7 Sep 1999, O'Regan, Emlyn wrote:
> (Warning: I'm on shaky ground knowledge wise here...)
>
> Can he not set up a website as an Amazon.com affiliate, so that people who
> want to support him can go to his book via his site, meaning he gets
> affiliate payments to offset royalty reductions? Even if it doesn't make up
> all the lost ground, it might go some way toward compensating...
>
Emlyn, while I agree that this is an interesting idea, I suspect
that it doesn't work out in reality. The Amazon.com discount
from the publisher is significant (probably varying with the
publisher), while the affiliate kickback from Amazon is quite
small. You probably also would annoy your publisher significantly
if you set yourself as being in competition with them.
The only solution ultimately is for authors to self-publish. I've discussed this with Robert to a limited degree and this may be what happens with Xenology (a very old book Robert wrote about the "science" of finding & studying "aliens" that has yet to be formally published).
However, Nanomedicine is caught between the period when publishers are required and not-required (i.e. the only "useful" purpose they serve is as "accredited" reviewers (from a libertarian standpoint).
In theory it would be completely possible to self-publish Nanomedicine, but it would not receive the publicity that an organization such as Landes Bioscience can give it. That strategy would probably result in a failure to penetrate the market that is trying to be reached.
Robert