[DArenson]

Reading books for free -- by borrowing them, stealing them, or reading them used -- is not necessary bad for authors. Most of these readers wouldn't buy a copy anyway. But they'll read the book for free, and if they like it, they'll tell their friends. Maybe they'll buy the author's next book. It gets the word out and, in the long term, can possibly help the author.

Now, I'm not saying we should all head over to torrent websites now, and start downloading pirated ebooks. Obviously, that's still illegal, and still a no no. But if you DID read the book for free, tell your friends. Blog about it. Leave a review. That's the best way to help the author, in my opinion.