Quote:
Originally Posted by tompe
Most authors have other work to make a living and they write in their spare time.
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While this may be true, in the strictest sense, most of the authors I read are able to write full-time, and I think their writing is much better because of this. They are able to devote their full attention to their craft. (Would you rather go to a doctor who is a doctor full-time, or one that has a day job delivering packages and only treats the sick in their "spare time?")
I don't support DRM, because I don't think it works. Pirates are able to break DRM, and in fact regard it as an attractive challenge to do so, whereas regular customers are frequently restricted unfairly by DRM systems. But I still think authors should be paid.
I know we can borrow books from friends or the library, or buy used books. The statistics I've seen say that each book is read by 4 people, on the average. That's already built into the system that compensates authors. I suppose if you want to justify downloading books from the darknet, you could be sure to pay cover price for at least 1/4 of the books you download and get close to the level of compensation the authors are getting. But I would really hope that if a store offered DRM-free books at reasonable prices, you'd simply pay for most or all of your books.
Regarding the effect editors have on authors, I'd like to direct people to this link:
http://skzbrust.livejournal.com/58731.html
This is the LiveJournal entry by Steven Brust in which he mentions that his editor, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, wants considerable revisions on his latest book in progress (
Jhegaala). Several other authors join in the conversation and talk about the value editors provide to them. As an author myself (only published in non-fiction, still trying with fiction), I can tell you that no matter how good you are, you get too close to your work after a while to be able to catch some things. I'm not just talking about typos. You can forget that you've moved scenes around and you need to insert a mention of something for a moved scene to make sense. You can miss that you've deleted all references except one to a minor character. You have so much of the story or content in your head that you can't see, anymore, what's actually on the page.
Writer's groups help, of course, and I think nearly all professional writers use them in some sense. But there is no substitution for a professional editor (often a writer themselves) who has learned to read critically and help a writer polish their work so that when it is finally published, it is the very best the author can produce.
Some of you may be more than willing to live without this level of polishing. You may prefer your diamonds in the rough. I really enjoy finely tuned prose, and I value and appreciate the editors who help it get to that stage.