It seems decidedly odd that a writer of Mr. Gaiman’s clout would not be able to get his publisher to agree to less restrictive terms.

Actually, I’m amazed that he was able to convince his publishers to do it for an entire book at all. Yes, it expires, but it is intended as a sample; if you like the book enough to want to keep it, buy it. That will encourage the publishers to release more free (’at no cost’) content in the future.

Maybe it should be referred to as a free 30-day rental of the the book?

Second – You can’t control bits. That’s an old-world fantasy. They are way too easy to copy and replicate and distribute. Our modern culture depends on it, in fact. A lot of brick-and-mortar businesses are used to controlling replication of bits (content), in much the same way dinosaurs were used to warm weather. Evolve or die.

Neil; your core audience is young and tech-savvy and very very engaged – they are your real sales force, and the source of your income. To quote Daniel James when he talks about monetizing the passion that a community has for authors; “Money can’t get you love, but love can get you money”.

i love free stuff (who wouldnt?)
and whenever i am near a library, i borrow stuff.

but i also like personal copies of books (like kirk in star trek) in print form. So i buy books.

books are for a lifetime, and i like re-reading.
sometimes books such as this are given free, so that one can discover an author. if you havent discovered gaiman, free stuff like this would introduce you to him. Or if you havent read this book, this gives you a free read. if you like it, and want it to be yours forever, that’s when you get a book.

havent you ever bought a book only to be disappointed? this way, there is no disappointment.
just my 2 cents.

i discovered neil gaiman with his endless (sandman material). he had wonderful characters there

Get over it you bunch of whiners. You get to read it for free. Just like if you borrowed it from a friend or the library. It’s like someone is willing to lend you their lawn mower and you’re pouting and saying you don’t want it unless you can keep it. Given that the e-book you CAN keep forever is (as included in the original post) incredibly cheap anyway, what the hell are you complaining about?

Kudos to Heavy C and Travis Butler and anyone else who isn’t acting like a big whiney baby over this.

Wow.

Now I wish I’d been perhaps a touch less angry when I wrote it. (But then again, who knows whether Mr. Gaiman would even have seen it, let alone linked to it, if I had?)

I still dislike the fact that the e-book is being Indian-given away “free” by the publisher in an expiring format I can’t use. It seems to cheapen the use of the word “free” as it applies to people like Tor and Baen who actually do give stuff away for free. But I suppose my anger should have been more properly directed entirely at the publisher rather than partly at Neil Gaiman for failing to talk them into better terms.

The restrictions are such a joke, anyway. I’m sure that Neverwhere has already been circulating for “free” on peer-to-peer networks for years—and even if it wasn’t, the versions for sale on Fictionwise and eReader could be trivially cracked and made so.

I suppose it’s at least better than HarperCollins’s “free” e-book of American Gods, which could only be read on-line. Maybe next year they’ll actually give something away for real.

First, you don’t get to define ‘free’. A lot of people equate ‘free’ with ‘bears no financial cost’, maybe even a majority – and common usage is what guides the way most people react. And as HeavyG notes, a lot of things that are ‘free’ aren’t permanent – heck, a library lets you check out a book for ‘free’, but you have to return it! Where is all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about how libraries don’t let you keep books?

(And yes, your reaction to ‘free as in beer’ was pretty ridiculous. You drink the beer, and a few hours later it’s passed through your system and left only memories. [And hopefully not a hangover.] Sound familiar? You certainly don’t get a never-ending tap, or even just a keg, to take home with you.)

Second, I think you have a highly exaggerated view of Gaiman’s clout. He’s certainly a well-respected author from a literary standpoint, but I would be extremely surprised if he sells even on the level of the Wheel of Time books, let alone megabestsellers like King, Clancy or Rowling. And that’s the kind of clout publishers listen to, first and foremost. Awards and critical respect are clout only in so much as they give the publisher bragging rights in some venue that matters to them, or as they can be used as sales tools.

Third, as you yourself allude to, publishers are not some monolithic bloc. We’ve already seen that different publishers (and their parent conglomerates) have very different attitudes towards e-publishing. So holding up the Free Library and saying ‘Well, Baen does it!” is hardly a convincing argument, or even a useful yardstick for measuring the behavior of another publisher.

Finally, in light of the above, “It seems decidedly odd” that you would try to juxtapose the behavior of Gaiman’s publisher, which I seriously doubt he has anything like the amount of influence over that you seem to think he has, with Gaiman’s own behavior in hosting an Open Rights Group discussion. Just what were you trying to say, here?

Anybody want to bet you can’t already find this (and others) on the “darkweb”? For years now?

Silly publishers.

The bartender doesn’t come and stick his finger down your throat before you can leave the bar.

Whatever the definition of ‘free’ is.

On the other hand, I can see why it would have a limited life. If you like it so much you want to re-read it — the publisher wants you to buy it.

It all depends on whether it is a ‘classic’ and is “re-readable” (A lot of modern fiction isn’t worth keeping around after the first read (I haven’t any of Neil Gaiman’s stories yet so they could be worth keeping. I’m not going to make that judgement call.)