help me please!!

[khoregate]

ok so im looking around the house for my copy of start of darkness to read in the smallest room of the house only to disscover my 3 year old had pinched it and was looking at the pictures in her bed..

Rick any plans to release books on child proof paper ?

[oppyu]

By 'child-proof paper', I assume you mean '.pdf files'? Because .pdf files (or other assorted e-book file types) are spectacular. Instant delivery, save some trees, you can make copies of it for safety, you don't end up lugging boxes and boxes of archaic paper books every time you move house...

[ChristianSt]

It has no child-proof paper, but you could try to distract your offspring with an awesome Coloring Book (http://www.ookoodook.com/store/product176.html). :smallbiggrin:

[TDG]

By 'child-proof paper', I assume you mean '.pdf files'? Because .pdf files (or other assorted e-book file types) are spectacular. Instant delivery, save some trees, you can make copies of it for safety, you don't end up lugging boxes and boxes of archaic paper books every time you move house...

But unfortunately come with financial implications for the author.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10753359#post10753359

[Cerussite]

There's no such thing as child proof. They destroy everything in their path.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Especially anything labeled 'child proof'.

[veti]

They're not children's books. Printing them on board paper would be a very expensive way to send the wrong message.

Sorry, but this is why you keep your books separate from your kids' books, and make it very clear which set is which - using artificial barriers, high shelves and/or stern rebukes as necessary. I have a whole upmarket playpen - several hundred dollars' worth of investment, bearing in mind that I had to travel to another country specifically to collect it - deployed for the specific purpose of keeping my kids away from my main collection of books. It's worked so far.

[FujinAkari]

Rick any plans to release books on child proof paper ?

It should also be noted that, regardless of what this Rick person may or may not say, he has no direct input on any plans, promises, or future dealings involving the Order of the Stick :P

[137beth]

It should also be noted that, regardless of what this Rick person may or may not say, he has no direct input on any plans, promises, or future dealings involving the Order of the Stick :P

But what if Rick can cast Dominate Person on Rich?

[Tiiba]

But unfortunately come with financial implications for the author.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10753359#post10753359

This looks like sunk costs fallacy, at least as long as piracy is ignored as a problem.

If he fails to sell paper copies because he sold digital ones, that's not a loss.

[malloyd]

This looks like sunk costs fallacy, at least as long as piracy is ignored as a problem.

If he fails to sell paper copies because he sold digital ones, that's not a loss.

If, and only if, there are no additional costs to producing the digital files and all the digital copies sell for as much as the paper ones. At that point, sure, every time you sell a digital copy you can throw away a printed one in your inventory and be at exactly the same place.

Generally neither of those conditions are true. The format you needed your work in for the printer is rarely pdf, so there is an additional conversion cost. And your customers always whine incessantly if the price of digital editions isn't much cheaper than paper. No matter how carefully you explain the economics, they're always convinced digital editions *must* be vastly cheaper to produce, and no amount of hard evidence will convince them otherwise.

[factotum]

If he fails to sell paper copies because he sold digital ones, that's not a loss.

Yes it is, because it's cheaper per book to print a large run than a small one--so there comes a point where it's no longer financially viable to actually print the books, and at that point he loses all the sales of people who just want the hard copies and don't give a rat's behind for the PDF versions.

[ChristianSt]

Since I think the thread drifts in a bad direction (I know the post was linked before here - but a quote is imo much more helpful):



Suffice to say, digital pdf downloads are not in the works at this time. My concerns are not piracy; the majority of people who are not willing to pay for content simply don't read the stuff that doesn't get posted here, and the rest, I can't stop. No, my concern is that printing is a very difficult business with very, VERY thin margins of profit compared to the amount of money invested. And those margins are mostly dictated by the economy of scale: printing 5000 copies of a book may only cost 30% less than printing 10,000, and printing 20,000 may only cost 60% more. But they all sell for the same price. So, my printing business only functions if I can sell ALL of the copies that I print, and I estimate the print run as exactly as possible.

Releasing books digitally messes with both of those needs. I can't predict how many people will buy digitally (polls are worthless), and I can't sell a paper copy to someone who has bought a digital one. If half of my predicted customers buy digital instead of paper, then the cost of each paper copy skyrockets and I can't afford to print them anymore. And contrary to what people think, not everyone wants to buy digital.

In the end, I want my books to be, well, BOOKS. I am therefore willing to sacrifice the few digital sales (and I do believe them to be relatively few, since my work is online already anyway) in order to keep my paper business in business.

Now, having answered that: This thread is not about my business model. I am not looking for business advice, and I'm not keen on people tell me I'm doing something wrong just because I'm not doing what they want me to do. Stop it.


Emphasis not by me, but I replaced the italics with underlines, since italics don't show because of the quoting.

[AKA_Bait]

ok so im looking around the house for my copy of start of darkness to read in the smallest room of the house only to disscover my 3 year old had pinched it and was looking at the pictures in her bed..

You should (1) take this as an opportunity to continue to support your favorite webcomic artist by buying an extra copy if your child destroys it, and (2) consider whether SOD is a good choice for a three year old, content-wise. I'd go with Calvin & Hobbes or something a little more innocuous at that age.


I think the thread drifts in a bad direction.

Very true. Perhaps we can all agree that after ten years of making this comic the Giant can be trusted to have a fuller understanding of the economics of his business than we do?



But what if Rick can cast Dominate Person on Rich?

If I'm remembering the rules correctly, Rich would get an extra will save if Rick wanted him to do something against his nature. Also, I'm pretty sure the Giant has a Ring of Mindshielding.

[martianmister]

ok so im looking around the house for my copy of start of darkness to read in the smallest room of the house only to disscover my 3 year old had pinched it and was looking at the pictures in her bed..

Your 3 year old what? Daughter? Son? Nephew? Grandchild? Dog? EXPLAIN!


Rick any plans to release books on child proof paper ?

Sadly, no. Have you tried adoption?

[bravebonebook]

ok so im looking around the house for my copy of start of darkness to read in the smallest room of the house only to disscover my 3 year old had pinched it and was looking at the pictures in her bed.

Rick any plans to release books on child proof paper ?


Your 3 year old what? Daughter? Son? Nephew? Grandchild? Dog? EXPLAIN!

Sadly, no. Have you tried adoption?


Safe to assume 'her" means a daughter. Could be a highly literate animal or pet, though...

[martianmister]

Safe to assume 'her" means a daughter. Could be a highly literate animal or pet, though...

She could be his nephew, grandchild, friend, or (transsexual) son.

[King of Nowhere]

try printing the pages on stone slabs.

[khoregate]

She is my daughter .. and its the problem with having an apparently gifted child she wants to try and read everything

we even caught her on the potty chair trying to read just like daddy

[oppyu]

we even caught her on the potty chair trying to read just like daddy
Awwwwwwwwww, that's the most adorable thing ever. Which is weird, because I thought I didn't like kids.

[Lexible]

She could be his nephew, grandchild, friend, or (transsexual) son.

You mean transgender... very few transsexual three year olds. :smallsmile:

[Lexible]

You should [snip] consider whether SOD is a good choice for a three year old, content-wise. I'd go with Calvin & Hobbes or something a little more innocuous at that age.

I tend to favor Judy Bloom's approach: nothing is censored to the children, but if the parent is concerned about the subject matter, then they read it together, let's the child understand on her own terms, and in discussion the parent expresses their values to their child in the process.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: We're not going to go 'round and 'round again on Rich's business decision after he's repeatedly asked people not to. Thread locked.