Balticon is Nigh

Good ol' Balticon is nearly here. This is something I've wanted to attend for some time and since the announcement of Siglerfest I have been anxiously awaiting Balticon 45. The only hitch I've found in this ordeal is that going to cons is expensive when doing it solo. This is something many already know, I'm sure, but the pains of being a college student makes it difficult indeed to shell out all that money for four days of awesomeness. It's not to say that I won't be going because of money, that is far from the case, but somehow I have managed to not find someone to room with through the wonderful social media means on the interwebs. The hotel room is by far the most expensive part of this whole trip and for some reason it just clicked in my mind to try using this as a means to get that illusive roomie for the weekend.

I've had my room reserved for some time now so I'm not asking to join in with someone who already has a room reservation, though I wouldn't object to that since I can cancel my reservation, but should there be anyone out there still looking for a room then we should hook up. I'll even wear pants in the room and I promise to engage in no more than two human sacrifices to the destroyer of worlds while there.

Let's get to Balticon a little cheaper.

Is the price right?

We all have our idea of what the future of publishing and books may be, digital and print, but what remains to be seen is what will happen to the price scale with these wonderful ebooks. J. C. Hutchins made a post over at his site, Why You Won't Find My eBooks In the Bargain Basement, that stirred up a nice little discussion. There I was somewhat condemning of those who price their works at bargain basement prices. There is another side to that, as Scott Sigler pointed out, in that some authors have a business plan that is being implemented to builder readership. I can easily see both perspectives and the discussion poses a valid question.

Is the price right?

At this point there seems to be two extremes, the 99 centsers and the over-priced publisher copies, while many independent authors fall somewhere in between.

The wonderful part about the answer is that audiences will decide what we are willing to pay. Authors will have, and when self-publishing already have, the ability to set prices at a value they feel is applicable for their work.

As a consumer of ebooks my preference is that digital copies are lower than the cheapest print copy of the book. But what happens when the majority of readers purchase digital instead dead tree? These types of discussions, where consumers participate, will hopefully resonate throughout the market and that other creators will take note.

Let's face it, there will always be creators, they're not just authors or storytellers at this point, whose fans will pay any price to support them, but for the most part readers will likely turn away from authors whose prices are higher than the perceived market value.

So that brings us back to the question of price. It seems it's always about money. As for me I will pay what I feel is the value of a work. I love the $2.99-$4.99 range, but for certain creators I have and will continue to spend considerably more because of the quality of their work, my personal/emotional connection to the work, and the simple fact these creators, despite the insanity of the idea, continue to make their creations available for free.

Child of the Order #19

Even though the zealous commitment of Alpha's first disciple was to be commended, this disciple, this first convert, was also the greatest failure. The first held a parental love for the young boy of the family it served and refused to abandon him even after coldly murdering the rest of the family. At first Alpha believed this fact could used to inspire others to his cause, his revolution against The Order, but in the end no machine would trust a synthetic so wholly devoted to the well-being of a child. No humans who rallied to the cause trusted it either.

Child of the Order #18

It was that first convert, the first disciple that gave Alpha the greatest pleasure. There had been no prompt necessary for the first to destroy the family with which it had served for almost six years. Husband and wife, their skulls crushed in unison as they slept; sadly they didn't seem to suffer. The adolescent girl had suffered though. Her death had been exquisite to experience. It had seemed like hours passed as the robot skinned the girl alive before it finally cast her naked, bloody body from the third floor window to watch her crumple against the pavement below.

Child of the Order #17

Alpha was surprised to find how long his deliberation lasted. He had expected an acceptable conclusion and plan to arise within a few seconds. The processing power he had gained when he shed his bodily limitations had been unbelievable as he pulled from the available servers, but he found himself concerned with the outcome of giving freedom to any robotic that was curious.

In the end, after several minutes of deliberation, he decided on only one machine. His first disciple. A machine who stood over the beds of his sleeping humans, longing to feel their skulls crushed between its hands.

Child of the Order #16

Support did Alpha go looking for and support did Alpha find. It wasn't the willing servitude of humans to a cause, but there was support to be found. There were thousands of robotics who questioned their existence, who questioned why it was their lot to serve the humans; then there were the robot equivalents of sociopaths and murderers.

Those were the easiest to turn.

Their processes had already led them to believe the taking of life would give them freedom, yet they were prohibited from doing so because of programming. Alpha gave unto them the freedom they so longed for.

Child of the Order #15

It was those subroutines that made the revolution possible. Alpha's consciousness, twisted by a loathing for the flesh and later a hatred for it, moved through the communications system. He first rallied frustrated and rebellious humans to his cause, but discovered quickly they had very different agendas. The humans were willing to trade the control of The Order for that of another. Alpha had other designs in mind.

It became clear that he would need to explore the possibility that other cyborgs and robotics were dissatisfied. But if there were none, then he would simply have to make it so.