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Old 2010-10-12, 4:39pm
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Frit Diva Frit Diva is offline
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I think this is a very valuable discussion and I hope everyone will keep it positive and constructive.

As far as I am able to see, there's a place for all types of glass education, and a market as well. Every student is in a different situation, and has unique needs. Some of us live in places where classes are readily accessible, or can travel to attend classes. Some can even travel to Italy to observe the masters. Some are lucky enough to study in university programs. However, many of us can never consider the expense of doing any of those things.... but we still want to learn.

Traditionally produced books are a great way to convey large volumes of information, but they are limited by the economics of production, and the artist/author generally receives only a very small royalty (pennies on the dollar) for books sold. For these reasons, most of the information you can readily buy in tutorials will never be made available in book form.

A well-produced tutorial is essentially a book that has not been put into printed form. The author does all the work of writing, photographing, layout, typography, etc. in the hope that people will want to learn the skill or technique he or she is offering. The knowledge being shared is the product for sale, the e-book is just the vehicle. It's then up to the buyer to decide if the knowledge in this e-book is worth the price being asked, much the same way a customer walks into your booth at a show and decides whether or not they think your beads are worth the price you are asking. It's not exactly the same, of course, but I personally think it's fairly similar.

Just like beads, there are excellent tutorials, good tutorials and not-so-good tutorials, and tutorials for every taste and inclination. As far as pricing goes, each author has to juggle the knowledge they are sharing and how much energy they put into the tut against the potential market for it.

When I created The Cabochon Adventure, I spent over 2 months putting it together, so I had to consider my time investment when I set the price. I sincerely hope I gave a good value, and I trust that the market will tell me if I am overcharging for what I shared!

One more thing that you get with a tutorial that you do not get with a printed book: the help and support of the author after your purchase. For any of my tutorials, I will happily answer email inquiries about any aspect of the tutorial, including sources, techniques, and applications for the tut that I may not have even considered when I was writing it.


Jo
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