![]() ![]() Labor economists have identified a practice they've dubbed "chickenization,” by which three firms have divided up the U.S. Take for example the hyper-concentrated U.S. And Audible’s practices are enabling the company to effectively seize control over both sides of the audiobook transaction, setting the terms for suppliers and customers. But it loves DRM now that it has a dominant position in the audiobook market. Amazon hated DRM when it was challenging Apple for the music industry. We know this much is true: using technology to lock in your customers is great if you're the dominant player. ![]() Think of it: if more bestselling authors declined to offer their audiobooks under Audible's current DRM-enforced terms, and Audible became the place on the web where you couldn't get a bestselling audiobook, how much pressure that would create for fairer terms? I want to be the pebble that starts the avalanche that changes the face of the mountain. That said, there are plenty of writers with platforms who can-I mean, if I can do it they can do it too. I recognize that not every author can do what I’ve done with Attack Surface. And once that happens, publishers and authors will finally regain some of the leverage needed to negotiate fair deals from Audible. My belief is that once more authors and publishers find they can succeed outside of the Audible funnel, Amazon will have to give Audible customers and the authors and publishers who supply the content the technical means and legal right to take their business elsewhere if they choose. It also empowers us work with libraries, against whom Audible maintains a total blackout, refusing to license any of its exclusive audio content at all, forcing America's library users to buy subscriptions through Amazon's data-hungry, monopoly-reinforcing app. Giving authors leverage over Audible isn't just about getting it to back down on its DRM policy. Rather, my not-so-secret plan is to fundamentally shift how publishers relate to authors who are willing to stand up against Audible’s exclusive non-negotiable DRM-enforced exclusive market strategy. Thank you.īut I'm not doing this for the money. And my family's finances have taken a severe beating since the Covid-19 crisis hit-I'm sure you can sympathize. ![]() As of this writing, we have raised more than $207,000. Because I am set up to act as an e-book retailer for my publishers (including both Tor and Attack Surface UK publisher, Head of Zeus) I was able to list both the series backlist and the Attack Surface audiobook on the crowdfunding campaign. Last week, I launched a Kickstarter for presales of the audiobook. The result is a superb, 15-hour unabridged audiobook, mastered by John Taylor Williams, who's been editing my podcast for more than a decade. ![]() And we hastily retooled our recording plans when the lockdown started, setting up a week's worth of Zoom calls between Amber's basement studio, the director's home, and my home office. We hired Amber Benson (a spectacular Random House author who played "Tara" on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) to read the book. Instead, I retained my audiobook rights and contracted with Skyboat Media, an audiobook powerhouse (that happens to be around the corner from my home in Burbank) to record the Attack Surface audiobook. I understand that logic-after all, I was basically demanding they eschew as much as 90% of the potential audiobook market for the book. However, given that I won't let my audiobooks be sold through Audible, Tor took the absolutely reasonable position not to acquire the audiobook rights for Attack Surface. On October 13, Tor is bringing out Attack Surface, a standalone sequel to Little Brother and Homeland (also a bestseller, but who’s counting). And some 12 years later, we're still waiting for that to happen.īut I'm done waiting. But I told Random House, the publisher bringing out the audiobook for my bestselling book Little Brother, to hold off on Audible distribution until that happened. In 2008, I took Amazon at its word when they promised to kill Audible’s DRM. ![]()
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