Cory Doctorow on giving away his books for free

Cory Doctorow is an unusual writer. His “Down and out in the Magic Kingdom” is an absolute classic and gave us the word “whuffie”.

He also gives his books away for free. He’s just been interviewed by New Scientist.

He talks about priracy and DRM and comes out with some beautiful quotes:

Obscurity, not piracy, is the biggest problem writers face. In the 21st century, if you are not making art with the intention of it being copied, you are not making contemporary art.

That’s how we are, we are descendents of molecules formed a million years ago because they figured out how to replicate themselves. We have a name for things that don’t copy themselves: dead.

His new book, For The Win, is out now:

http://craphound.com/ftw/

and amazingly is available for free download:

http://craphound.com/ftw/download/

I can’t vouch for it since I haven’t read it but Down and out in the Magic Kingdom is brilliant:

http://craphound.com/down/download.php

Enjoy. And welcome to the strange world of 21st century publishing.