Quote:
Originally Posted by neilmarr
Don't forget, FormatC, that many of those white-haired, stoop-shouldered, friendly old book sellers we remember with a tear in our eye were often selling second-hand books with absolutely zero benefit to author, editor or publisher. It was the original book piracy. Neil
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Neil, the original book piracy was the creation of the publisher, not the bookseller, not even the second-hand bookseller. The original publishers were the guilds and they required the author to pay for the privilege of getting published and with rare exception paid anything to the author.
Modern publishers are a bit piratical themselves. Again, with the rare exception of the Dan Browns, few authors get contracts beneficial to them as opposed to beneficial to the publisher.
And the second-hand book dealer in fact does provide a significant benefit to authors, albeit an indirect one. They provide an affordable means for people to get introduced to an author. Although authors love money, I suspect that most would fear obscurity and lack of readers more than lack of royalty.