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BearMountainBooks · 10-12-2014, 04:30 PM

So here's my take on it from an author. In general, I don't like it and don't want to use it. Piracy is not really the biggest threat for me, but I disagree that piracy helps sell books. All that aside, in my experience it is useful if DRM can be applied and here is why:

I sell books on my own blog. I have had instances where purchasers have written me and said, "I loved your book. I sent it on to my best friend x." From my blog, I do not apply DRM--I trust my readers. And my readers do not betray me on purpose. THEY DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT. They simply have the file, and know how to send it because they downloaded it and know where they stored it. They think they are doing their friend a huge favor by "giving" it to them--when really it is not their gift to give.

I have written to individual people when this happens and explained the problem and danger: You give it to two or three people and they give it away too. And I cannot sustain any kind of income.

Now, I could just do away with my blog, but here is the biggest problem. A few years ago, someone on one of the forums (not this one) discovered an Amazon Kindle book location on her PC. She also downloaded it to her Kindle. Somehow or other she found the file and asked others on the forum if they wanted to read it because she had figured out how to email it around. She loved the book and wanted to share. This led to others looking for files of books they wanted to share, asking for instructions to find them, how to know if DRM was on them and so on. Of course, it didn't work with all books, but was possible with a lot of indie books because we had chosen not to apply DRM. It is also possible said person got the book from Smashwords, but I'm not even sure if the person knew this--nonetheless it started the discussion.

Of course, eventually some stepped in and explained that they shouldn't be sharing the books and you can imagine the various threads, subthreads on DRM and so on. At the time I was not using DRM on Amazon, but for a few books after that I went ahead and loaded the books with DRM (and once loaded that cannot be undone) because it seemed there was a rash of people out to discover books without it just for the sole purpose of letting others know and so on.

I think the key for me is that I prefer to be able to put DRM on or take it off. These "discoveries" go in cycles where some newbie figures out how to share a book and thinks they are being generous by sharing it with their 25 best friends. Sometimes these people blog or share the information about books and it can cause a cycle of "oh, let me try that." In general, I can tell you that Many, Many, Many people do not stop to think about the legality, the ethics or the impact on the author. They don't think about it at all. It's just a file and they send it to friends. The thought process is not deep or malicious. To many readers it's like sending a recipe. I've seen countless threads where someone asks the question: How do I share this book with X? And they aren't trying to steal--they are doing what comes naturally with a paperback book without thinking of the entire process--or keeping track of how many times they have shared it. They don't delete it, they simply don't think anything of it at all.

I had a small instance of this happen with some downloads from Kobo (I believe that is where it started). I added DRM there for several months. Then I was able to remove DRM. This is generally what I like best--I can add it or remove it. I'm probably not having any effect at all, but it makes me feel better.

So if you are wrapping books for a publisher or author, my advice is have the ability to apply it if they ask for it later. Or take it off if they change their minds. Because there are going to be instances when some of them want it. There are also instances where they may not want it and want to experiment with it.

I have found it is useful to be able to go back and forth. Whether it is meaningful for sales doesn't matter--it's the ability/illusion/possibility. Sometimes a customer/author just needs to feel in control and I could see a customer thinking they know what they want with DRM and then changing their mind. There may be some vendors where sharing is a larger problem as well.

10-12-2014, 04:30 PM	#52
BearMountainBooks Maria Schneider Posts: 3,746 Karma: 26439330 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Near Austin, Texas Device: 3g Kindle Keyboard	So here's my take on it from an author. In general, I don't like it and don't want to use it. Piracy is not really the biggest threat for me, but I disagree that piracy helps sell books. All that aside, in my experience it is useful if DRM can be applied and here is why: I sell books on my own blog. I have had instances where purchasers have written me and said, "I loved your book. I sent it on to my best friend x." From my blog, I do not apply DRM--I trust my readers. And my readers do not betray me on purpose. THEY DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT. They simply have the file, and know how to send it because they downloaded it and know where they stored it. They think they are doing their friend a huge favor by "giving" it to them--when really it is not their gift to give. I have written to individual people when this happens and explained the problem and danger: You give it to two or three people and they give it away too. And I cannot sustain any kind of income. Now, I could just do away with my blog, but here is the biggest problem. A few years ago, someone on one of the forums (not this one) discovered an Amazon Kindle book location on her PC. She also downloaded it to her Kindle. Somehow or other she found the file and asked others on the forum if they wanted to read it because she had figured out how to email it around. She loved the book and wanted to share. This led to others looking for files of books they wanted to share, asking for instructions to find them, how to know if DRM was on them and so on. Of course, it didn't work with all books, but was possible with a lot of indie books because we had chosen not to apply DRM. It is also possible said person got the book from Smashwords, but I'm not even sure if the person knew this--nonetheless it started the discussion. Of course, eventually some stepped in and explained that they shouldn't be sharing the books and you can imagine the various threads, subthreads on DRM and so on. At the time I was not using DRM on Amazon, but for a few books after that I went ahead and loaded the books with DRM (and once loaded that cannot be undone) because it seemed there was a rash of people out to discover books without it just for the sole purpose of letting others know and so on. I think the key for me is that I prefer to be able to put DRM on or take it off. These "discoveries" go in cycles where some newbie figures out how to share a book and thinks they are being generous by sharing it with their 25 best friends. Sometimes these people blog or share the information about books and it can cause a cycle of "oh, let me try that." In general, I can tell you that Many, Many, Many people do not stop to think about the legality, the ethics or the impact on the author. They don't think about it at all. It's just a file and they send it to friends. The thought process is not deep or malicious. To many readers it's like sending a recipe. I've seen countless threads where someone asks the question: How do I share this book with X? And they aren't trying to steal--they are doing what comes naturally with a paperback book without thinking of the entire process--or keeping track of how many times they have shared it. They don't delete it, they simply don't think anything of it at all. I had a small instance of this happen with some downloads from Kobo (I believe that is where it started). I added DRM there for several months. Then I was able to remove DRM. This is generally what I like best--I can add it or remove it. I'm probably not having any effect at all, but it makes me feel better. So if you are wrapping books for a publisher or author, my advice is have the ability to apply it if they ask for it later. Or take it off if they change their minds. Because there are going to be instances when some of them want it. There are also instances where they may not want it and want to experiment with it. I have found it is useful to be able to go back and forth. Whether it is meaningful for sales doesn't matter--it's the ability/illusion/possibility. Sometimes a customer/author just needs to feel in control and I could see a customer thinking they know what they want with DRM and then changing their mind. There may be some vendors where sharing is a larger problem as well.