Mr. Grumpy Pants is back with a good discussion on book piracy and a story Maggie Stiefvater told about 10 years ago on Tumblr but is still quite relevant today. Muchly grumping, some cussing. NSFW
-
Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!
Book Piracy BAD
- Thread starter A. E. Lowan
- Start date
Prince of Spires
Istar
It's an interesting discussion. For starters, let me say that I think book piracy is bad and hard to justify. Ebooks are cheap. There are plenty that are free and many others between 0,99 and 4,99. They're available everywhere in any format you desire. There is no reason to pirate a book. It's just digital shoplifting at the expense of an author who already earns very little as it is.
This doesn't make this guy's story more than an interesting anecdote though. I'm sure that if you search, you can find authors saying the exact opposite, where pirated copies helped them sell more at some point. It also matters that this is about a later book in a serries, where people had already read the first couple and were eager for the next. And that is was 14 years ago, which is an eternity in digital publishing. Kindle unlimited only launched in 2014 (if Google informs me correctly), with author payout going from $2.5 million to $50 million.
Doesn't mean that this specific author for this specific series didn't suffer from piracy. Just that if published today it may have been different. Or that she may in the long run have benefited, or that for a first in series book, it wouldn't have mattered at all.
Piracy is bad. But it's not something you have much control over as an author or should worry about. Except if you're in Kindle Unlimited, in which case Amazon doesn't like seeing your books list elsewhere and you should actively at least make a show of getting them removed.
This doesn't make this guy's story more than an interesting anecdote though. I'm sure that if you search, you can find authors saying the exact opposite, where pirated copies helped them sell more at some point. It also matters that this is about a later book in a serries, where people had already read the first couple and were eager for the next. And that is was 14 years ago, which is an eternity in digital publishing. Kindle unlimited only launched in 2014 (if Google informs me correctly), with author payout going from $2.5 million to $50 million.
Doesn't mean that this specific author for this specific series didn't suffer from piracy. Just that if published today it may have been different. Or that she may in the long run have benefited, or that for a first in series book, it wouldn't have mattered at all.
Piracy is bad. But it's not something you have much control over as an author or should worry about. Except if you're in Kindle Unlimited, in which case Amazon doesn't like seeing your books list elsewhere and you should actively at least make a show of getting them removed.
xena
Sage
Book piracy is one of those topics that never seems to go away and probably never will. I get why readers sometimes turn to pirated copies, especially when books are unavailable or unaffordable in their region, but at the end of the day it can have a real impact on authors. Particularly indie and smaller authors who rely on those sales. It's definitely a more nuanced discussion than people often make it out to be
Insolent Lad
Archmage
I finally chose to ignore piracy of my books altogether and followed Cory Doctorow's example of giving away the ebooks. If nothing else, it simplified my life.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
I dont see any other recourse than to ignore piracy, its juts too prevalent to be on top of it all.
I'd like to say that its sad. We all have choices in our lives, and some choose to be low lives. What can you do? I'd like the world to be better but its not.
I'd like to say that its sad. We all have choices in our lives, and some choose to be low lives. What can you do? I'd like the world to be better but its not.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
I wonder if flooding the piracy sites with your own pirate copies would be just as effective today.
Mad Swede
Auror
I think this depends on how you publish. Self-published authors are probably in a significantly worse position than those of us with publishing contracts, in that they get to make the choice between trying to nail the pirates or ignoring them (either by giving away e-books or by just not dealing with the pirates). Those of us with publishing contracts have a publisher to back us up, and in my case that means a legal department who can be spectacularly unpleasant when dealing with pirates - about the only thing they don't do is send people round with baseball bats.
I also think this depends on what language you're publishing in. If you write in English then the chances of your book being pirated are probably significantly higher than if you write in a (relative) minority langauge like Swedish.
I also think this depends on what language you're publishing in. If you write in English then the chances of your book being pirated are probably significantly higher than if you write in a (relative) minority langauge like Swedish.
Prince of Spires
Istar
While it sounds nice in theory, I think it practice it will actually be the other way round.
A big powerful legal department is a wonderful thing when dealing with people who care about that sort of thing and who are within reach of said legal department. However, if you run a pirate website, then you are neither of those things. You will have set up your website anonymously in some lovely tropical location whose whole business model depends on not caring about other legal systems or jurisdictions.
These are the people who deal with legal departments of both the film and the gaming industry (both significantly larger and with larger legal departments). They will not care about any unpleasantness a publisher's legal department can throw their way. If anythig, they'd probably take is as a sign that the book in question is worth pirating.
If it wasn't the case, then piracy would already have become extinct.
Which means that you're worse off with a trad publishing deal. After all, trad-publishing is a stamp of quality. Not that all trad books are great or all indie books rubish. But on average, the trad book will be better, and get more publicity, and be better known. All of which means that if you can pirate only 1 random book, you'd pick the trad one.
Interestingly, I think about the only thing that would work is the one thing your legal department doesn't do, which is send round people with baseball bats.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
Maybe we could all join a guild where we pay some dues and they handle the baseball bat aspect of it.
- Thread starter
- #10
Ordinarily that would be the Author's Guild and the SFWA. The RWA also.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
Yeah… ill pass on them
The purpose of writing is to be read, and some will always choose the cheapest option available to fulfill that purpose. If an author decides to offer their story in ebook format, which lends itself to piracy, then they should expect that eventuality. And besides, the fact that folks bother to pirate someone's work means they are more successful than many writers. At least they found some form of an audience.
Mind you, I don't venture into the high seas, but that just further enforces my preference for classic works. The old stories tend to be cheaper in addition to being extensively vetted. Maybe there is a lesson there. Lower the prices. Or alternatively, raise them and get rid of the ebook format. Turn your work into a veblen good. Be wary of the inverse effect that price-raise will have on your reviews though.
Mind you, I don't venture into the high seas, but that just further enforces my preference for classic works. The old stories tend to be cheaper in addition to being extensively vetted. Maybe there is a lesson there. Lower the prices. Or alternatively, raise them and get rid of the ebook format. Turn your work into a veblen good. Be wary of the inverse effect that price-raise will have on your reviews though.
