Is Chris Anderson’s Free really all that free?
One thing can be said about science fiction author Cory Doctorow: When he releases a book for free, he goes all out. Not only does he release it under a Creative Commons license, but he presents it in as many downloadable formats as possible — everything from plain text to PDF — and even allows his fans to create non-commercial derivative works based on his books.
Given that Chris Anderson’s soon-to-be-released Free is all about this concept as a business model, one would think that he would go all out. But based on some preliminary evidence with the UK launch of the book, his publisher doesn’t seem to be going on a give-away extravaganza:
—UK publisher Random House, at the launch event last week and in an upcoming promo with BrandRepublic.com, is giving away free abridged paperback versions of the book.
Anderson says that’s “in association with Adobe†– the exact relationship there isn’t detailed but it’s basically subsidization of the sort we’ll assume is dissected in the book when it hits shelves Tuesday. Anderson does say: “This special sponsored paperback edition is the entire book minus, if memory serves, the appendixes.â€
—And European streaming music service du jour Spotify is hosting the three-hour audio book, narrated by Anderson, to both its free and premium UK users, saying Anderson “has had a great influence on Spotify … The Long Tail, has been required reading in our office since day oneâ€. The title may even be a new business line for the service as it looks to add enough value to its premium line-up that people will pay its £9.99-a-month ad-free subscription: “We’re going to trial it, see what people think and who knows, maybe this is the start of something new for us.â€
So he’s giving away free paperbacks? I get those if I go to a book conference or convention. He’s streaming the audiobook on a single music service only available to UK subscribers? This may not be the only free promotions the publishers plan for the book, but if it is, then the book’s subtitle “The Future of a Radical Price” does not even describe the book’s own distribution. There is nothing “radical” about it.
