Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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Pirates of the Cyberspace Main.

Well, it's finally started: Rosemary and Rue is now showing up, with some regularity, on the various pirate sites. (No, I won't link to them, and no, those torrents don't stay up for very long; as soon as I find out about them, I report them to my publisher, who has them taken down.) I find this somewhat upsetting. Not because I hate the Internet. Not because I think that books should only be available to the wealthy. But because, at the end of the day, pirated books are really, really bad for my career.

Multiple studies have been done on the people who pirate music, and they've found that, on average, people who pirate buy more music than people who don't. That makes sense, if you stop and think about it, because music has a very high replay value. I discovered one of my favorite bands, We're About 9, when my friend Merav gave me a mix tape—the oldest form of music piracy—with one of their songs on it: I've since purchased several albums, including the one with that original song. I don't tend to listen to the full albums very often, but every time the individual tracks come up in my iTunes shuffle, I remember that I want to buy more music by these authors. It's music piracy as a form of private radio, and most people—not all, but most—understand that if you want to keep hearing things you like on the radio, you need to support the artists.

Just about everyone I know has at least a few pirated songs. I recently acquired a pirated copy of Freddy's Greatest Hits, a parody album featuring none other than Freddy Kreuger himself. It's been out of print for twenty years. I do not feel any shame about listening to this rare treasure from the horror graveyard...although I'll definitely buy the actual album, if I ever find it.

Book piracy is different, because the way people interact with the media is so different. According to my iPod, I've listened to the Glee cover of "Don't Stop Believing" over two hundred times. Two hundred times. Of course I paid for it. That song is part of the soundtrack of my life now. Looking at my bookshelves, the single book I've probably read and re-read the most times is Stephen King's IT, where I lost track at eighty. I'm a dedicated re-reader. I re-read IT at least once a year, and frequently more often than that. And I'm only up to eighty. Many people don't re-read the way I do, and very few people re-read immediately. So if I download a torrent of the new Ikeamancer novel, I'm pretty unlikely to run right out and buy myself a copy...and if I want to re-read the book six months later, I may just dig the file out of my hard drive, because it's there. Never underestimate the power of instant gratification.

Past experience tells me that this is the point where someone says "Does that mean you hate libraries/people who loan their books to friends/used book stores?", and the answer to all these things is the same: No. In all of these cases, someone has bought the book. In the case of libraries, the number of copies purchased by a given branch is determined by the number of people who request the book, or check it out once it's in the system. Yes, ten or twenty people may get to read a single copy, but with a pirated book, that number is a lot higher, and that initial sale may not have happened. If I loan a book to a friend, the book comes with a high recommendation ("Here, read this"), and even if my friend doesn't buy their own copy, we're looking at one sale for two people, not one sale (or one OCR of a library copy) for some unlimited number. Even used bookstores are limited by the size of the print run, since they can't get more copies than were initially sold, and are thus a vital part of building the readership for ongoing series. They're part of the natural ecosystem.

People complain about how slow some publishers are to adapt the e-book format, but honestly, the concerns over piracy are a really, really big deal, just because of the impact it can have on a book's overall sales—especially for a beginning author. No, I'm not saying that best-selling authors somehow "deserve" to be pirated, but piracy is likely to be a much smaller overall part of the book's footprint. Dan Brown is not going to be told not to write another sequel to The DaVinci Code over piracy. The author of the Ikeamancer books...might.

Publishing is changing. E-books are, and will continue to be, a big part of that. But unless people remember that book piracy isn't exactly the same as music piracy (and hence culturally viewed as "try before you buy," but almost always leading to that eventual purchase), they'll also continue to be a problem.
Tags: contemplation, cranky blonde is cranky, don't be dumb, technology
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Thank you. :)
E-publishing is a complicated issue. I'd be interested in your take on what Baen is doing with it's free library and the Baen CD project:

http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

It's essentially the same thing (totally free, non-DRM copies of books (a lot of books), without the "pirated" portion.
I think there's a big, big difference between "free, non-DRM copies" and "I am intentionally going out and acquiring something for free that is supposed to have an associated cost." Most of the people I know who enjoy free online fiction either buy physical versions of that same fiction (if available), or begin buying new books from that author (when the older books are out of print). It's sort of the principle by which John Dies at the End and Monster Island became "real" books, after being online-only adventures.

There's a sort of cultural contract that comes with "I am giving you this because I want you to enjoy it," and that same contract is missing in "I am taking this because I don't want to pay for it."

herewiss13

7 years ago

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

herewiss13

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

ut unless people remember that book piracy isn't exactly the same as music piracy (and hence culturally viewed as "try before you buy," but almost always leading to that eventual purchase), they'll also continue to be a problem.

hear hear

btw, i tweeted a link to this post.
Cool!
If only more people would adhere to the basic rule of "Don't be a dick."

I have a few books sitting on my shelf that haven't been opened. The reason? I either read a libraries copy, or I listened to an audiobook and I loved them. So, when I had actual funds for it, I bought them. It may be a long time before those copies actually get read, but I'm happy knowing that I supported their authors and that I have them on hand to either read or loan out, anytime, anyplace I can carry them.


If more people adhered to the basic rule of "don't be a dick," I think there'd be a lot less need for hitting in this world.

kat_merle

7 years ago

Do you mind if I post a link to this elsewhere?
Link away!

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Rock on and also I love you right now.
This is a very good explanation; calm, non-finger-pointy, and starting from the beginning. 8) Thank you.
Thanks, darlin'.

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Yeah, it's a growing problem, especially with hardcovers. People don't want to pay for them or store them, but they also don't want to wait for the library copies to be available. Unfortunately, this means the publishers get no data at all on how many readers they have.

ladymondegreen

7 years ago

I don't pirate. I don't download. I've ranted about the reasons why, but as I see you agree with me, I won't go into that.

That said, I didn't realize that books could be pirated, but that's probably because I hate the idea of eBooks and don't know how people can stand to read something novel-length on a screen. I'm a rabid collector--if I like it, I will buy it, and if I can't afford it I'll go to a library until that changes (now being one of those times) and then, I'll still buy it. I have Koji Suzuki's entire Ring trilogy on my wish list for that reason.

See, for me it goes beyond just wanting to support the artist--which admittedly is a big part of it. If I value something, I can't be happy with a ripped off, second-hand copy. I can't be happy with a digital copy of a book, or any form of music, unless I have a physical thing that I can hold in my hand, put bookmarks in, flip through, and snuggle. I've always been that way. Anything digital just doesn't seem as real. It could disappear if you hit the wrong button at the wrong time.
My biggest reason for adopting the Kindle is arthritis - my hands just can't take the weight of most books anymore. I do still get my favorites to have on my shelf, even if I can't read them easily anymore.

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

palmer_kun

7 years ago

rhoda_rants

7 years ago

I'm often baffled by the notion of book piracy when there are libraries all over at which one can legally and ethically get a book for free.

There are some cases where it's not as bad as others (I would have no shame about pirating a copy of Lederfunde von Haithabu), but for the vast majority of books there's really no reason to not go grab it in dead tree from your local library - which needs to increase readership in order to secure funding anyway!
Instant gratification and the lack of knowledge of Inter-Library Loan?

(Actually, reminds me that there are some out of print graphic novels I have been unable to find* that I might have to resort to trying to get my local or college library's help in tracking them down.)

* Short of spending $350 on eBay for the entire 26-volume series when I'm only missing a few books.

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

The biggest thing for me, re: e-books and pirating and all that, is that I *like paper*. I've never met an ebook reader that was nearly as satisfying as a real book, with pages. So I'm no threat as far as book piracy. But that's a small data point.

You've reminded me that I'm overdue for a CD-buying-spree, though, to support some of the people I've recently fallen in love with via XM and Pandora. (Both of which pay royalties out of my subscription fee, but I still need moar CDs)
Yay!
sarahtales had a recent post about this same issue - as a newly published author she's not only dealing with this but with a group of people who apparently are not only putting pirated copies of her stuff out there but who crashed her website and LJ 2 days before release in an attempt to scuttle her sales!

That's just baffling. Malicious. Why would someone want to do that?

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

Let us not also forget that libraries and used bookstores have a legal right to do what they do -- through the First Sale rule in Copyright -- so even if you were irked by them, well, not much you can do. ;)

Pirates deserved to be SMASHED.
I never forget that. I just get asked by people who think that they can walk me into a logical trap by getting me to hate anyone who reads my books and doesn't pay full cover price.
This doesn't really help the issue, but I ended up buying two copies of your book. One in physical "I can read this even if the apocalypse occurs" format and one on Kindle because I am really more likely to read something if I can't see just how little progress I've made on it and overall I just remember "I left off in the plot here" and not "I'm on page 20". ^^;
Awwwww, thanks!
I was just thinking about this the other day, because I have a couple of ebooks that I'm pretty sure are pirate versions. In *this particular case* I have no problem with that because I already own physical copies of the same books, which I did pay for. (Why have both? Because I do generally like reading hard copies, but I can read an ebook while I knit--no worries about holding the book open at the right page. Though there have also been a couple of times I bought an ebook for the instant gratification--must read sequel NOW even though it's midnight and the stores are all closed!)

But yes, authors deserve to be paid for their work, and anything that leads to an author losing sales is likely to lead to the author publishing less (whether because the author has to get another job or because the publisher thinks they're a bad investment). Bad all around.
Owning a physical copy changes the ownership of a pirate copy, at least a little. I used to have a lot of anime fansubs. In those cases, they were pirated copies, but I replaced them all with "paid for" copies as soon as I could. In at least one case, I liked the fan translation better, and kept both versions.
I know how you feel, and I'm not an author. But then, I've always been a fan of the paper back. It fits so nicely in my bag, and I can take it everywhere with me. I always like to have a book on me.

Of course, I'm the kind of crazy person that would gleefully spend all of my money, should I win the lottery, on books. I could clean out a B&N in less than a day. And still have books that would arrive at my house DAYS later in the mail. And be done with them all in a year.

The only problem I have with paperbacks in that I re-read them so obsessively if they're good, that I tend to break them. I've gone through 3 copies of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight, and my current copy already doesn't have a cover. I'll likely be buying myself yet another copy in another couple of years. It's people like me that give authors Royalty checks :)
I'm right there with you on both "spending all my money" and "wearing out the book." I own about twenty copies of the 1985 printing of Stephen King's IT, because I not only want the right book, I want the right edition.
Yep, all of that! I've downloaded pirated songs before, and probably eight out of 10 of those downloads were turned into purchases, either of the individual song on iTunes (to stay on the right side of the musical karma) or of entire CDs because I found/fell in love with a new artist that way. The other two of 10 turned out to be things I hated and were promptly deleted.

Books, though... it's entirely too easy to "forget" to pick up a legit copy once you've read the download, 'cause it's not like you're re-reading it three times on your way to work like you'd listen to a new and well-loved song on the iPod.

As for loaning books to friends... I generally recommend books to people who I know are likely to go right out and buy on the strength of that recommendation (like the guy at my office that I told you about). But if I have a friend who's on the fence about whether the book might be "their kind of thing" or one who I know will love it but who's just way too broke to buy books right now, then I'll loan 'em my "spare" copy (yes, I bought two... one pre-ordered from Amazon and one when they first hit the local stores) in hopes of hooking them so they'll buy the next book when it comes out (and, of course, fill in with a copy of "Rosemary and Rue" 'cause they have to have the whole set now that they're hooked).

I expect that I'll loan "Feed" to quite a few friends who don't think they read horror. Hey, I'm not a horror chick and I _adore_ "Feed" so other people should be able to get past that inhibition too, right? :-)
Yes. Yes, they should. SELL MANY COPIES. I want to keep going!
I read a lot of ebooks, but generally stay away from pirates for the reason that most pirated texts are crap. Usually they are scanned and OCR'd with little or no corrects, poor page formatting that rarely looks like the author/publisher/printer intended, and sometimes are connected with icky malware.
Very true.
I have no patience for e-books. Not even the free samples. If I wanted to read something with pages I'd read a real book.
A lot of people feel that way.
Have you thought about putting a sampler - usually the first one to three chapters - on the publisher's website? It could bend a lot of the Googlers your way, as well as those just searching for keywords or character names, and it would presumably be a higher quality than the poorly-OCRed versions that scanned pirate copies tend to be.

Not to mention that when people are getting right into the story, there can be links at the end of the sample to purchase directly from the publisher, search for copies on Amazon, look at other books you've written, and so on. It's effectively making the 'pirate' copy most people will find first into a controlled part of the marketing strategy for the book. Not to mention that it's a handy link to point people to if they're not sure if they'll like the book or not (for themselves or as a gift for someone else), and don't care enough to chase it down at a library or bookshop to find out.
I don't control what goes on my publisher's website. I do have a sample of Rosemary and Rue on my website. I'll be putting up a sample of A Local Habitation when we get a liiiiiittle closer to actual publication.