Wouldn’t it be good to also post a wallet address in case people wanted to tip the author directly? I’ve often thought that having a method to contribute directly to an author would be beneficial for some edge cases.
I’m of the same mind as Corey Doctorow that free electronic versions of books serve to increase distribution and create new fans. I have no problem with giving a book to a friend even though the author does not directly benefit. If I make a new fan the author benefits. Likewise I sometimes pirate a book from an author who I haven’t read before to see if I’m a fan (honestly this is super rare but it has happened).
I just bought a book at a used bookstore yesterday. If I love it I’d like to be able to tip the author via contribution to a public wallet.
I have previously toyed with the idea of creating a service to allow fans to submit payment directly to content creators. I never pursued it because the legal morass seemed unpleasant.
roryirvine 18 days ago [-]
Taking money from the public isn't simply a matter of publishing a payment address - you need to keep records, pay taxes, answer support requests, provide refunds where necessary, and deal with the inevitable instances of fraud. If you're accepting crypto or foreign currencies, you also have to deal with exchange rates and much more complicated accounting.
It's perfectly reasonable for an author to decide that they don't want to deal with that.
pavel_lishin 18 days ago [-]
I'm not Mr. Scalzi, but I would not offer a public wallet. It would be yet another thing I would have to secure, maintain, and eventually somehow extract cryptocurrency out of and turn it into something that pays my mortgage.
In the meanwhile, it would open the door to bad actors pretending to be me, or trying to find a way to get into the wallet, or otherwise paint a target on my back.
zem 17 days ago [-]
i think it was doctorow who addressed this, saying that he would rather you not bypass his publishers that way because they formed a valuable part of the book ecosystem and he would rather they continued to make their share and keep publishing books. so if you want to support him after getting a copy for free, just buy one of his books, which supports the author and the publishing industry, and moreover helps prove a continuing demand for his works.
I’m of the same mind as Corey Doctorow that free electronic versions of books serve to increase distribution and create new fans. I have no problem with giving a book to a friend even though the author does not directly benefit. If I make a new fan the author benefits. Likewise I sometimes pirate a book from an author who I haven’t read before to see if I’m a fan (honestly this is super rare but it has happened).
I just bought a book at a used bookstore yesterday. If I love it I’d like to be able to tip the author via contribution to a public wallet.
I have previously toyed with the idea of creating a service to allow fans to submit payment directly to content creators. I never pursued it because the legal morass seemed unpleasant.
It's perfectly reasonable for an author to decide that they don't want to deal with that.
In the meanwhile, it would open the door to bad actors pretending to be me, or trying to find a way to get into the wallet, or otherwise paint a target on my back.