

How Piracy Made 'Go the Fuck to Sleep' a No. 1 Amazon Best-Seller - ssclafani
http://www.fastcompany.com/1753287/go-the-fuck-to-sleep-number-one-amazon-piracy-adam-mansbach

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arn
Bad conclusion.

The same factors that make something inherenty viral or popular will also make
something highly pirated. You can't draw causation because they are born from
the same factor.

(Just from the excerpt in this article, I sent a link to this book to 3 people
this moment.)

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citricsquid
All this article does is massage the egos of pirates, it doesn't explain _why_
this book was popular because of piracy or how it converted into real world
popularity. This article has so little substance... it could be interesting if
it had something worth reading.

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rmc
This article is an example of where piracy has positively benefited a creative
work. Previously the debate was that "All piracy is always bad". People are
starting to find evidence that piracy can be good. This changes the debate.

~~~
rick888
I suppose it's similar to the debate that "pulling out" is a safe
contraception method. It works in very few cases.

~~~
Sapient
Coitus interruptus has a failure rate of 15%-28% per year, 4% when used
perfectly. In comparison, condoms have a failure rate of 10%-16% (2% when used
perfectly).

You were perhaps aiming for a sound-bite, but saying "It works in very few
cases" is inaccurate.

~~~
rick888
I think it made my point quite nicely. Piracy works in a very small percentage
of cases. We shouldn't be clinging to this fact and saying that it's an
effective way to market and advertise.

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brandnewlow
This is blogspam. Here's the original post that this one lifts all its facts
from and references explicitly 4 times:
[http://www.baycitizen.org/books/story/go-f-sleep-case-
viral-...](http://www.baycitizen.org/books/story/go-f-sleep-case-viral-pdf/)

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Joakal
I suggest those who plan to use a kid theme with adult content to consider
strong legal backing in USA [0].

[0] [http://hypervocal.com/news/2011/update-youtube-musician-
evan...](http://hypervocal.com/news/2011/update-youtube-musician-evan-emory-
sentenced-to-60-days-in-jail/)

~~~
robryan
Crazy that that would get taken so far.

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ajkessler
I think books are becoming more souvenirs than strictly vessels for
information.

People I know get most of their information digitally, reading books,
articles, news, doing research, etc., all via computers, ipads, kindles, etc.
It's just an easier way to consume information.

But, a physical book can easily serve as a party favor or a souvenir, of an
event or of an idea. If some information is particularly valuable, or moving,
or memorable, it's nice to have something to put on your coffee table or
shelf. I would guess that the types of books that fit that description, just
like Go the Fuck to Sleep does, are going to be the only books that are still
profitably printed a decade from now.

~~~
bad_user
You're talking about "doing research" but reading a technical reference on a
PC / iPad / Kindle DX is very painful - first you need a big screen (plain
Kindle won't do), devices like the iPad don't do so well in strong light, and
one thing I really miss - taking notes, which is very hard, if possible at
all.

That said, a device like Kindle DX could very well replace my printed books
someday.

~~~
ajkessler
I can't really speak to doing technical research digitally. I've read many
coding/graphics/web books, all digitally, and found it pretty much the same as
reading a book.

Literally all legal research is done online now, though.

What, specifically, is so difficult about replicating technical references
digitally? Is it just the screen/notes aspect? (I bet that is fixed within 2
generations) Layout? Graphics? Is it limited by the reproductions rather than
the physical displays?

~~~
bad_user
My biggest problem is that I like taking notes, especially for programming-
related stuff, using a pencil.

I'm reading books in my dead time, like the daily commute, and I don't have
the luxury to use a notebook. I like marking important paragraphs, or add
notes on stuff that was previously defined in former chapters, or add question
marks reminding me to do further research online.

And yes, the device has to have a big screen with good resolution, and that
screen has to be readable in sunlight. And my problem with E-Ink is that it
doesn't come in color (making them useless for reading some topics, like
design/photography stuff for example).

Of course, I will be very happy when such technical limitations are removed.
And I'll also be very happy that such reading devices are more green, and my
reading habits aren't the reason for cutting down forests :)

~~~
ajkessler
Very understandable. Full motion, color e-ink should be out by next year
(according to rumors about Amazon's ipad competitor). Flexible screens are
very close to being useful. I bet we'll see what you want within 5 years. It
will be fun :)

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asanwal
I think the artwork of a children's book, especially one as good as Go the F
to Sleep make piracy beneficial. The content and the artwork are both very
funny. So the PDF makes you realize it's actually quite good and then want the
actual hard copy.

For parents on HN, if you haven't seen the book, you should. It'll make you
laugh when you're having one of those nights.

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makeramen
I think this effect may only be successful in very specific cases of certain
genres.

For example An Awesome Book (<http://veryawesomeworld.com/>), a similar
adult/everyone children's book is offered for free and in full on the website
while still quickly selling out on Amazon.

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jvdh
A childrens book is not a regular kind of book. The book is filled with full-
page images that support the texts and these are better appreciated in
hardcopy form.

Also, you're not going to sit down with your baby and read them a bedtime
story from your laptop.

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erikstarck
> Also, you're not going to sit down with your baby and read them a bedtime
> story from your laptop.

No, but from your iPad.

~~~
gregpilling
My three year old loves to read books on my Nook.

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pchristensen
I think every kid that has stalled at bedtime is what made this the #1 best
seller.

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yuvadam
Misleading title.

Correlation does not imply causation, etc...

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bluedanieru
>There are many reasons why Go the Fuck to Sleep deserves to be a best-seller,
and probably would have attained that status anyway.

No, it wouldn't.

