Do I support authors enough? Do you?

[julieandrews]

I just read this piece, one author's view on how illegal downloads of books may be hurting her career and her ability to get more work out there.

And I got to thinking. And since it's a snowday, I might as well think out loud.

Numbers below are rough estimates, and I may be completely deluding myself in one direction or another.

Library books --

Comments

[notadoor]

I have a sixth category (or 7th, if you count borrowing from friends) -- go to a bookstore, sit in a comfy armchair, and read a book there without buying.

A lot of my e-books I got from p2p (whether or not they were free originally I have no idea), and most of them would fall under categories 2 6 & 7, if e-books weren't an option. They're random books that other people seem to like, so I'll give them a try -- but I generally read them once and forget them. I wouldn't spend money on them if ebooks weren't an option.

If it's an author I like or think I should support (because I know they're a new or midlist author, or someone who I'm friend-of-friend-of-friends with), I will make an effort to find a purchasable/legal copy of their book, before I try to download it from P2P.

[julieandrews]

I've never sat and read something in a bookstore, but I know a lot of people do. Which is an argument for authors to write long books. :)

[julieandrews]

Oh, definitely about the ARCs. It just feels like less of an obligation when it's a digital ARC that expires. They haven't given you something you can keep. They've just given you the opportunity to read it before other people.

In the case of Netgalley, it's not just for reviewers, but for book buyers. I don't have to read the whole book to know if I want to buy it for the library. (I select for the 400s right now.)

[ext_412244]

Hey, did you mean to link to that Mormon musical, or were you trying to link to http://anywherebeyond.livejournal.com/342581.html ?

[julieandrews]

Ha! Thanks.