I'm scared of spiders, not having a roof over my head, and a bare pantry makes me twitchy. But not a one of those is my greatest fear. So what is my greatest fear?
My greatest fear is that my favorite authors stop writing because their contracts are cancelled due to lack of sales. Lack of sales not because of non-interest but because of ePiracy. I fear the loss of Alexis Morgan's Paladins, Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress world, Marjorie M. Liu's Dirk & Steele, Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunters, C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp's Tales of the Sazi. I've already lost Jenna Maclaine's Cyn Craven series.
According to Marjorie M. Liu, best selling author, "Illegal downloads of books and comics not only lead to lost revenue, but lost contracts for authors. We lose our jobs because of e-piracy.
E-piracy is theft. You might as well go into a bookstore, and shoplift our titles off the shelves." 1/8/2010 on Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/marjoriemliu
From Jeannie Holmes "E-piracy = lost contracts for authors. Lost contracts = lost jobs. Lost jobs = no more of your favorite books. Simple." 1/8/2010 on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/jeannieholmes
At one file-sharing website, users have uploaded 1,830 copies of three books by a popular young adult author. Just one of those copies has had 4,208 downloads. See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/hoxxw1
4208 copies of a book, let's assume it's $7.99 and of that the author gets 25%. That is over $8000.00 that YA author lost and won't get back - EVER! The publishing company won't see their cut either, so why should the publisher give the author a new contract?
I've heard the excuses -
"I can't afford to buy the book." - Go to the library and check it out! That's what they are there for besides you might luck into a local writer being there to do research.
"My download of one copy doesn't hurt." - Maybe not but the other 3 or 4 THOUSAND people after you might.
"Authors make a ton of money, they don't care." - WRONG - a lot of authors work a 40 hour a week job for years before they start making enough to only write.
"Authors get huge advances." - WRONG Those huge million dollar advances you see on the news MAKE the news because they are rare.
"Authors should be greatful they have readers." We are! We love our PAYING readers.
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I got sucked into a discussion last year with some idiot bimbo who kept justifying her e-piracy until I thought my head would explode. I no longer discuss things like that. It's wrong. It's stealing. It's simple. Don't.
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