Yes. I have a huge backlog of books on my In stack, enough that it would take years to catch up, because they go out of print so quickly. (Part of this is just due to our crazy tax laws, but piracy is not helping.)
Ouch. I mean, I know all that, but I wasn't up on the precise (or ball-park) numbers. It's good to get an idea of the numbers to be better armed in the battle against book thieves.
I will continue pre-ordering and gifting your books and the books of my other favourite authors to keep the cats fed and the lights on. Even if it means my grocery money goes short for a week or two. I quote Erasmus, "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes".
Keep fighting the good fight and keep the Toby books coming; we'll keep buying as long as possible.
I've never understood the argument that internet piracy wasn't hurting anyone. If it's any consolation, many of the people torrenting your books probably aren't going to read them -- I know I've downloaded far more books from Gutenberg than I'm ever going to read, because hey, I don't know exactly which ones I'm going to, and this way they're right here.
The answer for legally-downloadable is "buy a physical copy." Perhaps buy a paper copy *and* torrent the text, but buy a physical copy....
And legal/ethical matters to me, which is why I don't go torrenting books. But when a book is legit and free, I don't think very hard about whether or not I want it: I might want it, download, stick in my computer's library, it's there.
I suspect that most torrenters feel that about free without the qualms about legal or ethical....
If she's paid for the book, has one copy of the file, and doesn't distribute it, it's the same to me as owning a physical copy.
For me, really, the issue is "if you can't get the file any way but through the illegal download site, you're encouraging illegal downloading," and I don't have a solution to that.
The problem I have with the "same as a physical copy" argument isn't with the reader, but with the people who are putting it up to be downloaded.
If you've already got a copy of the book, you've paid your money, great. Digital, physical, it's the same thing. The book is not the collection of pages, but the story within it.
But the book shouldn't be available for you to download in the first place.
Are you as a reader doing anything wrong? On the whole right/wrong scale I'm a little fuzzy at the best of times, but think of this.
You are downloading a book that shouldn't be out there, which shows the people who put it there that there's a demand.
Yes, if one person stops downloading it won't stop the tide. But just as that demand builds on a person by person basis, so does reducing that demand. If you stop downloading, sure, other people won't. But there will be one less person doing that.
Well said about piracy. As for your books, I mentioned Feed to someone at work who was reading a Zombie novel. (They are going to get a copy of Feed dropped onto their desk the next change I get to pick up a copy.)
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I will continue pre-ordering and gifting your books and the books of my other favourite authors to keep the cats fed and the lights on. Even if it means my grocery money goes short for a week or two. I quote Erasmus, "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes".
Keep fighting the good fight and keep the Toby books coming; we'll keep buying as long as possible.
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Very much.
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I've never understood the argument that internet piracy wasn't hurting anyone. If it's any consolation, many of the people torrenting your books probably aren't going to read them -- I know I've downloaded far more books from Gutenberg than I'm ever going to read, because hey, I don't know exactly which ones I'm going to, and this way they're right here.
The answer for legally-downloadable is "buy a physical copy." Perhaps buy a paper copy *and* torrent the text, but buy a physical copy....
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I suspect that most torrenters feel that about free without the qualms about legal or ethical....
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For me, really, the issue is "if you can't get the file any way but through the illegal download site, you're encouraging illegal downloading," and I don't have a solution to that.
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If you've already got a copy of the book, you've paid your money, great. Digital, physical, it's the same thing. The book is not the collection of pages, but the story within it.
But the book shouldn't be available for you to download in the first place.
Are you as a reader doing anything wrong? On the whole right/wrong scale I'm a little fuzzy at the best of times, but think of this.
You are downloading a book that shouldn't be out there, which shows the people who put it there that there's a demand.
Yes, if one person stops downloading it won't stop the tide. But just as that demand builds on a person by person basis, so does reducing that demand. If you stop downloading, sure, other people won't. But there will be one less person doing that.
But it's got to start somewhere.
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