Similarities between different players in the game

The idea that entrepreneurs, auteurs, experts and specialist could all have similar strategies is not obvious. Their worlds and their ways of working would seem to be totally different. But, if you strip away the details of their activities, you'll find they are each playing the same kind of competitive game: involving investment, risk and future rewards. This process of stripping away the details is known as abstraction and it is at this level that the framework of Games Theory can best be observed..

By comparing different niches at this abstract level - isolating the game playing aspects of the people involved - there are remarkable similarities. It is not surprising therefore that individual strategies for game playing, in a fast changing, highly competitive environment will be almost identical for most people.

An author of a book is partly an entrepreneur and partly an auteur. The proportions are very much dependent upon the chosen strategy of the author. As an entrepreneur, the author will be risking his or her time and effort for an uncertain and indefinite reward. This reward will come in the form of a small percentage of the sales. As an abstraction, this is the way most entrepreneurs work: a lot of initial effort for a future financial benefit.

Publishers will usually give authors a small advance on future royalties. This advance is based upon the minimum expected sales: usually calculated as the basis of the author's royalty expectation on a first cautious print run. This is a risk because many books do not earn out their advance and both publishers and authors lose out. This could be the equivalent of an entrepreneur getting a loan to start a business, or, small business getting seed capital. But, it is more than this; it is also a move in a game of tit-for-tat between one player and another in a non zero sum game.

An author of a book is also in similar position to experts and specialists. They will invest a lot of time in study and research before being in a position to use their knowledge profitably. Like the entrepreneur, experts and specialists will have to invest much time and effort before they are able to benefit.

Although most books are not profitable for their authors, authors may have more than just financial rewards as an incentive to write. An author can gain in several other respects:

1) In technical and specialist subjects, the writing experience can provide a learning exercise, where the author becomes proficient in an area of knowledge as a result of the research put into the writing

2) The author can enhance his or her credibility. The book providing evidence of their competence in a particular area.

3) The book can be a step up a ladder of a career as an author. Like any other profession, the first step is always the hardest. Publishers want to reduce risk as much as possible and they are always reluctant to speculate on unknown quantities. This invariably means that authors have to write for small publishers, in unprofitable niche markets before being given an opportunity to write for larger publishers who have substantial marketing and distribution resources.

4) It can generate valuable contacts

Similar to the non financial reasons an author might write a book, directors might produce films for nothing, fashion designers might work for pittances and bands might play for expenses only. In the world of high technology, where credibility is initially hard to come by, solution providers, programmers, musicians and graphic designers might all start out by working for small fees - or even on a favour basis.

On a larger scale, this principle is carried over to products and services in the world of e-business, where attention and credibility are perhaps even more difficult to come by. Most e-businesses are forced to start off by offering exceptionally good value: perhaps provided at a loss or even given away for free to be able to get their foot in the door of a massively competitive environment.