[jabberwock_11]

In regards to the idea that borrowing books or buying used books does not benefit the author:

While it is true that used books and lent books do not tend to give any profit to the authors, they were purchased or paid for when they were new and have already paid out their royalties. The author may not see any money from a used book, but they do see an increase in readership as well as the possibility of having readers become paying fans. Publicity in any form is good, and these days word of mouth publicity can create an avalanche of otherwise untapped fans.