Comments for Wide Open http://www.johnhiltoniii.org Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:52:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on Dissertation Draft–first two chapters by Neal http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/dissertation-draft-first-two-chapters/comment-page-1/#comment-101 Neal Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:52:12 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=119#comment-101 It seems like your research indicates that people want to find new books without jumping a price barrier, and that when they find something they like they are willing to pay for it. Anjuno.com is trying to set up something like that using a pick your price model. There should be some interesting changes coming to the book world in the next few years. It seems like your research indicates that people want to find new books without jumping a price barrier, and that when they find something they like they are willing to pay for it. Anjuno.com is trying to set up something like that using a pick your price model. There should be some interesting changes coming to the book world in the next few years.

]]> Comment on Deseret Book Downloads Exceed 100,000 by Aaron Ellsworth http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/deseret-book-downloads-exceed-100000/comment-page-1/#comment-96 Aaron Ellsworth Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:47:09 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=109#comment-96 Hi John, Sounds like a great study! I'd love to see the affect your study had on sales figures. Please keep me in the loop! Thanks, Aaron Hi John,

Sounds like a great study! I’d love to see the affect your study had on sales figures. Please keep me in the loop!

Thanks,

Aaron

]]> Comment on Free vs. The Long Tail by admin http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/free-vs-the-long-tail/comment-page-1/#comment-92 admin Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:13:05 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=96#comment-92 Matt -- thanks for sharing those thoughts. I agree there may be troubles with this "diminishing marginal returns." I am interested to see how this plays out with books where sales have flattened out or even with out-of-print books. If the commercial life of the book is over, is there any harm in giving it away? I don't think The Long Tail is available for free, and the written version of Free is no longer available for free. But an audio version of Free is available at http://hyperionbooks.com/free/. I really enjoyed it! Matt — thanks for sharing those thoughts. I agree there may be troubles with this “diminishing marginal returns.” I am interested to see how this plays out with books where sales have flattened out or even with out-of-print books. If the commercial life of the book is over, is there any harm in giving it away? I don’t think The Long Tail is available for free, and the written version of Free is no longer available for free. But an audio version of Free is available at http://hyperionbooks.com/free/. I really enjoyed it!

]]> Comment on Update on Free Books from Deseret Book by Matt Sommer http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/update-on-free-books-from-deseret-book/comment-page-1/#comment-84 Matt Sommer Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:31:19 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=107#comment-84 Are they tracking how many additional sales they generate from the giveaways? Why don't they have a feature that tells you what other books you may like based on your choice of downloads? If I download the parenting books (which I did) then I should also see other books I may like based on the download. Are they tracking how many additional sales they generate from the giveaways? Why don’t they have a feature that tells you what other books you may like based on your choice of downloads? If I download the parenting books (which I did) then I should also see other books I may like based on the download.

]]> Comment on Free vs. The Long Tail by Matt Sommer http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/free-vs-the-long-tail/comment-page-1/#comment-83 Matt Sommer Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:29:32 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=96#comment-83 It seems that giving away raises your profile but that you quickly reach the point of diminishing marginal returns. Perhaps instead of giving away an entire book for free, an author should give away excerpts and bonus chapters, thereby raising their profile but retaining the ability to make a profit from their work. The music equivalent would be to give away a B-Side single or one track from an album in order to convince buyers to purchase all the songs. Bill Simmons from ESPN is using the strategy above for a new release. It would be interesting to see if he could generate sales for his new book by giving away other works. Perhaps the strategy of Free doesn't work as well for an established author because you may alienate your fans that purchased previous works. Any risk there? Is the Free strategy primarily for those wanting to raise their profile? I'll have to pick up Free and The Long Tail. I assume I can get both for free? It seems that giving away raises your profile but that you quickly reach the point of diminishing marginal returns. Perhaps instead of giving away an entire book for free, an author should give away excerpts and bonus chapters, thereby raising their profile but retaining the ability to make a profit from their work. The music equivalent would be to give away a B-Side single or one track from an album in order to convince buyers to purchase all the songs.

Bill Simmons from ESPN is using the strategy above for a new release. It would be interesting to see if he could generate sales for his new book by giving away other works. Perhaps the strategy of Free doesn’t work as well for an established author because you may alienate your fans that purchased previous works. Any risk there? Is the Free strategy primarily for those wanting to raise their profile? I’ll have to pick up Free and The Long Tail. I assume I can get both for free?

]]> Comment on Article published in First Monday by Jared Stein http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/article-published-in-first-monday/comment-page-1/#comment-69 Jared Stein Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:36:57 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=100#comment-69 Nice! I'm heading over to read it now. Nice! I’m heading over to read it now.

]]> Comment on Teaching resources and the law of diminishing returns by Christopher Phillips http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/teaching-resources-and-the-law-of-diminishing-returns/comment-page-1/#comment-59 Christopher Phillips Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:50:16 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=98#comment-59 Great questions John ;) I don't think it is an issue of too much curriculum so much as it is of too much "most important" curriculum. I never find too much information when I search for something in Google as long as the result I want is in the top 10 results. While some teachers have the desire, time and expertise to sort through a large number of resources to identify those that are the best, many others are looking for a precompiled list of best resources that they could teach from. I think the biggest challenge of a New Testament Curriki would be categorizing, rating and validating the Curriki content so that it could be filtered, ranked and made available where relevant and appropriate. While the list above list may represent "official" curriculum, the teacher already has access to additional (unofficial) curricula through any number of sources. Those additional resources will be created and found regardless of whether an institutional repository is established. That brings up some other interesting questions for that organization: *What level of involvement would the organization like to have in the creation of those resources? *Are the needs of the organization unique enough to pre-empt participation in an open New Testament Curriki? Great thought- looking forward to more! Great questions John ;) I don’t think it is an issue of too much curriculum so much as it is of too much “most important” curriculum. I never find too much information when I search for something in Google as long as the result I want is in the top 10 results.

While some teachers have the desire, time and expertise to sort through a large number of resources to identify those that are the best, many others are looking for a precompiled list of best resources that they could teach from.

I think the biggest challenge of a New Testament Curriki would be categorizing, rating and validating the Curriki content so that it could be filtered, ranked and made available where relevant and appropriate.

While the list above list may represent “official” curriculum, the teacher already has access to additional (unofficial) curricula through any number of sources. Those additional resources will be created and found regardless of whether an institutional repository is established. That brings up some other interesting questions for that organization:
*What level of involvement would the organization like to have in the creation of those resources?
*Are the needs of the organization unique enough to pre-empt participation in an open New Testament Curriki?

Great thought- looking forward to more!

]]> Comment on “Free” Academic Titles by MarionGropen http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/bookscan-data-on-free-academic-titles/comment-page-1/#comment-8 MarionGropen Sat, 16 May 2009 02:25:14 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=43#comment-8 I'm very interested in your results, as I believe all numbers-oriented publishing folks are likely to be. If you're not making your results available through such industry standards as Book Business (try Gene Schwartz), Foreword, PW, the IBPA Independent, and blogs such as PersonaNonData, please at least blog about them, and announce them to the listservs serving the small press community. I'm thrilled that SOMEONE is finally doing a rigorous examination of this. Do, please, consider extending your study through all the different major market segments. I think we all know that fiction, popular non-fiction, professional books, tech books, and academic books, to name only a handful, are quite different, and their readers act in different ways. I've heard anecdotal evidence for years suggesting that trade books do better after giveaways, and that some other segments have to be locked up like the Tower of London. I'm hoping you'll be able to find out if that's true. I’m very interested in your results, as I believe all numbers-oriented publishing folks are likely to be. If you’re not making your results available through such industry standards as Book Business (try Gene Schwartz), Foreword, PW, the IBPA Independent, and blogs such as PersonaNonData, please at least blog about them, and announce them to the listservs serving the small press community.

I’m thrilled that SOMEONE is finally doing a rigorous examination of this.

Do, please, consider extending your study through all the different major market segments. I think we all know that fiction, popular non-fiction, professional books, tech books, and academic books, to name only a handful, are quite different, and their readers act in different ways.

I’ve heard anecdotal evidence for years suggesting that trade books do better after giveaways, and that some other segments have to be locked up like the Tower of London. I’m hoping you’ll be able to find out if that’s true.

]]> Comment on Interesting posts on the effects of “free books” by Alex http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/interesting-posts-on-the-effects-of-free-books/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Alex Thu, 14 May 2009 13:15:54 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=3#comment-5 You might also want to check out my post on this topic: http://blog.quillp.com/book-marketing_sell-books/ Some interesting insight from Paulo Coelho who has turned to "pirating" his own books because of the positive effects he's been seeing on offline sales. You might also want to check out my post on this topic:

http://blog.quillp.com/book-marketing_sell-books/

Some interesting insight from Paulo Coelho who has turned to “pirating” his own books because of the positive effects he’s been seeing on offline sales.

]]> Comment on Interesting posts on the effects of “free books” by Andrea http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/interesting-posts-on-the-effects-of-free-books/comment-page-1/#comment-4 Andrea Wed, 13 May 2009 15:04:07 +0000 http://www.johnhiltoniii.org/?p=3#comment-4 Maybe you are interested in this one: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/07/results-of-free.html That's what Neil Gaiman wrote about a free digital version of his book "American Gods". You have to scroll a little to find it. Maybe you are interested in this one:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/07/results-of-free.html

That’s what Neil Gaiman wrote about a free digital version of his book “American Gods”. You have to scroll a little to find it.

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