Quote:
Originally Posted by leebase
The difference is in the "all". I was merely objecting to the notion that piracy doesn't affect sales. I don't have to believe "all pirated copies reflect lost sales" to believe that "piracy affects sales". It need only be SOME sales lost to be true for my position.
Even your scenario can be shown to support the notion that piracy affects sales. As a kid, all my books came from the library, as gifts or from garage sales. When I became an adult with money of my own, I started buying books because it's a LOT more convenient to walk into a book store and buy a book, the specific book I want.
Piracy gives folks all the benefits of buying new. Quick, convenient, get exactly the book you want. Such that SOME purchasing will stop.
Lee
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The only study I know on the issue (and it's far from a conclusive study) shows that piracy probably affects sales by increasing sales for midlist authors w(ho otherwise wouldn't have gotten the exposure), and reducing sales for bestselling authors (who otherwise might have gotten a sale). Promotional freebies have the same kind of impact for midlist authors--there are several midlist authors I've discovered through a freebie and then I've gone on to buy the rest of their books.