Fritz Foy -- Tor/Forge goes DRM-free

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When Macmillan announced in late April that they would be the first Big Six house to routinely deliver a large portion of their ebook output -- all the titles published by Tom Doherty's imprint, which includes Tor.com -- as DRM-free ebooks, the news lit up Twitter feeds and thrilled the publishing digerati. It came on the heels of Pottermore, but actually reflects internal thinking and preparation at Macmillan going back four years or more. As Fritz Foy, Macmillan's EVP of Digital Publishing and leading technology strategist, will explain in a conversation with Mike Shatzkin, the company considered the needs of three sets of constituents: the readers who buy the ebooks, the authors who write them, and their internal editing and publishing teams that communicate with the author and agent communities. Foy will discuss the lengthy consideration the senior management of Macmillan gave to this bold step, explain why they took it, and help us all think through what the benefits and consequences might be to their business.

Education

BEA – Publishers Launch

Tor / Forge Books – DRM Free

June 4, 2012

• All eBooks DRM free – no watermarking

• Launch date: July 22

• 2,200 titles (and counting!)

• Available on
Nook, Kindle, iBookstore, Kobo, Google
Play and many other vendors

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• Announced: February 2008

• Launched: Moon Landing Day 2008

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• Brandon Sanderson • Kate Elliot
• John Scalzi • Peter Watts
• Robert Charles Wilson • C.T. Adams
• Jo Walton • Daniel Abraham
• Mercedes Lackey • John Wright
• Tobias Buckell • Kage Baker
• David Drake • Patti O'Shea
• Jane Lindskold • Jeffrey A. Carver
• Harry Turtledove • L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
• S.C. Butler • Tobsha Learner
• Karl Schroeder • Peter David
• Cherie Priest • Cyril Pedrosa

1.2 Million eBooks!
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What we learned

• DRM does not prevent piracy on its own; whether your books are DRM free or not, you still
need a strong enforcement program

• DRM does not allow for the optimum consumer experience

• DRM does not enable us to best serve our authors and their readers

• DRM does not encourage a healthy and competitive retail environment

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Cory Doctorow

• Co-editor of Boing Boing

• Columnist for the Guardian, Publishers Weekly, and
Locus

• “Doctorow is indispensable.” --Booklist

• Bestselling author of many titles, including:

– Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

– Little Brother

– Makers

– For the Win

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Charlie Stross

• Notable blogger at www.antipope.org/charlie/

• “The science fiction world has a lot of people doing
seriously imaginative thinking … I mean, Charlie Stross,
of course, more than basically almost anybody on the
planet.” (—Paul Krugman)

• Bestselling author of many titles, including:

– Accelerando

– The Family Trade

– Halting State

– Rule 34

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John Scalzi

• Notable (and prolific) blogger at
whatever.scalzi.com

• President of the Science Fiction Writers of
America

• “If anyone stands at the core of the American
science fiction tradition at the moment, it is
Scalzi.” –The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

• Bestselling author of many titles, including:

– Old Man’s War

– The Last Colony

– Fuzzy Nation

– Redshirts

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And what happened to those 24 DRM-free eBooks?
Unit sales of Tor.com backlist selection – all editions

180,000

160,000

140,000

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 YTD

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Tor.com Store
Coming later this year

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