A Respectful Response….

Somebody put out a video looking at our Hachette Book Group partnership from a business and economics angle, and I got tagged in it. He classified the deal correctly as trade rather than direct market, walked his audience through the difference, and made a real point about returnability in traditional publishing. He’s also not a fan of our work, and that’s completely his right.
So I wanted to respond the way I’d want to be responded to. Not defensively, and not to score points, but to offer some clarification and fuller context that I think a lot of people can actually use, whether they’re fans, skeptics, or just interested in how this business works.
In this one I get into the pre-order versus crowdfunding distinction, how returns actually function in the trade channel and why they aren’t the diagnostic some assume, why order-driven demand is different from speculative stocking, and what this deal is really about, which is making our books easier to access rather than proving whether the demand exists.
I also get into the bigger thing underneath most of these conversations. We’ve reached a point where people don’t dislike something on its merits anymore. They dislike it because of who likes it. That happens on all sides, and I don’t pretend to be above it. I’d love for us to get back to arguing about whether one character can beat another instead of dismissing entertainment for reasons that have nothing to do with what’s in it.
If you’re skeptical of the Rippaverse, I still value your input. The offer stands to pull up to our Discord, come see us at a con, or talk privately and find out what we’re actually about. And if you still come away unconvinced, that’s fine too.