Makers

Name: Makers
Author: Cory Doctorow

by Cory Doctorow

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Language: en1,571 downloads on Project Gutenberg

Subjects

Businesspeople -- Fiction Inventors -- Fiction Technology -- Fiction

In: Science-Fiction & Fantasy·Novels·American Literature

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #34527.

About this book

Makers is a near‑future satirical novel that blends business‑journalism, tech‑culture critique, and speculative storytelling. It opens with a fiery manifesto defending the right to own physical books against the “license‑only” model of ebook publishers, then pivots to a newsroom scene where reporter Suzanne Church covers the launch of a bizarre corporate merger, Kodak and Duracell becoming “Kodacell.” The opening pages introduce a cast of sharp‑tongued journalists, a flamboyant CEO named Landon Kettlewell, and a cynical gossip columnist dubbed Rat‑Toothed, all set against the backdrop of a post‑dot‑boom Silicon Valley that is both familiar and absurdly transformed.

The narrative is delivered in Doctorow’s characteristic blend of witty, fast‑paced prose and insider jargon, echoing the early‑2000s tech blog era while riffing on contemporary concerns about intellectual‑property law and corporate consolidation. Readers who enjoy smart, dialogue‑driven fiction that interrogates the ethics of entrepreneurship, fans of cyber‑punk, business satire, or any work that mixes cultural commentary with a dash of humor, will find Makers an engaging, thought‑provoking ride.

Characters in Makers

Suzanne ChurchMid‑30s woman, sharp bob haircut, crisp blazer, glasses, confident newsroom posture
Landon KettlewellCharismatic CEO, slicked‑back hair, tailored designer suit, flamboyant silk tie, charismatic smile
Rat‑ToothedGaunt gossip columnist, sharp cheekbones, thin lips, noticeable rat‑like teeth, rumpled shirt

The opening · free to read

About this download

There's a dangerous group of anti-copyright activists out there who pose a clear and present danger to the future of authors and publishing. They have no respect for property or laws. What's more, they're powerful and organized, and have the ears of lawmakers and the press.

I'm speaking, of course, of the legal departments at ebook publishers.

These people don't believe in copyright law. Copyright law says that when you buy a book, you own it. You can give it away, you can lend it, you can pass it on to your descendants or donate it to the local homeless shelter. Owning books has been around for longer than publishing books has. Copyright law has always recognized your right to own your books. When copyright laws are made -- by elected officials, acting for the public good -- they always safeguard this right.

But ebook publishers don't respect copyright law, and they don't believe in your right to own property. Instead, they say that when you "buy" an ebook, you're really only licensing that book, and that copyright law is superseded by the thousands of farcical, abusive words in the license agreement you click through on the way to sealing the deal. (Of course, the button on their website says, "Buy this book" and they talk about "Ebook sales" at conferences -- no one says, "License this book for your Kindle" or "Total licenses of ebooks are up from 0.00001% of all publishing to 0.0001% of all publishing, a 100-fold increase!")

I say to hell with them. You bought it, you own it. I believe in copyright law's guarantee of ownership in your books.

So you own this ebook. The license agreement (see below), is from Creative Commons and it gives you even more rights than you get to a regular book. Every word of it is a gift, not a confiscation. Enjoy.

What do I want from you in return? Read the book. Tell your friends. Review it on Amazon or at your local bookseller. Bring it to your bookclub. Assign it to your students (older students, please -- that sex scene is a scorcher) (now I've got your attention, don't I?). As Woody Guthrie wrote:

"This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin' it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do."

http://craphound.com/makers/donate

Why am I doing this? Because my problem isn't piracy, it's obscurity (thanks, @timoreilly for this awesome aphorism). Because free ebooks sell print books. Because I copied my ass off when I was 17 and grew up to spend practically every discretionary cent I have on books when I became an adult. Because I can't stop you from sharing it (zeroes and ones aren't ever going to get harder to copy); and because readers have shared the books they loved forever; so I might as well enlist you to the cause.

I have always dreamt of writing sf novels, since I was six years old. Now I do it. It is a goddamned dream come true, like growing up to be a cowboy or an astronaut, except that you don't get oppressed by ranchers or stuck on the launchpad in an adult diaper for 28 hours at a stretch. The idea that I'd get dyspeptic over people -- readers celebrating what I write is goddamned bizarre

So, download this book.

* Only one conversion per format, first come, first serve. That means that if someone's already converted the file to a Femellhebber 3000 document, that's the one you're going to find here. I just don't know enough about esoteric readers to adjudicate disputes about what the ideal format is for your favorite device.

* Make sure include a link to the reader as well. When you send me an ebook file, make sure that you include a link to the website for the reader technology as well so that I can include it below.

* No cover art. The text of this book is freely copyable, the cover, not so much. The rights to it are controlled by my publisher, so don't include it with your file.

* No DRM. The Creative Commons license prohibits sharing the file with "DRM" (sometimes called "copy-protection") on it, and that's fine by me. Don't send me the book with DRM on it. If you're converting to a format that has a DRM option, make sure it's switched off.

Every time I put a book online for free, I get emails from readers who want to send me donations for the book. I appreciate their generous spirit, but I'm not interested in cash donations, because my publishers are really important to me. They contribute immeasurably to the book, improving it, introducing it to audience I could never reach, helping me do more with my work. I have no desire to cut them out of the loop.

But there has to be some good way to turn that generosity to good use, and I think I've found it.

Here's the deal: there are lots of professors and librarians who'd love to get hard-copies of this book into their students' and patrons' hands, but don't have the budget for it.

There are generous people who want to send some cash my way to thank me for the free ebooks.

I'm proposing that we put them together.

If you're a prof or librarian and you want a free copy of Makers, email freemakers@gmail.com with your name and the name and address of your school. It'll be posted below by my fantastic helper, Olga Nunes, so that potential donors can see it.

If you enjoyed the electronic edition of Makers and you want to donate something to say thanks, check below to find a teacher or librarian you want to support. Then go to Amazon, BN.com, or your favorite electronic bookseller and order a copy to the classroom, then email a copy of the receipt (feel free to delete your address and other personal info first!) to freemakers@gmail.com so that Olga can mark that copy as sent. If you don't want to be publicly acknowledged for your generosity, let us know and we'll keep you anonymous, otherwise we'll thank you on the donate page.

Check http://craphound.com/makers/donate for profs, librarians and similar people seeking donations.

The book keeps going