Quote:
Originally Posted by Gord Rollo
Hi Folks,
...
And seriously, I have no animosity to anyone here and I have no plans to get into any arguments with anyone. Please give me your honest thoughts on this. Am I that wrong to be angry that Dorchester is cheating me out of the royalties that I use to feed my family? I can understand a promotion designed to give me more exposure in the hopes of selling more of my other titles, but does your opinion on that change when you understand that no matter how many sales of my books this free giveaway might inspire, they have no intention of paying me? Can you at least see why I am angry?
Respectfully,
Gord
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Not an argument, but you did ask ...
The difference between looting (or piracy, etc.) is a matter of reasonable expectation. It is actually pretty common for authors to offer a work for free and seek publicity for the offer. Typically it is done to introduce the author's work to a wider audience, and I can tell you from personal experience that it definitely works. Without going through my computer or my Jetbook I can easily name four authors that I had never heard of before discovering them here, in the "freebie" thread, and have subsequently purchased at least two additional ebooks from each of those four authors -- at regular prices from either Barnes & Noble, Fictionwise, or direct from their website.
It is valuable for us to know when an author has a dispute with their publisher because many of our members are authors and (I'm sure) the rest are sympathetic with authors. But when a reputable company like Amazon offers an ebook for free it is reasonable to believe that this is a legitimate promotion, not theft from the author.
If you take the time to acquaint yourself with Mobileread you will find that publicizing pirate or torrent sites is not tolerated ... at all. Asking for an unofficial "free" copy of a book will get you a very stern warning ... or worse.
But shoppers looking to buy products legally can still be interested in bargains, and free promotions can be a very legitimate way of attracting their attention.