So I was wandering around the bookstore yesterday (I love the bookstore) and was suddenly struck with one of those deep questions of life.

Why do bloggers take their favorite posts, convince some publisher to put them in book form, and sell them to people who could have easily read it all for free online? Hmmmm... ah, yes, money. (I'm a huge fan of that.)

So then, perhaps I should ask the bigger question: why do readers actually buy it?

No, don't tell me it's because they can't always get online. With the progress of information technology, they could have just downloaded it to the mobile device of their choice and read it offline.

No, don't tell me it's because they want it in paper format. They could have printed the whole thing or used a blog printing service to stick it all on paper.

Maybe it's the editing. Maybe readers don't actually want to have to sift through the crap that bloggers write. Crap like, Isn't my dog adorable? and I just ate a donut. (Nobody cares!) But then there are blog carnivals, mashups, and other pre-filtered-for-crap feeds that are also available for free.

Do they feel guilty for reading something for free and find themselves compelled to pay for the hours of ad-supported entertainment they've had? (I wish I had more readers like that. I'd gladdly let them send me great loads of money.)

Or maybe readers are duped into thinking they're going to get something new, something different, something that just isn't available online for free. Maybe that's it.

Perhaps this is the key. If you are a reader, and you don't want to pay for blog posts in book form when you can legally get for free online, only buy books by bloggers if the cover of the book explicitly states, You can't get any of this online for free (legally). Really, I mean it. Fork over the cash if you want to enjoy the tantalizing tidbits I've written.

(Now if only I could find time to make up a trademarked, copyrighted, patented seal so blogger-book-writers would have to pay me money to stick that on their books. Well, at least the words You can't get any of this online for free (legally). Really, I mean it. Fork over the cash if you want to enjoy the tantalizing tidbits I've written. (Gasp!) officially belong to me now since I wrote them a published them just now in accordance witht the digital copyright act. So there. If you use those words, I'll sue you. Really, I mean it.)

Labels: Blogging and Websites