That's a really cool story. Louis CK is also responsible for Pootie Tang, so now we have two reasons to like him.

I bought a copy. Hell, for 5 bucks why not. If anyone deserves shiatloads of money it's Louis CK.

The email he sent out today was pretty damn funny.

Ubisoft: "If you'd just made it $5 to watch on Xbox and PS3 (once), and charged PC users $1 per minute to stream it from your own overtaxed servers, CERTAINLY you would have made more money, and with zero backlash."

I hope more comedians follow his lead and do this. It's also a really, really good special.

i bought it. 5 bucks - why not? he's hilarious.

FlashHarry: i bought it. 5 bucks - why not? he's hilarious.

This, and I think his business model for distributing entertainment this way is a really good idea. Normally a blu-ray would be closer to $20, and he's making quality money on his end.

ambassador_ahab: This, and I think his business model for distributing entertainment this way is a really good idea. Normally a blu-ray would be closer to $20, and he's making quality money on his end.

yep. he cuts out the middle man. this is exactly what the internet was supposed to do. if i were an entertainment exec, i'd be shiatting myself.

FlashHarry: yep. he cuts out the middle man. this is exactly what the internet was supposed to do. if i were an entertainment exec, i'd be shiatting myself.

As well, he proved that if you're cool with your customers, your customers will mostly be cool with you.

FlashHarry: ambassador_ahab: This, and I think his business model for distributing entertainment this way is a really good idea. Normally a blu-ray would be closer to $20, and he's making quality money on his end.

yep. he cuts out the middle man. this is exactly what the internet was supposed to do. if i were an entertainment exec, i'd be shiatting myself.

The internet is awesome. I turned down an (admittedly shiatty) advance for my first novel and went with an independent publisher because the first publishing house didn't want to release the ebook version of the novel before the paper version, and the paper version would take a year to get in print.

I've paid my cell phone bill for the last two months from ebook sales, and this month I might be able to cover my internet bill as well. By the time the paper version comes out, I'll have a year's head start on sales, and I'll get a lot more money per copy because I won't have that publisher taking half of the retail price.

Three years ago, I couldn't have done that. The Internet is farking middle men everywhere, and it is glorious.

The biggest thing this proves is that if you put it out there at a reasonable price, you can easily recoup and make a profit.

The key word is reasonable.

I'm not spending $15 dollars on a digital copy that costs $20 for the physical copy.

I pay $5 bucks a month to listen to you morons. Might as well give a similar amount to listen to someone who actually is funny.

I like his stuff and I like the model, so I dropped $5. Completely hassle free - HD download was really fast (even though his server was probably getting hammered at the time), dropped it on a USB stick, plugged it into my PS3 and had it on the big screen in 5 minutes. It's the way entertainment should be - fast and versatile.

He noted that he saved over $100,000 by not needing to hire an editor. He loaded the 6 or 8 video tracks onto his computer and spliced it together himself. He's got some behind-the-camera skills too.

Jubeebee: Three years ago, I couldn't have done that. The Internet is farking middle men everywhere, and it is glorious.

Congrats! If you don't mind me asking, how does pricing work for your publishing house? There are reports that the 'big names' are price-fixing and forcing distributors (Amazon especially) to not give discounts. Do you get to name your price as an author? Do you name a 'profit margin' that the house adds onto?

/threadjack

Earguy: He noted that he saved over $100,000 by not needing to hire an editor. He loaded the 6 or 8 video tracks onto his computer and spliced it together himself. He's got some behind-the-camera skills too.


Why does he hate giving Americans jobs?

/farking 1%

Outtaphase: I like his stuff and I like the model, so I dropped $5. Completely hassle free - HD download was really fast (even though his server was probably getting hammered at the time), dropped it on a USB stick, plugged it into my PS3 and had it on the big screen in 5 minutes. It's the way entertainment should be - fast and versatile.

So much this. People will pay for convenience. This has been proven since the beginning of time.

I could have gone to great lengths to try to torrent the Louis CK thing. But its a lot easier to drop a fiver, download, save to DVD, play it on my DVD player... all of this took an hour or less. And 3 minutes of actual work.

Gig103: Congrats! If you don't mind me asking, how does pricing work for your publishing house? There are reports that the 'big names' are price-fixing and forcing distributors (Amazon especially) to not give discounts. Do you get to name your price as an author? Do you name a 'profit margin' that the house adds onto?

/threadjack


The place I worked with basically gave me control over everything except royalty rate, because that's a function of where you sell. I get 70% if I make a sale on Amazon, 60% on some smaller sites, I think 65% on iTunes. Once I have some more titles out next year, I'm going to look into how much it would cost to set up a site where people can buy from me direct, in which case I would get 100%.

Paper royalties are a smaller percentage with my current deal, but the retail price is higher, so my take-home will be about the same for a $10 paper book as it is for a $4 ebook.

The bigger publishing houses also get to name their ebook price, and sometimes Amazon will have a note saying "This price was set by the publisher" if it's high. Really, ALL ebook prices are set by the publisher. But the big houses have the big names, so they can charge $15 for ebooks and people will still buy them. I don't have that luxury.

/also threadjack

NuttierThanEver: I pay $5 bucks a month to listen to you morons. Might as well give a similar amount to listen to someone who actually is funny.

Hah, couldn't have put it better myself.

Louis CK is farking awesome. Been a massive fan since I discovered Lucky Louie. I'll definitely be sending some money over.

FlashHarry: if i were an entertainment exec, i'd be shiatting myself.

please. they're probably just getting on the phone to their pet lobbyist and having them contact their pet congressman to make what Louis CK's doing illegal.

I'm an entertainment corporation executive and I just shiat my pants. Also getting a kick out of some of these replies.

$5 to show a little love for Louis CK and in support of this business model.
Done and done.

An excellent concert. The kind where the dedication to Patrice O'Neal at the end is the sublime cherry on top.

I bought it. $5 for an hour straight of laughing my ass off is a great buy.

Well I just found another reason why I am attracted to this man. No its not that he just got a shiatload of money.

HappyLittleTree: IgG4: I bought a copy. Hell, for 5 bucks why not. If anyone deserves shiatloads of money it's Louis CK.

That Clifford bit alone was worth every penny. Hell, I would give that amount on a monthly basis if he uploaded bits/outtakes/whatever.

The pot story was hilariously the truth. I never heard someone explain in such clear detail exactly what is going through someones brain when they smoked waaaay to much farking pot and have no idea what to do and over think everything. He just nailed it.

ilikestuff: Cool. Hadn't heard about this. Downloading it now.

/obligatory "I hate paypal"


Why? Paypal isn't even the original company anymore and if anything is run better now for the most part. Bill Me Later anyone? I like the convenience of it myself, much easier than fumbling with a credit card every time I want to make a purchase. Then again I never carry a balance and they probably hate the shiat out of me for it, so there's that.

MrEricSir: Earguy: He noted that he saved over $100,000 by not needing to hire an editor. He loaded the 6 or 8 video tracks onto his computer and spliced it together himself. He's got some behind-the-camera skills too.

It costs $100,000 to hire some guy to film you talking for a couple hours, transfer the files, and load it up in Final Cut Pro?

WTF? I really picked the wrong field...

I have a friend who freelances and he just got paid five grand to edit a two minute piece. All the footage was supplied to him, as was the script. He had to do no creative thinking and made off with a couple month's rent for twenty minutes worth of work

/I need to get back into that field