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The Radiohead of Writing?

Cory Doctorow, the first writer to use a Creative Commons license in conjunction with a commercially published novel,  is kicking off a grand new publishing experiment. Doctorow has long offered free ebooks of his new books on the very day they were released traditionally. This new project sounds massive, and very much something to pay attention to. Read the initial article introducing the experiment HERE. I’d love to hear peoples’ thoughts on Doctorow’s project in the comments.

  • Ryan W. Bradley has pumped gas, changed oil, painted houses, swept the floor of a mechanic's shop, worked on a construction crew in the Arctic Circle, fronted a punk band, and managed an independent children's bookstore. He now works in marketing. His latest book is Nothing but the Dead and Dying, a collection of stories set in Alaska. He lives in southern Oregon with his wife and two sons.

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7 thoughts on “The Radiohead of Writing?”

  2. I’m curious about this as well. It does strike me as significant that this is a collection of short fiction and not a novel, though — assumably, Doctorow is in a spot where the editorial work on these stories has already been done.

    Reply

    1. That’s an interesting point, though I’m not sure he would shy away from doing it with a novel, as he’s already done the trickiest part of offering his books for free the same day they are released. I’m really intrigued, too, by the option to add stories to later editions. While I can see the fun in that, it seems like if people know there’s going to be a new edition with one more story in it they might wait to buy it in the first place.

      Reply

  3. The more of a voice Doctorow is given beyond Boing Boing the better. Reading boingboing religiously a few years backed really shaped my own ideas about publishing and propriety.

    This experiment I think will prove to be an important one and may convert some of that last few hangers-on who have yet to realize that the old school method of publishing is not simply dying, but already dead.

    Reply

    1. i haven’t read any of Doctorow’s work, not for any particular reason, but i’ll be following this project closely (already looking forward to PW coming in the mail at work tomorrow).

      i’m not sure that this shows old school publishing is dead, just that it’s time to adapt, move with the seachange.

      Reply

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