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A comment on The National Emergency Library is a gift to readers everywhere. Parent comment

Re:The National Emergency Library is a gift to readers every... by falcolas on Thursday April 02, 2020 @10:23AM (#22759298)
You make an assumption that people aren’t willing to pay to support the creation of non-fiction books. I think this is bunk.

An extremely relevant example: Veritasium. He creates well researched and scientific videos on YouTube (at a rate of maybe 3-4 a year), and has almost 5,000 patrons.

Again, can every author survive this way? No, but there are other options; please don’t get hung up on the familiar and call it the only way.

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Re:The National Emergency Library is a gift to readers every... by Zonulet on Thursday April 02, 2020 @11:00AM (#22759770)
What are your options if your book is going to take years of work and you don't already have a following?
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Re:The National Emergency Library is a gift to readers every... by falcolas on Thursday April 02, 2020 @03:20PM (#22762589)
All of the authors I currently follow did exactly this. Word of mouth, some basic marketing, utilizing their contacts and their followers. The internet doesn't only support zeitgeists, they also support niche communities which spring up out of nowhere.
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Re:The National Emergency Library is a gift to readers every... by Cerium on Thursday April 02, 2020 @11:34AM (#22760140)
Start with something smaller or find an interested wealthy patron. Same options as if I wanted to start a business that will take years of development to achieve traction.

How does anyone get a following? You build it over time.

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Re:The National Emergency Library is a gift to readers every... by Zonulet on Thursday April 02, 2020 @12:01PM (#22760441)
I can assure you there are a lot of great books that would not have been written if the authors first had to either 1. become beloved enough on the internet that they could crowdfund their income for five years or 2. somehow secure a "wealthy patron" who wanted to finance it (I can imagine a pretty fierce competition for that pretty rare beast).
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Re:The National Emergency Library is a gift to readers every... by Scarblac on Thursday April 02, 2020 @02:12PM (#22761857)
How does copyright help with that scenario?
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