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Originally Posted by Patricia
Spooky 69: we are a legitimate site and do not condone such illegal activities. Authors have to make a living. Even Tom Clancy (though he doesn't seem to realise that he has a potential ebook readership).
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Part of the problem is that so many titles are *NOT* in ANY ebook format and quite probably won't be available as such for some time to come. I just hate it when I can get ONE of Susan McBride's 'Debutante Dropout' mysteries (and not the first one), but none of the others. Or being able to get "The Hunters" and "The Shooters" from W.E.B. Griffin's latest series, but not the first two.
And I really WANT to get rid of my paperbacks. I'm never going to buy McBride's DD series in hardcover and the mmpbs just soak up floor space. So between the publishers not wanting to offer ebook versions (or wanting hardcover prices for ebooks when they already have mmpb versions on the shelves), or the publishers not giving a damn about filling out the ebook lists with older books from current authors, it gets tempting to search the IRC channels, usenet and the torrents for 'illegal' copies.
Part of the issue is that so many people want to delay issuing in ebook format and that just drives readers who want to embrace the new tech to find other sources. Hello! I think it's been proven that even threat of lawsuits and criminal prosecution won't prevent 'customers' finding alternative sources - even if that means not paying for the ebooks.
Baen figured it out. Baen offers it's books in both dead-tree and ebook formats. Baen doesn't charge ridiculous prices (Okay, it charges $15 for e-ARCs (electronic Advanced Reader Copies).) and offers the ebooks in a variety of formats. Baen's authors benefit from this.
Derek