Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
Seems a bit dangerous to me. Some might interpret it as saying
"Ok I stole your book, but I feel guilty so here is a small portion of what I would have to pay if I got it through normal channels"
-or -
"Here is what I think you are worth, but let's get together and cut the publisher out."
So you send an author $1 or even $10 and possibly insult their integrity at the same time. Probably you are paying PayPal more than you send the author. That should make the author happy.
I would like to see a system of this sort set up through legitimate channels such as a library system, where authors could opt in if they wish and proceeds would be distributed fairly to authors and publishers (50/50 IMO but that should be up to the recipents).
Helen
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Maybe it is dangerous but *I* didn't and wouldn't put it out there. However while not exactly the same situation, waaaay back in this inane thread I spoke of supporting smaller music (specifically blues, not that it matters); we had signed up to be Soldiers Angels, folks who would write and send small care packages to folks serving in combat areas with no one to write to; they would get quite lonesome come the holidays. In any event, I happened to have a CD by a blues-rock band from this guys area and since most things like CDs get broken into a million bits by the time it gets there, we sent him a small cheap mp3 player with that CD on it so all the guy had to so was charge it up and listen. He actually called us on Christmas day all the way from Iraq to thank us because it made him feel like home. As a result of this and knowing the band was struggling we sent a check for the price of a CD to the band telling them what we did and what the GI said. They were over the moon and the concept of piracy never entered into the conversation. A couple of years later we did basically the same thing with a larger act almost always touring and had the same response (sent it to a dying friend). So it's no guarantee someone is going to yell "piracy" and by doing this the author would get more than they would from a publisher.
Now the problem I have with sending money to someone you just "googled" is that anyone can game the system and you have no guarantee the money will ever reach the intended person. I don't know what the answer is but I do know that unlike recorded music and video (movies), literally *every* book is out there for the grabbing and I don't see anyone trying to do anything about it. For the cost of the download of a single movie you could make a list and download every book you could ever *possibly* want from any category. The horses have fled the barn, you cannot put the toothpaste into the tube again, pick your cliche, its all true. All that is left is finding some way to even the scales for people who have brought us so much.