Stephen King and the Net

Stephen King has earned a chapter in the Internet history books. To start, he published Riding the Bullet, the first online novella designed specifically to be delivered via the net. This was followed by another cyber-first, a pay-as-you-go Napsterized serial short novel, The Plant. From the official King Web site Part 1, available now, it can be either sampled (free download) or purchased for one dollar. Parts two and three become available August 21 and September 25 respectively. The rest of the book (10 or 11 installments total) may not be created unless a high portion (like 75 percent) of the readership pays for earlier installments. Wow.

The Stephen King Web site receives especially good marks from me. Clean layout, good navigation, clear instructions, and perhaps most importantly, sincere personalized touches throughout make this a first rate semi-commercial e-site. The small use of javascript may put off some Web site critics, but Internet Explorer 5+ browser users will encounter no problems. However, the one characteristic that puts it “over the top” is the immediate impression that the Web site caters directly to Stephen King fans, old and new. The home page proudly sports “Plant News.” Whether an avid “Plant” fan or a reporter from the media, each has equal access to the latest information. Very nice touch.

My Experience

Sensing history in the making, I purchased The Plant Part 1. King’s site makes this straightforward. Click the “download ‘The Plant’” icon, followed by the “I agree and will pay now” link (this takes the visitor to Amazon.com). Because I am a registered buyer at Amazon, the payment process via credit card was quick and easy. (Amazon retains customer profile information. Processing new orders requires a few mouse clicks.) Next, I chose to receive Part 1 in PDF format (this requires the Acrobat Reader [AR] software). AR can be obtained via download on the Web site. (Note: prior to the process, I created a stephenking folder/directory where all Plant segments, copies of payments, instructions, and correspondence are saved.) The smallish 140 kbyte file arrived in seconds via cable modem. Other Part 1 formats available: text and HTML for WebTV users. Frankly the clear step-by-step instructions make the entire process fast and simple, even for newcomers to the Web.

Using Acrobat 4.0, I opened the segment1.pdf file and displayed the “The Plant cover” on the screen. A click on File > Print produced 20 pages of hard copy streaming from the NEC 870 laser printer. While some readers may prefer to read The Plant on the computer screen, I find pages held together with a single staple easier to manage.

Observations And Comments

My prior reading of King’s work was limited to a few short stories. Frankly, I currently have little time or interest in fiction. Nevertheless, I quickly read and enjoyed Part 1 (many of the 81/2 by 11 inch pages were not full). Elapsed time: less than 30 minutes. Frankly, with the current cost of 5 cents per page, this will be an expensive read (King plans to raise the price per segment to the $2.50 range for installments four through seven or eight). Being able to brag about being the first one in the neighborhood to have read the latest segment of The Plant comes at a stiff premium. This is not eBay (the largest frictionless marketplace on the Web) pricing, where a slightly soiled copy of The Stand draws no bids when priced $9.99 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. All of King’s work shows up on eBay at prices often below wholesale.

Possible Improvements And Adjustments

While the Stephen King Web site sets a strong standard by performing many tasks properly, there remains room for improvement. The Plant, with its projected fee structure, is overpriced. (Steve Ulfelder, digitalMASS, made a similar observation.)

King should accept PayPal, the standard e-commerce transaction method found on eBay, payments directly on the Web site. Aligning with Amazon was a strong strategic move. However, recognizing the emergence of PayPal would put him in good stead with his fans. Incidentally, I have sent King a short e-mail outlining these minor suggestions. I will report Mr King’s reply, if any, on the Web site.

Results To Date

In the July 31 update to readers, King reveals that 116,200 (76.38 per cent) of the downloads of Part 1 have paid. 93,200 paid via credit card, 23,000 more have promised on the cuff. Further, he states that $124,150 was spent for print ads, management fees, and Web site availability. Most of these expenses were one-time expenditures. Essentially, “out of pocket” expenses have been covered with sales (and promises) of Segment 1. King rides the gravy train as the balance of the revenue rolls in from cybersales. In comments to fans, he extrapolates the downloads to 1,673,452 with an average cash inflow in the range of $1 to $2.50 per transaction spread between now and 2002.

Hats off to Stephen King. While rock artists like Lars Ulrich (Metallica’s drummer) and others anguish over how Napster and other Internet file sharing mechanisms have wrenched their control of copyrighted MP3 material (it is really about the money), Stephen King addressed the issue head on. He not only takes his work directly to the fans, but deftly performs this task with ease and grace. He recognizes not everyone will pony up the money for all the segments and candidly states he will “pull the plug” if downloads (and payments) don’t stay up. Gratified with results to date, he states, “If we’ve proved nothing else, we’ve proved that the guy who shops for entertainment on the Net can be as honest as the one in a retail bricks-and-mortar store.” The question of cyber-honesty is already well known to high feedback (FB) dealers on eBay, but often distorted in the media. If it turns out I must pay a premium to own all the segments of The Plant, I am consoled with the knowledge that I was part of an important e-commerce experiment. Over time, intellectual property sales/distribution will become smoother, easier, and routine. Stephen King’s Web site points the way. Stop in even if you don’t purchase a segment. This is the future.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.stephenking.com/

http://www.digitalmass.com/columns/ecommerce/0727.html

(This is the 218th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the Internet. Next, “TV Voyeurism and eGroups” is the subject on tap. Stay Tuned. Until next week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for Real People can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and suggestions: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)