As an avid reader, watcher, and creator of content, I am confronted by the reality that creator's are mostly not compensated directly for their work. In our era of value added capitalism, the only way a creator earns anything significant is through the protocol of having middlemen form contracts to publish, promote, and skim the lion's share of the profit off the top.
Sure, there are peer to peer creator networks out there nowadays in the form of GoFundMe and Kickstarter, but those seem to focus on new projects or sad story donation campaigns, rather than small creator support. If you sell something physical Etsy or eBay might fill the gap, and YouTube, TikTok, and the like have sizable kickbacks for mega-influencers.
Still, as a consumer of used books and library materials, there specifically ought to be a way to show appreciation and support for the original writer. Too often I've been told the author isn't making any money if borrow a book from a friend or the library or even buy a book second-hand. In my mind I'd like to be thrifty and environmental while cutting the middlemen out of the transaction.
To that ends I imagine a website which lists all books out there, perhaps one that permits reviews and discussion (kind of like GoodReads) and rather than relying to micro-payments from bookseller advertising, permits small donations (up to a dollar, say) to the original creators. This isn't entirely an original idea, as David Brin has written about an internet in general whose content receives direct peer-to-peer micropayments. This is a nod to that paradigm.
I personally don't have the know-how, but maybe an existing platform or non-profit web designer could implement and popularize such a presence. Living authors, big and small, could then collect a little extra for encouraging reuse and library lending practices. Dead authors, by way of their estates, could point their collections to worthy causes like writing organizations or other non-profits. Thusly, compensation for the creation of good ideas would flow toward authors instead of into the pockets of well-positioned investors. (fwiw SupportCreators.org is currently available)
Of course, you could contact authors, like myself, directly to make your own micro-contribution. :D
No comments:
Post a Comment
Constructive criticism and thoughtful commentary is always welcome!
(spam, trolling, and nonsensical comments will not be published)