A few quick points...: seanan

So the discussion on my latest book piracy post is fascinating, and I fully intend to answer comments. However, right now, I'm not feeling terribly awesome, so I'm going to take some cold medication and go lay down. I just wanted to address a few high-level points first. Forgive the brevity, I really feel like crap.

Point the First: "Not everyone who illegally downloads your book would have bought it, so you shouldn't act like they would have."

True! That being said, I know enough people who have illegally downloaded books and then bought them, or have told me to my face (or via email) that they were planning to buy the book, only then got it for free, that I feel some consideration of the number of illegal copies is warranted. Just going off what I do know, I tend to assume about one person in ten represents a "lost sale." This accounts for new readers only, not people downloading copies of books they already own.

Point the Second: Downloading copies of books you already own is a morally gray area.

True. I completely understand and sympathize with people who download virtual copies of books they already own. Unfortunately, a) I don't own the e-book rights to my books right now, and thus can't say "sure, have a PDF with proof of purchase," and b) the methods for getting those downloads are non-legal. There's not a private literary speakeasy where you have to send in a photo of yourself with your legal physical copy before you get the download link. And so while I can understand the moral ambiguity of it all, I can't endorse the practice.

Point the Third: It's not piracy, it's copyright infringement.

Okay, true. For precision of language, I should call it copyright infringement. But the people who sometimes post intentionally inflammatory things on message boards aren't actually trolls, they're just being mean. In some cases, the prevailing language of the land is going to win out over precision. I apologize for any confusion.

Point the Fourth: "Does this mean you don't like me because I initially read your book in a sub-legal format?"

Did you buy the book? I mean, really, that's where my concern is here: In whether I can feed the cats. I first discovered the X-Men because my friend Lucy had an older brother who wasn't careful with his comics, and I didn't pay for those, either. As I said above, I can't condone illegal downloading, but once you've paid for the material, I lose all personal animosity.

Point the Fifth: Books and music aren't the same.

Most the research on illegal downloads has been in the music arena, and the numbers aren't the same. According to iTunes, the single song I have listened to the most often is the cover of "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Spork, which I have listened to 342 times. The single book I have read the most often is IT, by Stephen King, which I have read, if guessing generously, eighty times in the last twenty years. Many people don't re-read, or do so only sparingly. So saying that illegal downloads increase sales when you're only looking at music is like saying that breeding mice increases the elephant population.

Point the Sixth: Cory Doctorow does it.

Cory Doctorow is also recognized by my spellchecker, which doesn't recognize my name. He chose to distribute over the Internet, and it worked out awesomely for him. He's also doing Internet-savvy fiction, with a keen edge of interest for the online crowd. I write urban fantasies about women with silly names. We don't have the same target audience; it's mice and elephants again.

I'll come back and participate in the discussion more one on one later. Now? DayQuil and sleep.

ironed_orchid

November 4 2010, 23:49:48 UTC 6 years ago

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I, literally, grew up in bookshops, which meant I developed a bad case of read first, buy if you want to keep it for re-reading.

On the other hand, I re-read a lot of my books, and including re-reads I'll happily read about 200 books a year.

It just happens that with your books, I bought both Rosemary and Rue and A Local Habitation together just after ALH came out, because they had been recommend by people I trust. Then I bought Feed and pre-ordered An Artificial Night based on how much I liked the first two.

But, when th opportunity to grab an ARC presented itself, I thrust my hand to the sky because that way I got to read it a week earlier (once you factor in shipping) than I would have done otherwise, and that's totally worth it to me.

I would probably do the same with a free online copy, if it meant getting to read the story sooner, but that wouldn't stop me buying it as soon as I could afford to do so.

yellowblackhaze

November 5 2010, 02:32:16 UTC 6 years ago

ARC's are a bit different, they're largely part of the whole promoting/advertising process. If I ever got an ARC, abn I liked it I'd buy the actual published book in any case, because they're not always the same from what I understand. I have Feed and An Artificial Night waiting for me to clear a space in my reading schedule.

seanan_mcguire

November 5 2010, 05:11:43 UTC 6 years ago

Totally. I view an ARC as a sort of sacred covenant. If I enjoy it, I have to buy the book. My real concern with ARCs + piracy is stuff like what happened to my friend—if the pirates begin scanning ARCs to get the first torrent, publishers are going to get a lot more conservative with giving ARCs to book bloggers. Stuff like that is why we can't have nice things.

November 5 2010, 09:17:21 UTC 6 years ago

Sure, i get that, but this was a give away at the end of a con, and there were other people in the room who might not have pre-ordered.

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A few quick points...

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