The Death of PDF Publishing (A Rant)

[JoeGKushner]

We went this route with Planar Factions. So far, only 3 of the singles have sold. People just want the entire collection.

But it's not quite the same.

We're not talking about a full color hardback for $40 bones being split into multiple PDF's.

We're talking about a PDF collection and the seperate PDF's that make up the list being almost twice what the collection itself it.

There's also not a lot of word outh out yet on the individual PDF's. Most reviews will probably reflect the initial purchase of the PDF collection itself no?

Viscious circle in this case.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Beyond Countless Doorways.

I did print out the book, but never took the time to read it. I did not read it be the time the print version appeared, so I bought the print and used it, then I recycled the wasted paper.

I am aware of bookmarks in a PDF, but I have never been able to search for specific words etc.

In any event, while I have a significant budget for RPG books, I spend most of my money through my friend's FLGS now and I buy print. There are so many print books that I want that I see no need to buy any PDFs. The only PDFs I am considering are the StoryART Games stuff because it is interesting and I want to help them make enough to print their books.

Again, what version of Reader were you using? I believe that Reader has had the function for around 3 or 4 years. You can even search all the PDFs in a given directory. (Which is how I use it when I am not sure which book to look in.) You could look in all the PDFs in your computer for that matter, but that seems silly.

Mostly I prefer bookmarks, which most of the larger products now use. For things like The Book of Templates it is a very handy feature.

The Auld Grump, somehow the topic reminds me of the 'Science Fiction v. Speculative Fiction' arguments of my youth...

 

[Mercule]

Until PDFs can be useful (ie. searchable), then they will be second class. I do not want to spend time reading on the PC.

PDFs won't be useful until I can read them where I do most of my reading -- in bed, in the bath, sitting in front of the TV, while watching my kids play, while traveling, etc. Overcome those factors, and I might start seeing PDFs as something more than a tool for small shops to streamline distribution and off-set publishing costs.

If/when I ever get a tablet PC, I'll probably become a huge proponent of PDFs. Considering that my primary use for a computer is to program and to play video games, I cannot justify spending more money on a machine that is less-equiped to do those things. And that's just what I'd do with a tablet -- even if they are way cool.


E-books, on the other hand, are a plague on society. DRM is the one place where I truly wish ill on someone for business. I'd not shed a tear if the mere suggestion of DRM was regarded as a stupid enough idea for someone to get fired on the spot and laughed out of the industry. I hope it becomes a huge money loser for Abode and Microsoft and anyone who adopts it.

Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh, and it could be seen as me wishing ill upon some readers of this thread. That's not really my point. I'm just trying to express how abominably distasteful you've packaged your product. I have no love for pirates, and I hope you don't have your product pirated. But, that doesn't mean I have to support some ineffective, annoying, and punative scheme of yours.

Of course, I've already shown myself as someone who'll choose another format if given a chance, anyway. So, I might not be in your "target demographic". Then again, I do have a few PDFs, so you might not want to eliminate people like me from your potential customers.

 

[Psion]

Until PDFs can be useful (ie. searchable), then they will be second class. I do not want to spend time reading on the PC.

PDFs are searchable. Eminently.

I think Mercule hit the nail in the head, though. The reader technology really needs to go a long ways. I mean I have a pretty slick laptop, but I still shelved out for (and when the situation merits, would rather read) the print edition of Beyond Countless Doorways.

 

[Man-thing]

PDFs won't be useful until I can read them where I do most of my reading -- in bed, in the bath, sitting in front of the TV, while watching my kids play, while traveling, etc.

Actually I read many of my PDFs in exactly the places you suggest, albeit not in the form that I buy them in. When I have one I want to read offline I "Save As... rtf" and pumped it into E-book studio and then I load it on my Sony Clie and read it there.

 

[Glyfair]

Again, what version of Reader were you using? I believe that Reader has had the function for around 3 or 4 years.

Last time I downloaded Acrobat, I had several optional accessories I could download. One of them was the search tools, IIRC. It's possible he didn't choose this when he downloaded (or otherwise acquired) his Acrobat Reader.

I highly recommend it. If he has a broadband connection, it's not much longer. If he doesn't, searching is obviously such a high priority that he should download it.

Then again, I have a Windows computer. If he's using another operating system, I couldn't guarantee that the tools are available for that it (although I would be suprised if they weren't).

 

[JoeGKushner]

Actually I read many of my PDFs in exactly the places you suggest, albeit not in the form that I buy them in. When I have one I want to read offline I "Save As... rtf" and pumped it into E-book studio and then I load it on my Sony Clie and read it there.

Because that's real convience! Nah, way too much work. And of course not everyoen has a handheld Clie (or even HP Pocket PC), or laptop, or tablet.

 

[johnsemlak]

What are pop up refences?

 

[JoeGKushner]

In this case it brought up things like tables for the different classes. Core class information like background and then holding the button and clicking on certain parts brought up different tables.