Quote:
Originally Posted by leebase
I think some of us are missing the forest for the trees. From my perspective anyway. Buy a hard back, borrow a friends book. Fine. Just keep in mind that this isn't milk and butter and bread. Spend a LITTLE of your mind space on "am I supporting the art" or am I just being cheap.
Am I borrowing a book from the library because "I paid taxes" or is it really just a free way to read a book. And MAYBE....since you like Mary McBook Writer's stories that you buy your own copy to help keep Mary in the business of writing books. Or perhaps you think Alan Indie Author writing in his spare time is worthy of your purchase so that he can leave his day job and write full time.
Some of you seem to get this. When it comes to "not buying a book from the Big 5 because you don't like xyz business practice"....that's the SAME THING. It's understanding that you are not just reading, you are voting with your wallet.
Vote with your MONEY....support your authors.
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There's a lot you say that I don't agree with. But I never understood why your original post caught fire the way it did. It seemed to require willful misinterpretation.
I get emails from Bookbub and those $1.99 books get me to sample a lot of authors I otherwise wouldn't try. There's also a lot of authors I enjoy well enough, but they aren't favorites and I get their books on sale.
But then there's writers like Stephen King who's work I enjoy tremendously. He's entertained me for years and I'm glad he's still writing. I've already pre-ordered The Institute for $14.99. I understand at this point Stephen King doesn't need my money. But he got to where he was because so many people bought his books when they were new, rather than waiting for them to appear at the remainder table.
Then there's Dennis L. McKiernan. I've been surprised his most famous book, The Iron Tower wasn't available as an ebook. Finally, after years of waiting it was released a month ago. Once I saw it was out, I bought the book at asking price rather than waiting for the price to drop. Because I wanted to support him.
No, you aren't obligated to buy every book you read at full MSRP. You aren't even obligated to buy every book you read. You aren't a monster for borrowing from a library. But if there's a writer that you consider a favorite, particularly if that writer is a midlister who likely doesn't support themselves purely by their writing income, buy their books. Tell them that their hard work is worth more than $0.99 to you.
Why is that controversial?