Thursday, December 12, 2013

Walter Block: Legalize Blackmail Is On Sale!

Walter Block emails:
My publisher, bless his heart, is a bit weird. Well, more than a bit weird. He is willing to sell you this new book of mine for whatever price YOU decide upon. If this isn’t weird, I don’t know what is. Of course, legalizing blackmail, rescinding all laws outlawing blackmail, it cannot be denied, is also a bit weird.

Best regards,

Walter

Walter E. Block, Ph.D.
Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair and Professor of Economics
Joseph A. Butt, S.J. College of Business                
Loyola University New Orleans
From Walter Block's publisher:
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2013 5:48 PM
To: Walter Block
Subject: Legalize Blackmail is on sale!

Walter,

Please share this with your mailing list:

Your new book, Legalize Blackmail, is on sale in hardcover from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and ready to ship! Kindle and Nook editions will be available soon.

We're also running a pay-what-you-want promotion to celebrate the new book. To celebrate your new book, we're offering DRM-free PDF copies of the book through our online store. We're letting our customers set their own price for the book until the end of the year.

I'm very excited about the new book and can't wait to share it with everyone.

Yours,

Gregory W. Rome
Publisher
Straylight Publishing, LLC

7 comments:

  1. Bold strategy Cotton. Has there been any research on how the majority of people will typically respond to being able to determine their own price?

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    Replies
    1. It's a bit of apples to oranges, but the Radiohead album In Rainbows was initially self-released in October 2007 on a pay what you want basis, after which it went into general commercial release at the end of the year. A year later it had sold over three million copies. May Walter Block amd his publisher have similar results!

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  2. In a debate yesterday, one of my students suggested that blackmail is a legitimate market transaction, since the person paying prefers ensuring the scarcity of the compromising information over the value of the cash or other goods being exchanged. A lively debate ensued.

    Thank you for publicizing the release of the book--she just earned a copy from me!

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  3. I'm sure the NSA will love it.

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    Replies
    1. Legal or illegal, it doesn't matter to them, they'll do it anyway with no consequences.

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  4. Convinced blackmail is legitimate, but bought it anyway lol

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