
       now be released to stimulate further study, instead of
       effectively being suppressed.  In my current research for a book
       on the Shakespeare authorship issue I have come across so many
       cases of genuine people with interesting ideas and theories who
       became so bitter because their efforts to be heard were
       dismissed so harshly by publishers and peer reviewers. Now you
       can publish and get feedback, whether you have cracked a cypher
       in the First Folio that proves Bacon was Shakespeare, created
       fusion in a test tube, or have strong political or religious
       views to communicate.  You risk ridicule as well as recognition,
       but at least you have a chance to be heard that traditional
       publishing may not give you. The authors of some kinds of work
       will have great opportunities to make more money, or achieve
       other objectives, through electronic publishing.  But the
       dilemma for many of us is how to use this exciting new medium to
       be recompensed for our work.

       Sponsorship - public and private sector - could be one solution.
       Or Britain's experience with public library lending rights might
       provide an international example of how authors can be
       compensated when people borrow instead of buying creative works.
       Fundamental charnges are taking place in how we, as a members of
       an increasingly complex society, communicate with each other.
       The changes will be particularly significant in how we regard
       information and writing as intellectual commodities, with
       tangible values for which the consumers must pay the creators in
       a free market environment. Authors and experts in the shareware
       medium must participate in discussing these changes and
       influencing the directions taken.

       Let's get talking about this exciting scene, exchanging ideas
       and experiences for our mutual benefit. There are only a few
       electronic books circulating through shareware at the moment,
       but some of them are very good, like the series on cats, the
       Star Trek parodies, and the briefings on particular technical
       computing topics.  But the numbers will keep on growing,
       especially as more flexible, portable hardware on which to use
       electronic books becomes better and cheaper. If you take
       information seriously, you should take electronic publishing
       seriously, not as just a technological gimmick, but as a major
       development in the evolution of communications.

          -----------------------------------------------------------
                        SHAREWARE DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
                      P.O. BOX 52 EL PASO, IL  61738-0052
                             PHONE [phone]
                     FAX [phone] BBS [phone]
          -----------------------------------------------------------

       ATTENTION ALL AUTHORS OF SHAREWARE:

       Looking for a way to reduce your mailing cost?

       Tired of sending your programs to vendors who do not exist or
       never respond?

       Would you like more time to design those new programs or
       improving what you have written?

       Shareware Distribution Services (SDS) is the place!

       We can give you major savings on mailings and reduce your time
       spent on distribution of programs. SDS was created for authors
       so they could distribute their programs at a cost they could
       afford.

       Listed below are some of the many services we have to offer.
       These are only points about the services. If they interest you
       please send for the complete package that explains all of our
       services in detail.

       ********************  PROGRAM MAIL SERVICE  ********************

       Will cut your mailing cost by as much as one half.

       We have no set quantity of vendors you must mail to.

       We only charge for the space a program takes an a diskette.

       We maintain a database for each of your programs we send. We
       show who listed your program and who did not. We maintain this
       for any updates you may want to send to vendors

       We have a database of 2000 plus names of people dealing in
       shareware in some way. We offer mailings to diskette vendors or
       clubs at this time.

       You pick who you want to mail to or you can mail to both. We can
       mail to our list, mail to your list or your list plus some of
       ours.

       We grade each vendor we mail to. This ensures your programs are
       sent to vendors who list programs and respond.

       A vendor response form is included with each mailing. You are
       informed by us what each vendor did with your program.

       We do not charge you for bad addresses we just resend the
       program.

       Using our mail service your programs are added to our catalog
       and rebate program. Yes rebate you make money from the catalog
       also!

       We are able to handle special needs such as putting the vendor
       name on your registration form.

       ********************  DISK CATALOG SERVICE

       Each author using the mail service will have their program added
       to the catalog.

       Each sale of your program we give a rebate back to your mailing
       account. You can make money from our catalog also.

       We can furnish a list of who purchased your program from us.
       This could be used to send out a letter asking why a person did
       not register. The input from that could be put into a upgrade to
       make them register.

       ****************  PROGRAM REGISTRATION SERVICE

       You can send us your registration forms and we will input them
       to a database.

       We maintain the database for future needs like notification of
       new versions or what ever you would like to do. We can do
       mailings to your registered customers.

       For a small processing fee we can also send out a authors
       registered program and printed material.

       **************************  IN CLOSE

       These are only three of the many services we have to offer. We
       are able to meet the needs of most authors and very open to any
       ideas authors may have.

       If you who would like to cut your mailing cost in half. Make
       money from our catalog. Have more time to research and design.
       Then send a $11.00 registration fee that is a one time charge.
       This will bring you our complete package explaining all of the
       services we have to offer. It also contains our complete price
       list for mailings and has a 30 day money back guarantee. Hurry
       and do it now. Don't wait till you have a mailing going out to
       register because you can start to earn credit from the catalog
       now. Make sure to send your program with the registration fee.

       We accept checks, VISA or Master card for payment of services.
       If you have any questions about our services please contact our
       office. If you would like to register with your credit card call
       we will take it over the phone.

       Sincerely,
       Chris Kangley
       Director of Marketing

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       Please note that older letters from previous editions of SMS,
       many with HIGHLY valuable marketing information, have been moved
       to the SMS archives disks. See the GOODIES section of SMS for
       information on ordering this archived material.

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