Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Does Everything Have to be Free?

Cover, JPG MagazineDerek Powazek, Founder of JPG magazine will be on a panel at Book Expo this weekend. JPG is getting more recognition these days. Anyway, the session, "In Search of Book Publishing's 2.0 Business Model" promises to answer these wallet burning questions:

As consumers grow increasingly used to consuming an enormous amount of information from countless websites and blogs, for free, what’s the business model for traditional publishers? And how do we compete in a world where people are willing spend their time writing for Wikipedia, a website or blog, for nothing? With these new economies becoming known as “sharing” and “gift” economies, what’s the role of the working writer? And in a world where “free” is fast becoming the new buzz word, how do publishers make a buck? How do authors? And is there a difference between information and content? Does everything have to be free?

I wonder if the answers will satisfy the working artist.