Science
fiction writer and entrepreneurial whiz kid Cory Doctorow has long been at the
forefront of the wide swathe the digital era has been cutting through the literary
world. In this (free, natch) pdf, Jon Bard of The Children’s Book Insider has compiled seven prefaces from
Doctorow’s novels and two articles, explaining Doctorow’s revolutionary
approach to copyright and e-books.
In them, Doctorow
offers razor-sharp insights on his reasons for using a Creative Commons
copyright on all his books. This liberal copyright allows readers to reproduce
his work ad infinitum with only a few
restrictions. Chief among his reasons for doing so is the spot-on point that
copyright laws were created to protect writers and publishers from other
publishers—not from their customers.
His
second major point—that the best way to sell print books is to give away the e-versions—is
important reading as well, although it’s lost a bit of its steam in the midst
of the digital revolution. So many authors are now going completely digital
with their writing that the applicability of giving away e-books will be of
more interest to traditionally published authors, whose print books still account
for the majority of their sales. Still, no matter which side of the digital fence
you find yourself currently sitting on, Doctorow’s insights are worthwhile and,
I would even go so far as to say, essential for any author facing down this
brave new publishing frontier in which we find ourselves.
