[p2p-research] Mark Murphy about commonsware business model

[Michel Bauwens]

super, I will publish this on the 10th,

Michel

On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 6:28 PM, Mark Murphy <mmurphy at commonsware.com> wrote:

> > - can you explain your concept of commonsware and how it fits in your
> > publishing strategy.
>
> CommonsWare's publishing strategy is fairly simple: try to give readers a
> fair deal.
>
> Digital publishing with a price tag attached -- whether it be books or
> music or movies -- is trying to leverage an artificial scarcity. For all
> intents and purposes, there is really no additional costs for delivering
> 200 copies than there are for delivering 2 copies. However, the
> alternative revenue models are works-in-progress.
>
> Some publishers try to ignore the "artificial" part. They are the ones who
> charge 15 USD for a single copy of a single digital book.
>
> The CommonsWare model is designed to charge less for the books and more
> for the service of knowledge transfer. Subscribers get books, but also
> updates to those books, and access to subscriber-only "office hours" for
> questions and answers outside of what the books cover. Over time, I hope
> to add more benefits to what Warescription members get, besides the
> ever-expanding library.
>
> By delivering continuous new value, and by pricing that value fairly, I
> hope that developers will feel comfortable with the fact that, indeed,
> CommonsWare still charges for its materials.
>
> > - you proposed a Four-to-Free Guarantee some time ago, but as I
> understand
> > it; your first book realizing this principle is just out. How long did it
> > take and what does that say about the experience? Is your experience
> > significant for other people?
>
> The Four-to-Free Guarantee is part of the social contract CommonsWare
> makes with the public. Rather than using copyright to keep books locked up
> for eternity, CommonsWare commits to releasing its books under a Creative
> Commons license after four years or 4,000 copies sold (where "copies"
> includes both print copies and Warescriptions).
>
> CommonsWare's first book, _The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_
> was published in mid-2008. In theory, that means we would not need to
> release it under the Creative Commons license until 2012. However, sales
> have gone well, so we crested the 4,000 mark quite a bit early. Hence,
> that first edition of that book is now CC-licensed. As sales continue,
> newer editions will be similarly licensed.
>
> In the end, this forces CommonsWare to keep adding value.
>
> > - any plans for the future?
>
> Books continue to be updated, particularly _The Busy Coder's Guide to
> *Advanced* Android Development_. I am working on a fourth Android book
> (_Android Beyond Java_), and the first alpha release of that book will be
> in subscribers hands by late April. My goal is to release 2-3 new titles
> per year, plus update existing ones, alternating between topics (so I'll
> be doing some non-Android stuff soon).
>
> --
> Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy)
> http://commonsware.com
> Android App Developer Books: http://commonsware.com/books.html
>
>
>


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