"Making shows like GoT and BB and TWD has a cost. Writing books or graphic novels has a cost. Not just money, but time and energy. Personally, i find money and energy is replacebale, bu time isn't. When people like HBO or macmillan act as the 'delivery guys', they provide support (in dollars) up front to cover these costs. They also provide a bit of a filter and a QA process (I admit that their effectiveness at this part of the job s open to argument). BTW, the 'dollars' are only a medium of exchange; for example, since it takes an author time to write a book, they can't use that time to, say, earn value to feed themselves. If I supported your work, I might let you live with me for free, just to enable you to complete it. Whatever the medium of exchange, the stor tellers have put effort into the finished product. That effort is theirs, the work is theirs. Cory Doctorow is happy to let you download / read some of his stuff for free, for various sensible reasons, and I do that. Elmo Keep..." - martin english