|
The publisher is the enterpreneur who takes the initial financial risk, and so naturally they are going to get a bit hot under the collar. It may cost anything from ten thousand up to a million dollars for pre-production, production, delivery and publicity for a new novel on paper. Naturally the publisher isn't in the business as a charity - they're looking or a profit. For every book not sold - let's say a 40 dollar hardback - the publisher loses profit, and the author loses royalties.
If ten thousand copies are ripped off then the publisher is down 400,000 gross, and the author is down 40,000.
And if you are a self-publishing and take your own financial risks, that is a huge bite out for your income.
I know it's a real bitch kitty. Instant duplication of a digital book is not the same as photocopying a dead tree book. It's a whole new world. Experience has shown - eg computer software - that anything digital can and will be stolen wholsesale.
I can't think of an answer, and I don't think anyone else can either. If even the most rigorously defended software discs can be hacked free, if the Pentagon can be hacked with a cheap PC and a modem (and it has been), then there is no answer at all.
Welcome to Brave New World.
|