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Post by smith on Feb 18, 2015 17:00:20 GMT 9
Just a thought that popped into my head. We could offer a free download in both .epub and .mobi formats or each story, as well as the story being posted on the site. I would make them (they are dead simple to make) and the forum software allows for the hosting of small files so we wouldn't have to use third party hosting.
It seems like a nice way to distribute the stories themselves, but I'm a little blurry on how doable it is in terms of copyrights and moral rights and the like.
Interested to hear thoughts on this. (So go ahead and tell me what you think).
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Post by mike on Feb 20, 2015 9:48:14 GMT 9
Great! We can do it at the Amazon self-publishing programme. I for one would say it's a fantastic idea (In fact, I myself have been turning over in my mind the very same idea lately!). But if you do that, it's advisable that you add special value to the product (e.g. artistic illustrations, editorial commentary by JL experts, etc.) and monetize it. Otherwise, what's the point? (They can always mosey on over here and read it.)
If all this is about gaining more exposure in the market, I think there are other, more effective avenues (e.g. asking already much-visited relevant blogs/websites to sponsor our site, etc.). Just my two cents' worth.
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Post by elipsett on Feb 20, 2015 16:07:25 GMT 9
Making the ebooks is not terribly difficult, although tweaking the XHTML to look pretty and work right can be time-consuming.
An ebook release, though, is quite different from the initial "we want to post your story on our website" offer we made the authors.
True, it is not at all difficult to download a webpage for your own copy, but making an ebook copy available for download is a big step in a dangerous direction when copyright exists.
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Post by smith on Feb 20, 2015 20:26:28 GMT 9
Making the ebooks is not terribly difficult, although tweaking the XHTML to look pretty and work right can be time-consuming. An ebook release, though, is quite different from the initial "we want to post your story on our website" offer we made the authors. True, it is not at all difficult to download a webpage for your own copy, but making an ebook copy available for download is a big step in a dangerous direction when copyright exists. Well, Aozora works are obviously fine, although it would still be at the discretion of the translator. And of course the authors would have to be made aware of the translation being made available as well. I'm not really sure how a lot of them would take it. I might run it past the next author I contact and see what they think. I guess for now we could say that ebook production is an option. |
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Post by elipsett on Feb 22, 2015 12:56:37 GMT 9
I suspect the authors would be delighted to receive a free ebook version of their story in translation, but might be rather less happy about it being made available on the net for free.
Still, since the story (in Japanese) is already available for free online, maybe not...
By all means, let's ask the next one and see!
As long as there's no money involved, it's not much different from reading the story online. Once we reach the point of actually selling copies, things change, though.
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Post by smith on Mar 9, 2015 10:16:54 GMT 9
Well I just emailed the author of the current story I'm working on and he said it would be fine if we made and released an ebook on the site. I didn't ask about releasing it on other sites (amazon, ect...) but then I don't really plan on releasing it anywhere else anyway.
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Post by elipsett on Mar 10, 2015 9:50:51 GMT 9
Excellent!
With or without the Japanese?
Offering it for free is the easiest option; once money gets involved the amount of official fiddling goes way up.
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Post by smith on Mar 10, 2015 11:50:17 GMT 9
I didn't actually mention it specifically, but I think just the English translation, so without the Japanese. Do you think we should pop the Japanese in there? I could mention it to authors in the future.
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Post by elipsett on Mar 11, 2015 9:49:26 GMT 9
No, I don't think we should stick the Japanese in unless the Japanese is already public domain.
If the author's source Japanese is online, we can add a URL to jump to it easily enough.
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Post by smith on Mar 11, 2015 17:43:19 GMT 9
Maybe at some point in the future. Things seem to get quite complicated when money starts changing hands. At the moment everything is simple and working quite nicely because no money is being made.
That site pays $3 per story. I'm not sure I could live with myself offering translators a mere $3 for a translation of theirs and then taking subscription fees from readers.
I have thought about putting a 'donate' button on the site, but even that makes things complicated.
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Post by mike on Mar 11, 2015 20:11:27 GMT 9
You are right...I'm sorry...
This grasping soul, God admonish me!! (chuckles)
PS live with...is it about your moral compunction?
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Post by smith on Mar 12, 2015 8:48:53 GMT 9
Well yeah, pretty much. I know how much work goes into a translation, so offering someone a few dollars for their work would be like a slap in the face to them.
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ibel
New Member
Posts: 6
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Post by ibel on May 15, 2017 3:39:01 GMT 9
No, I don't think we should stick the Japanese in unless the Japanese is already public domain. If the author's source Japanese is online, we can add a URL to jump to it easily enough. Adding both a short link (several URL shortening services are available) and a QR code would make it super convenient to use for the readers, regardless of if their copy is on paper or in some electronic format. |
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