WARNING: SOAPBOX ALERT!
Yesterday, my friend C.L. Wilson wrote a fabulous blog at Writers At Play regarding book sales in this difficult economy. Please go read it. Really. I’ll wait until you come back.
:boxer
One of the topics she touched on were free downloads. What came up in the comments were some questions about what kinds of downloads were legal and which ones weren’t, as well as some about file sharing.
I’m no expert, but I will tell you that a week doesn’t go by where one of the Plotmonkeys finds one of their books (or many of them!) pirated online. Now, I’m usually a big fan of all things pirate, but not in this case. If it were up to me, these bozos should have to walk the plank over shark-infested waters.
A pirated book is a file that is made either from scanning a physical book into a file or perhaps, someone buys an ebook and offers it at a sharing site for hundreds, if not thousands of other people to download for free. The site is usually set up like a bulletin board and includes links. The person usually has to sign in and more often than not, from what I hear, the sites are rampant with viruses that get downloaded with the books.
The author doesn’t get her royalty–and hey, we gotta eat. And the publisher also doesn’t get a recorded sale, which means that author might not get another contract.
I’m not entirely sure what their motivation is–I mean, they normally aren’t making money off of this. I guess they feel they’re being charitable, but in reality, they are taking books away from the rest of us by stealing sales. (Maybe the motivation is the viruses? I don’t know…I’ve never downloaded, not even my own book, for fear of what might happen to my computer.)
There are a thousand justifications that people can come up with why this is okay…they’re poor, they read to many books to feed their book habit, they don’t have a library in the area that carries the kinds of books they like.
My answer to that is this–if you can afford an Internet connection, you’re not that desperate. People aren’t downloading free books onto public computers. They’re doing it from home on a high-speed connection. In other words, I’m sorry…but the world’s smallest violin can’t play for these people. Books are a luxury to all of us and just because I can’t afford a convertible Corvette (no matter how much I love them) doesn’t mean I can walk into the Chevy dealership and drive one off the lot without paying for it.
Piracy is wrong and it’s killing the book business.
It happened with music. Remember how the file sharing sites threw the entire music business into disarray, all because a whole bunch of so-called music lovers decided that they shouldn’t have to pay for music? I remember one of the rationales was that musicians didn’t make big money from royalties, but from concerts. And that since people who downloaded a band’s music and liked it were more likely to buy the high-priced concert tickets, musicians should be happy about the piracy.
Nice try. Still wrong. Still illegal.
Authors don’t do concerts. If we do show up for a reading somewhere, we don’t normally don’t charge. And even if we did, I doubt we’d command very much by way of ticket prices. Piracy is not a form of advertising or promotion…unless it’s a form of advertising and promotion.
Confused yet?
Sorry! Let me ‘splain…Plotmonkey pal Roxanne St. Claire is offering a free download right now from her website. (Go to her homepage and on the top right, you’ll see a FREE DOWNLOAD for her novella, You Can Count On Me, which originally appeared in the I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS collection.) This is not a random download, but an agreement she made with her publisher to offer this story for free for a limited amount of time to keep up the interest in her Bulletcatchers series. It is not random. People have to go to her website to get it–which means they are exposed to lots and lots of information about Roxanne and her books.
That, my friends, is promotion.
I could go on and on about why piracy of books is wrong, but I’d prefer to go make Christmas cookies. The bottom line is this–if you, the real readers and real fans of romance–see a piracy site, please let authors and publishers know. Publishers do have it in their power to get the sites removed, though they show up in other places pretty quickly. Still, I believe that if readers understood, they’d police the Internet and help, just as they have so much with plagiarism. So consider yourselves armed with knowledge and help the book industry stay alive!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Warm wishes for a Happy Birthday go out to Plotmonkey pal Lyn Morris today! We hope you have a fabulous, fun-filled day!
By all reports, Julie Leto was a sweet child once, somewhat shy, preferring to play quietly in her room making up stories. However, being raised with three brothers in a loud, primarily Italian household did have its influences and Julie discovered her inner tough girl. That’s probably why most of her heroines kick serious butt. Writing sassy heroines has worked out, as she’s sold over forty books to four publishers featuring strong, confident women. Julie lives in Florida with her daughter, a spoiled dachshund, a haughty lynx-point Siamese and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance.
Destiny
Dirty Little Secrets
Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
Subscribe to Posts 
Comment
Happy Birthday, Lyn!
Piracy in any form is illegal and so wrong and yet it is still out there and will continue to be out there. Unfortunately.
It’s like a client my husband had several years ago who stiffed us for 60 grand then went bankrupt, dissolved that company and started another one.
As you said, Julie, even though a site is shut down they just open another one under a different name. They are like the al qaeda of the publishing world.
Then there’s New Concepts Publishing who regularly sticks it to their authors–authors like me. That’s another form of piracy. And they continue to do it and will continue as long as they are making money no matter the monetary and emotional cost to their authors.
Cher
Comment
Cher- if there is a problem with our publisher (and i don’t know what it is), how do we, as readers support you, without making money for the publisher, which in turn is screwing you?? does that make any sense what so ever, or should i go get some coffee and try again??
:mickey Less than 48 hours and we are on our way to sunshine and no snow!!
Comment
Ev,
Don’t buy books from that publisher-NCP.
FYI, a lot of NCP’s supposedly “new” authors are actually pseudonyms for the owners. They have bogus web sites and everything. They even go on the Author’s Loop and chat as though they are those authors. God forbid, one of their authors should ask a simple question. You pay and pay dearly for that question. Nice, huh?
One interesting thing though, my book is uploaded to Fiction Wise and even though they sent an e-mail to the powers that be at New Concepts with a strong warning to resolve the issue with me, FW told me in no uncertain terms they would continue to do business with NCP no matter what.
Integrity and honesty be damned. It’s all about the dollars, baby! Money rules. Period. (I told FW this as well) As long as these people are making money, they don’t care who they hurt.
Cher
Comment
On the Samhain author loop there is talk of organizing an anti-piracy awareness campaign. Some have stated they didn’t think it would do any good, because there are so many and when they get shut down they just start up another site and do it again.
But I think you’ve hit on the key…awareness and education. So many people don’t realize that contracts are awarded based on sales. And so, while they may love an author, they’re actually helping to put them out of business by getting an illegal copy, rather than showing their support of an author by buying their book.
Yeah, there are going to be those that don’t care. But I think most people, deep down, are good. And if they truly knew the full scale of harm they’re doing to their “favorite” author they’d stop downloaded pirated material (or at least, think very hard about it before they did it again…and maybe cut back on their pirated activity).
Great topic, Julie!!! Umm…do you want me to send you the links for those other 5 sites I found over the weekend? :giggler In all seriousness, though, there was a site that had most of Carly’s books, and I think 5 of Leslie’s. I think I forwarded that link to Carly, but if I need to send it to Leslie, or someone else, let me know.
Comment
Thank you Cher and thanks for the heads up about Fiction Wise. Because of you, I just got a membership. Since I got the Sony I am always looking for books for it, not necessarily just from them. I suppose I will have to tell hubby so he can use it too, but I will link it to his credit card.
Now here’s another question just to (and this is me playing devil’s advocate)- If you already own a book from an author, but want a download version, is it ok to grab it from a pirated site? I have had this discussion with someone who downloads books to their computer this way, even when they own the books already. (And you really can’t curl up with a good computer, can you?) :danmonk
Comment
And thanks Cher- now I will waste time today playing at the site instead of finishing the packing. So when we aren’t ready, I can blame you!!
Comment
I’ve seen several stories on pirated books for the last few days. I don’t have an ereader yet, but I do have some ebooks on my laptop. There are so many sites out there where you can get ebooks at a discounted price, I don’t understand stealing from the authors(I never used napster in it’s heyday either). Yes some of the ebooks are expensive, but so are the hardbacks. If you will pay the money out for the hardback, you can afford to pay for the ebook. BTW, I also agree that if you can pay for high-speed internet/broadband, you can pay for your ebooks.
Comment
I have actually written to the US Copyright office and suggested they make public service announcements about stealing online. ALL stealing online. I think there is a percentage who know they’re stealing and don’t care, but I also think a lot of people are just oblivious and if they realized what they were doing, they’d stop.
Needless to say, they didn’t write back and I haven’t seen any commercials.
Comment
Christine, you’re right…a lot of people DON’T know. They act out of ignorance, but that’s no excuse in the end. I had a friend who used to download movies from the Internet because it was easier and cheaper than taking her kids to the movies or getting a sitter, etc. I explained to her about bootlegging and piracy and while I’m not sure if she got the message, she at least now knew that it was wrong. This was before you could download movies legally from places like Netflix. In fact, Netflix didn’t even exist then!
Alannah, I don’t think that whether or not it will stop piracy should be our concern in the short term. I think there is nothing ever wrong with education about copyright issues. I think that organizations like RWA and NINC and the Author’s Guild should make this a major platform, but I also believe that reader’s groups should take up the mantle, as well. Ultimately, they’re the ones who are hurt when their favorite authors can’t write books anymore because of lost sales.
ev, legally, the answer to the question is clear–no, she can’t download for free even if she owns the book. There’s no caveat or exception. Legally, it’s wrong. Morally? Well, she’s supporting the sites of people who most often download to people who have not and probably never will buy a book. So there’s that, too. I’d advise your friend to find another way. Why does she want to own two versions of every book anyway?
Cher, you know I’m very sorry about what happened to you with NCP. Licensing rights can be dangerous and we often don’t know who is reputable and who is not. I hope you can get it resolved at some point, or at the very least, get your rights back.
Great questions and discussion everyone! I’m off to serve homemade spaghetti and meatballs to my daughter’s fifth grade class…will be back later!
Comment
I totally hear you, Julie. The music industry has suffered because of piracy. I even feel badly about buying books used…
Comment
Katie, my rule of thumb on used books is that if the book is no longer available new, then buying used doesn’t really hurt too much. Used bookstores are awesome for buying backlists and books you missed when they were first released. But I try (notice the word TRY) to buy new whenever a book is six months old or newer. And if it’s a new author, I try to buy new especially because those sales make such a difference, not so much financially (although there is that) but to the reported sales to the publisher.
I have a ton of books out of print right now. If people went out and bought every book I’ve written, except the two Phantom books, used, it would not hurt me at all. In fact, it might bring me readers! So I never say no to used bookstores! The Phantom books, however, are still being looked at by the publisher…and boy, do new sales ever count.
Comment
That’s my rule, too, Julie..I have found with shipping (on places like half.com), I can buy it on eharlequin and still come out a wash (pricewise for me). I also have trouble with allergies, so buying used is challenging…
Janelle, how are you doing in the SNOW? Holy cow…it’s coming down hard up here!
Comment
Lyn!!!
Somehow I missed that the first time I stopped by so I’ll say it twice now! :giggler
Comment
Thanks for the birthday wishes.
I think piracy stinks. In terms of purchasing books, I will get Borders to special order them for me if they don’t normally hold them on the shelf but can still get hold of them. – the weirdest part being that with some authors they will hold some titles but others have to be special ordered.
If I can’t get hold of the book new, then I will try and find it secondhand in my own country just to cut down on shipping prices. I’ve notice that if I use eBay or Amazon for used books once the exchange rate and shipping are taken into account I have usually paid the same if not more than what the book was worth new.
The only drawback of purchasing Harlequin titles used or otherwise here is that most of them are published as double books with another author, which does introduce me to new authors, but I would rather just have the single book with the title that I’m after.
Comment
As a book lover/obsession, I couldn’t even imagine a downloaded version, I need the book in my hands…lol
Comment
*sigh* have seen a honest to God deluge of posts on book piracy.
So sad.
Comment
Weighing in late as the DD had post-surgical followup appointments today. Before I forget, though,
LYN!
Piracy…This discussion came up some time ago over on the SBTB blog. That was a rollicking discussion with authors, including LaNora, wading into the fray. I was amazed at some of the readers’ responses and EXCUSES for piracy. Downloading books without paying for them is stealing. Plain and simple. It’s wrong. There’s a whole group out there that get off on the “power” and “prestige” of being the first to link a best seller for pirating. I mean, really…WHO in their freaking right mind scans in 300 pages of a book just to upload it to a pirate site? Shits and grins? Give me a break. :angryred
In the last few days, this topic has been circulating on the OK RWA loop and the The Wild Rose Press author’s loop. When it first hit OKRWA, I checked for Plotmonkeys and didn’t find any, or I would have emailed you guys. What got me was one of the OK gals, who writes Inspirationals (with a RITA to show for it) was listed on an erotica site. Go figure.
I noticed that RWA has a demand letter available to send to such sites – which too often state that the copyright holder has to demand the work be removed. Yeah. Like authors have time to do this constantly.
For all the reasons Julie listed, piracy is just wrong on every level! And it really :argue1: :argue2: :readdabook: :scream2: :angryred me off.
Comment
Amen, sister! The whole piracy thing makes me furious–I’m not an author, but I can’t stand to see this blatant theft and the perpetrators totally get away! :*&#! May their hard drives crash irrecoverably and they find themselves without backups!
Comment
Comment
Thanks for posting the link to that post, Julie. It was a great post. I didn’t know about the piracy thing until last week when I read about it on another blog. It’s good to know about it’s happening.
Comment
Gee Silver tell us how you really feel!!
Comment
So Cher- if I want to read your new book, should I find a used copy (which you won’t get credit for) or borrow one if I can find it? I was going to get the e-version, but i don’t want to help them out, just you.
Comment
Interestingly enough the pirating thread then moved into a discussion on why it’s okay to pass on a paper book and it isn’t okay to pass on an ebook. Interesting ideas there.
Comment
Cher, yeah. What ev said! I want to get your book, too. But I want you to get credit and royalty for it.
Comment
I have the book sitting in my wish list at Fiction Wise (and I am not getting my packing done). I have one more day. I wanna take it with me Cher.
On another note, I packed off 15 boxes of who-knows-what to CA for Heather at college. With a 10% discount it still cost me over $500!!! :bigcry
Wait til hubby finds out. :biggroan :*&#!
Comment
Interesting to see all your takes on piracy. I have never downloaded a book illegally, but I have plenty of legal pdfs. I can tell you that when John Scalzi arranged to have this past year’s Hugo nominees sent as PDFs (except for Chabon’s, whose publishers sent ARCs), they more than made up for the theoretical loss in sales. I loved the SCalzi, bought it and 5 ither books by him. Loved the Stross. Bought it and four other Stross. Lent two to a friend who bought five. Sawyer- bought the book. Chabon, bought three copies to give to friends (and my German teacher). Chose it at my book club and 7 others bought it. As for the Baen free library, I can’t tell you how many books I have bought since reading them on my Palm.
As to the poor woman who wants to have her books hard and e: she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. I think it’s absolute crap that she doesn’t get the e free with the hardcover. This is why I will never buy an e-book and why I don’t buy an e-reader: the experience is not good enough, so even when travelling I will carry real books. That means I abandon a lot of books in foreign countries, which annoys me.
I don’t know what the real answer is, but my short answer is that in all cases where I have been exposed to legal e-copies of an author, if I liked their work, I bought their books.
Something to think about.
Comment
I buy both. I have Phantom’s Touch in MM and also bought it in e-format to take with me on vacation because I didn’t get a chance to read it and want to on the train. Along with the new Scarpetta story because I am too far down on the waiting list and want to take it too.
Since we are travelling by train rather than plane I will probably bring more books than I would otherwise. I know when we head to CA by plane I will only have my ereader and maybe Carly’s new one, but that I will leave in CA with the daughter anyway.
Considering the number of books I usually take with me when I do travel, this is a backsaver. Then I can fit more stuff in my carry on, like my computer.