Do Ebooks Want to be Free?

Do Ebooks Want to be Free?
Copyright © 2002
by J. Knight
Author of RISEN

I hang around...okay, "lurk"...at a number of ebook forums. Often I encounter one of the numerous phrases that make me crazy. Right up there with "that's the exception that proves the rule" (huh?) is the phrase, "Information wants to be free."

Double "huh?"

Let's get a couple of things straight.

First, information does not want anything.
Information is not a living thing.

Secondly, written words are not "information."

Let's say you encounter the following sentence in a piece of scholarly research: "In his supposed 'retirement years,' Thomas Jefferson entertained an enviable number of legendary guests, penned thousands of historical letters, engaged in ground-breaking scientific research, particularly in the area of botany, and still found time to design the University of Virginia."

There is information in this sentence that you are free to reword and express in your own way, just as I've lifted the basic data from the excellent Monticello website. The exact wording, however, is not yours to appropriate.

Information is free.

Words are not.

Fiction in particular is remarkably devoid of "information."

When you download a bootlegged novel, you are not "freeing information." You are stealing copyrighted writing.

Could I be wrong in saying that? To double-check my facts, I decided to go straight to the source and interview a novel about what it wants. This was an impossible task, of course, because novels, like information, are not living things. Being a writer and an author I didn't let reality stand in my way. Here is the interview I conducted with my own novel, RISEN, at a local bar after a few Long Island Iced Teas:

J. Knight, Author: So, I hear you want to be free. You know, as in "information wants to be free."

The Novel RISEN: Are you nuts? I work hard to entertain my readers and I want to be paid, dammit! You make it sound like I'm some kind of plantation slave or something, "jes a-longin' to be free!" If you want me to do my song and dance, you gotta put some folding green in the tip jar, man!

J. Knight, Author: But it doesn't cost any money to duplicate you! How can I charge readers for something that doesn't cost me anything?

The Novel RISEN: Are you brain damaged or what? Or have you forgotten getting up two hours early every morning to work on me before going to work, for nine months, writing every day, seven days a week, until I was finished? What, you don't charge for your time? Hey, bubba, if you work for free, come over and paint my house!

J. Knight, Author: But if I give you away for free, I'll build up my fan base.

The Novel RISEN: So friggin' what? What are you, the "easy girl" at school, popular so long as you give it away? Look, here's what you do: You give away samples. You give away articles. You give away anything-damn-thing you want to promote yourself. But for me, you charge. I mean, geez, even with Amway--you know, where "you're not selling a product, but an idea?"--somewhere down the line, somebody's gotta buy some soap! Okay, look, I'll make you a deal. Maybe someday when you've got like a dozen books to sell, you can give me away for free. On the other hand, I still don't see Stephen King giving CARRIE away and I deserve just as much respect as she does.

J. Knight, Author: But, if I charge for you, I may lose my entire audience to free entertainers, like performance poets and mimes and such.

The Novel RISEN: Give me a break. Look, if that's what the public prefers, well, just shoot me now.

J. Knight, Author: Thank you for your time.

The Novel RISEN: Pay the barmaid. I'm outta here.

So there you have it, straight from the rather churlish mouth of a novel that, I must add, not only stuck me with the bar bill but scooped three dishes of peanuts into its pockets as it staggered toward the door.

What did I learn from this interview? Two things.

Number one: Ebooks do not necessarily want to be free.

Number two: Next time, I'm writing a nicer book.

J. Knight is the author of RISEN, a supernatural thriller published by AOL Time Warner Book Group. RISEN can be sampled (along with other free content) at <http://www.atombrain.com>.

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