Theos-Talk Archives (January 2011 Message tt00144)

Dear Ramadoss,

I don't quite understand what feasible alternatives to profit-based 
book publishing you have in mind. What I understood suggests that 
your proposal is not a sustainable business model (scanning 
copyrighted books to PDF files is good for personal use only). And 
let's not forget that many good spiritual books would not written in 
the first place if their authors did not hope to make money and make 
a living.

Max


--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, MKR <mkr777@...> wrote:
>
> When browsing the reviews of some of the recent well known theosophical
> books like the SD Commentary and Reflections on an Ageless Wisdom (ML to
> APS), most of the reviewers have done an excellent job. As we all know these
> recent books are pricey for the average â??poorâ?? theosophist especially in non
> Western Countries.
> 
> None of the reviews I have come across about the above books have brought
> out the critical issue of making them widely accessible to theosophists
> around the world. Today, any book can be instantaneously distributed at no
> cost around the world using Internet and it costs nothing to create a pdf
> file.
> 
> One wonders if there is no mention about the cost of these books in the
> reviews, is it likely that the reviewers are not sensitized to the price and
> distribution issues since they do not pay for it and do receive a free
> copies.
> 
> Books like the above are almost exclusively read by theosophists and hence
> the logic that applies to other books published for general audience is not
> at all relevant. Unless the cost issue is addressed quickly, we will see the
> same fate as pricy utility software faced in the past as cheap high speed
> scanners have changed the technological landscape in the world.
> 
> Godspeed for making books available in pdf files.
> 
> MKR
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>