Technology has driven
huge changes in the way that we purchase and use media. Subscription
services have been hugely successful for films, to the point of
driving Blockbuster into extinction. Videogames are now dipping their
toe into the waters of subscription, with the PS4 and EA having their
own models (interesting because the EA deal isn’t available on the
PS4, and we’re seeing the console manufacturers themselves and
individual [albeit very large] studios trying their hand at it).
It’s worth mentioning
that certain new technological developments seem very popular (Photo
Mode in the Remastered version of The Last Of Us, and easy
screenshots/video capture on the new consoles) whereas others (always
on internet, Kinect) were derided so much they were dropped or made
optional.
Now subscription
services are coming to books.
Since e-readers and
superior screens first came out an industry which was almost
unchanged (from a consumer perspective) since the first printing
presses has undergone substantial change. Books can now be purchased
for less via the internet, and sometimes for free.
However, e-books have
presented a substantial challenge to publishers, and traditional
bookstores have had to try and deal with this whilst at the same time
competing with the behemoth that is Amazon.
Authors have never had
it so easy when it comes to getting published (you can, almost
literally, do it yourself). However, getting noticed has perhaps
never been harder, because there are so many new authors each
individual is a small drop in an ever larger ocean.
Despite publishing my
own stuff (and hopefully getting some traditionally published work
out there soon), I am immensely old-fashioned. I don’t even own a
mobile phone, and think DLC is the work of Satan.
It’s perhaps
unsurprising that I’m worried about subscription services. The rate
of remuneration for authors is a serious concern, and how it will
affect publishers. Will we see individual publishers setting up their
own services (akin to EA in videogames)? Will some content (perhaps
short stories) become available only via subscription?
Consumer behaviour will
be critical to the success or failure of any model. The pricing of a
subscription (probably annual, given a monthly approach would only be
of use to voracious readers) will be a major factor, but there’s
the rub. If the fee is low, how can authors expect to make more than
a pittance? If the fee is high, then people will opt to buy
individual books because it’ll work out cheaper.
Things are already
difficult for smaller publishers and new authors, and if the ‘big
boys’ end up dominating a new subscription-based landscape then it
could become a gated community. A decade or two ago agents and
publishers were gatekeepers, deciding who was worthy and unworthy to
be published. We can argue the toss about whether that was better
than the self-publishing world we now have, but things have changed.
If major publishers
and/or retailers start pushing for subscription in various ways (such
as hiking the prices of their books so the subscription fee looks
relatively more reasonable, or making later series instalments
available only via subscription) then readers may stop scouring
virtual bookshelves for individual books they want and instead opt
for one or two subscriptions.
It just feels
inherently wrong, to me. If someone writes a book you like, buy it,
and they get some money (the retailer and agent/publisher also taking
a slice). The seller, creator and middlemen all get a slice of the
cake. If retailers and publishers shift to subscription I feel the
author’s slice will become smaller.
And the harder it is
for authors to make any money, the less likely it is we’ll have
more good writers.
Maybe I’m wrong, and
my instinctive distrust of changes in this area is just my spidey
sense tingling for no good reason. But right now, I’m suspicious.
Thaddeus
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