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As I've been one of the consumers that quick-scans and "ignores" most of the titles on a sci-fi shelf, I have to agree with Flint about the opacity of the print market, and that for me, there just aren't enough hours in the day for me to devote to investigating new authors. On the other hand, I do try to find interesting new authors and material, usually based on a good title or what I can see of a cover, and occasionally crack open a book to look further. It's my impression of the content, or writing style, that sells me.
The e-book market has exactly the same issues. How many e-book authors, like me, are never going to be found by the average e-book reader? A lot. There aren't enough hours in the day for Googling hundreds of e-book sites, and untold thousands of authors, either.
So Flint is right: Piracy is the least of an author's worries. Getting discovered in this opaque market in the first place... that's the problem. Every budding author should be spending their time thinking about which writing competitions they can enter, which awards they can get entered for, or what viral marketing campaign they can run, to get their name and books out there.
And maybe, once you become Tom Clancy or Nora Roberts, you can think about how much you may be losing to piracy.
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