[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

And how does that reader benefit you more than someone who downloaded it from a torrent site? In either case, you're not getting paid for the reading. Are fans who read used pbooks better fans than ones who read unauthorized ebooks? Do you think they'll buy more books full-price in the future?

They are legal fans and aren't supporting sites that encourage pirating. If no one downloaded illegal copies, those sites wouldn't exist. So I value that someone goes to the trouble to buy a legal copy even if I don't personally gain. I value that same effort if the user borrows a copy. I value that effort if a person is too poor to buy a copy so they start a website and review books in order to obtain legal copies. I value the effort.

It's my experience that used pbook readers buy more used pbooks in the future; download-and-torrent ebook readers can be enticed to buy new ebooks for full price, if the prices are reasonable & the books available to them.

Torrent sites support a model that does zero for me. Zero. I am guessing that a used book buyer is going to try to buy it used from what I've seen, but if the deal is good, they will buy the next one new (Amazon's four for three for example, or going in with a friend, their mom, etc to buy series that they like.) Used book buyers are also BIG library users (at least the ones in my cozy group are). If they ask for my book at the library that is a sale. There are at least two libraries that carry my books. Someone went to the trouble to ASK a library to carry my books. I value that fan. Ohboy, do I value that fan.

I'm sure that some torrent-downloaders can be enticed to buy a book at full price. It's probably somewhere along the lines of used book buyers or perhaps less. After all it's easier and faster to download from a torrent site than it is to go to the trouble to pay for a book in any form.

How do pirate ebooks threaten your income more than used pbooks? More specifically: how do pirate ebooks threaten your income *so much more* than used pbooks, that you actively suggest people seek used pbooks but berate people for the concept of unauthorized ebooks?

Because torrent sites support the idea that books don't have to be paid for--this is the largest threat to my income ever--a general opinion or growing culture of readers that download for free because they can. Or because they believe it is okay or because they don't want to pursue other options such as a library or lending or buying new. Because darknet sites could not and would not exist if no one went there.

If a person buys a used paperback copy, it will eventually get used up or be out of circulation, encouraging the sale of a new book. Torrent sites? Never happens. Never will happen. If a person buys a used copy and loves the book they will keep it. They will tell their friends or show their friends. That same "free download" from a torrent site? Well that same reader is likely to tell their friend where they got it. Or just email them the copy. It's fast. It's easy. The reader may not even remember it is an illegal copy.

I don't read pbooks for entertainment. I don't do DRM. (This includes library DRM; I have no DRM-reading software on my computers.) If it's not available as a drm-free ebook for under $6, it's outside of my scope.

I'm not saying that authors have to fit themselves inside my constraints; there are plenty of people willing to buy $10 DRM'd ebooks, and authors are welcome to seek their patronage. I'm saying that I spend money on ebooks, I spend *time* on ebooks, and I don't bother even looking at anything outside of my restrictions.

Your restrictions don't make illegal downloads legal. You're entitled to set your own rules about DRM or pricing or anything else as a consumer. But that doesn't change the legality of it. If you chose to use a torrent site, you help keep them going by your patronage. And those same sites could hurt authors who fall within your restrictions.

You are exercising a choice as a consumer. I don't get that same privilege as a writer/author. I don't want my works on torrent sites, but I don't have any say in it.

"Stealing" means taking something away, not making so many extras that they're no longer profitable to sell.

An uploader may be "stealing profits" but they're not "stealing books." And by that logic, a used bookstore is also "stealing profits"--after all, those people could be buying the ebook instead.

We could argue the definition of stealing, but stealing is essentially taking something that does not belong to you. This isn't the legal definition either. But the author and publisher intended to create a book for sale. Torrent sites contain stolen material. Yes, a used bookstore is stealing potential profits. It just happens to be legal to sell a used copy. And again, from my viewpoint, it at least sets expectations that the product is worth something and that it is not okay to just go find a way to obtain it for free.

Side note: These are rhetorical questions, not specifically aimed at you. Your books are available at Smashwords at quite reasonable prices.

Thanks. I appreciate you noticing.

As an author, I do what I can to get books to those who cannot afford them--this includes library participation (and if you think that is easy to achieve, let me just set the record straight--it's not. It's extremely difficult to get my books into libraries without a publisher backing me.) I also do plenty of giveaways, review copies and so on. And my books are pretty affordable. I provide as little excuse as possible for someone to turn to the darknets.