Terrible analogy. Crops are expected to grow - book sales are unpredictable. They may go up, they may go down, they may remain steady. Konrath has data to show relatively stable sales for months. Until this experiment, where sales have spiked sharply. It's as if a crop went from a seedling to full grown overnight - NOT January to July. Any farmer with a brain would realize something triggered that growth, and they'd want to determine what it was so that they could make it happen over and over again. And if they rule everything else out and find that the only new variable is grasshoppers, then a smart farmer would be willing to put up with those grasshoppers if it means significantly higher crop yield. It's called mutualism, and Konrath is making it work so far. He has said he's willing to track this project longer term and admit if sales tank down the road. I predict that they will level off but remain higher than they ever were before this.
Much of the protest against Konrath's efforts seems to be fury that he has the balls to try to work with pirates instead of sticking to the talking points that other authors are handing out - "pirates hate authors and creativity and are actively seeking to destroy both." While other authors try to stand against a flash flood and feel battered and bruised, Konrath has built a water wheel and is using it to generate profit.
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ninetydegrees
Re: Here Here!
on 2010-06-11 01:51 am (UTC)Much of the protest against Konrath's efforts seems to be fury that he has the balls to try to work with pirates instead of sticking to the talking points that other authors are handing out - "pirates hate authors and creativity and are actively seeking to destroy both." While other authors try to stand against a flash flood and feel battered and bruised, Konrath has built a water wheel and is using it to generate profit.