Gaiman on Copyright

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

And, I may be wrong about this, but I think you can also return ebooks.

Amazon is one of the few (possibly only?) that offer refunds, and that primarily exists for accidental purchases, but they are good about processing them for any reason - up to a point. Too many refunds "just because" can get your account suspended, from what I hear.

The majority of ebook retailers do not offer refunds. There are some people who have posted here who received the wrong ebook and still had to fight to get a refund or replacement. Most of them have a no refund policy in their TOS or purchase agreement. Even Amazon technically has a no-refund policy for digital content purchased from their website, but at least they are willing to work with the customer most of the time when there is a problem.

[Keryl Raist]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Amazon is one of the few (possibly only?) that offer refunds, and that primarily exists for accidental purchases, but they are good about processing them for any reason - up to a point. Too many refunds "just because" can get your account suspended, from what I hear.

The majority of ebook retailers do not offer refunds. There are some people who have posted here who received the wrong ebook and still had to fight to get a refund or replacement. Most of them have a no refund policy in their TOS or purchase agreement. Even Amazon technically has a no-refund policy for digital content purchased from their website, but at least they are willing to work with the customer most of the time when there is a problem.

I think B&N offers some sort of refunding too. They make PubIt writers keep a credit card on file if more books get refunded then sold in any given quarter so that the balance sheet can be cleared. (Or at least that's the 'official reason.')

[Catlady]

Google Bookstore gave me an immediate refund on their first day of operation when I complained about a book that was riddled with OCR errors.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

I'd think the biggest difference is that a lot of pirates don't buy the book even if they like it. They aren't just using it as a sampling technique.

The vast majority will never even read it, never mind buy it. It is the small minority of people who do read them that matter.

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

As a writer I don't mind if they want to browse. I do mind if they are just avoiding paying for the work.

Why? What difference does it make to you if they read your book for free or read someone else's book for free instead? Personally I would rather they read mine, but I'm always curious to hear people's reasons for not wanting free readers.

[BrianFreeman]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

What difference does it make to you if they read your book for free or read someone else's book for free instead? Personally I would rather they read mine, but I'm always curious to hear people's reasons for not wanting free readers.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, I'm happy whenever someone finds my work and actually reads it and loses a few hours and enjoys doing so. It's nice to get paid for your work, but I've gotten more paid readers by giving my work away for free, so I'm happy when readers are actually enjoying the book...

Best,
Brian

[LCF]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

BTW, how is this any different from going at a store, sitting down at one of the sofas and reading the book at will? Aside from doing it from your couch, of course.

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

I'd think the biggest difference is that a lot of pirates don't buy the book even if they like it. They aren't just using it as a sampling technique. As a writer I don't mind if they want to browse. I do mind if they are just avoiding paying for the work.

But if they are so hardcore pirates, they wouldn't buy the book anyway. And I would speculate (because no one has solid data on that one), that such people are the minority of all the pirates.
I think most pirates are people who have no other way to obtain the book (Geo. restr., or being poor, or don't wanting to pay double price for delivery from the other end of the world). Anyway, there is a good chance, that these people become fond of what they read and buy it, or some other book later, when they have the funds to obtain it legally.
That was about pirated books. Books given for free are a whole different sort, because you become the cool author, who gives his stuff for free.

Someone also mentioned the teens -

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

I'm sure much of it is an age/culture thing. I am a 47 year old grandmother who knows how hard it is to earn a dollar. I suppose this whole method of exposure wouldn't work with teens since they have little or no money to spend anyway. But, like you mentioned, this means they wouldn't be customers anyway so it's a moot point.

I completely agree. As long as you haven't worked for a few years to support yourself, knowing there is no magic wand (ma&pa) from which to produce money should you need them, you begin to realize why books (and games, and photoshop and all the stuff you used to download) cost money. Your mental attitude changes from getting all I can for free, to rewarding the work behind the book/game/etc. Or at least that's what I observed in a lot of people.

[BrianFreeman]

Originally Posted by LCF

I completely agree. As long as you haven't worked for a few years to support yourself, knowing there is no magic wand (ma&pa) from which to produce money should you need them, you begin to realize why books (and games, and photoshop and all the stuff you used to download) cost money. Your mental attitude changes from getting all I can for free, to rewarding the work behind the book/game/etc. Or at least that's what I observed in a lot of people.

Yep, I think having been out in the real world and worked for your money affects how people view the work OTHER people have done...

Brian

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by BrianFreeman

Yep, I think having been out in the real world and worked for your money affects how people view the work OTHER people have done...

Brian

That's true. You also gain a better appreciation of money and hard work in general. And that you don't just "pick money from the floor" (a local saying here in my country). I'm completely amazed by the first year university students who have all the latest tech (the mac that their parents gave them as a grad gift, their iphones, etc etc), and they just seem to take it for granted, as well as the education their parents paid for.

[Keryl Raist]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

The vast majority will never even read it, never mind buy it. It is the small minority of people who do read them that matter.



Why? What difference does it make to you if they read your book for free or read someone else's book for free instead? Personally I would rather they read mine, but I'm always curious to hear people's reasons for not wanting free readers.

I was more thinking reading my book for free or paying for my book, in which case the difference to me is between 2.70 and 3.29.

But, if it's reading my book for free or reading another book for free... I'm not sure. I mean, I gave away a ton of books. I intend to give away more books. So, getting a legitimate free copy of my book isn't difficult.

Mostly I'm not interested in someone else profiting off of my book. I don't want Buccaneer Bob's House of Pirated Goods to be able to sell my book for a fraction of the price I do or give it away and make money on his website where he gave it away.

Maybe it's short sighted. Maybe Bob the Pirate and all of his readers will be great word of mouth and spur on lots of sales. But I'd like to see some numbers that indicate the pirate community benefits anyone other than the pirates.

[Maggie Leung]

Who makes money from piracy:

http://www.nytimes.com/external/giga...ref=technology

[dallas]

Couple interesting reads, these deal with comics but the issue still applies.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-bl...-online-piracy

http://new-media.lazaruscorporation....scurity-again/

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by dallas

Couple interesting reads, these deal with comics but the issue still applies.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-bl...-online-piracy

http://new-media.lazaruscorporation....scurity-again/

it's quite sad that the ones who actually created the content are losing out

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

But, if it's reading my book for free or reading another book for free... I'm not sure. I mean, I gave away a ton of books. I intend to give away more books. So, getting a legitimate free copy of my book isn't difficult.

But presumably not very likely for someone who has never heard of you? Think of it like the difference between selling your book on Amazon and selling it on your own site. Which would be most likely to get you new readers?

People browse pirate sites the same way they browse Amazon, and download anything that looks vaguely interesting. In most cases that will be the end of it, but some of them will be looked at, and then they will choose one of those to read. The odds against the person who chooses to read your book stumbling across you in any other way are pretty remote.

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

Mostly I'm not interested in someone else profiting off of my book. I don't want Buccaneer Bob's House of Pirated Goods to be able to sell my book for a fraction of the price I do or give it away and make money on his website where he gave it away.

There will always be people making money from you. The only way to avoid that is to never publish your writing. Like with any service, you need to weigh the benefits against the cost. Amazon brings you more buyers but takes 30-70% of your income. Pirate sites bring you more readers but no immediate income from those readers.

If they download your book they might read it. If they read it they might like it. If they like it they might tell other people about it (through reviews, etc). If they like it a lot they will buy your next book as soon as it comes out because they won't want to wait for the pirate edition.

With most services you would weigh that against the benefits you would gain from letting them take their cut. With piracy the choice of whether to participate is taken away from you, so it basically comes down to a choice between waving your fist or ignoring it and hoping for the best. You can have your book removed from most of those sites, or you can have Google remove links to it when people search for your name, but that's pretty much the extent of your powers.

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

Maybe it's short sighted. Maybe Bob the Pirate and all of his readers will be great word of mouth and spur on lots of sales. But I'd like to see some numbers that indicate the pirate community benefits anyone other than the pirates.

There is anecdotal evidence from other writers on their blogs, but the only indpendent research so far has been about music.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4718249.stm

I was going to mention Steve Lieber as well but someone beat me to it.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by dallas

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-bl...-online-piracy

It would be really interesting to get Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran on a round table discussion on comics piracy. That link is about A Distant Soil, but she also tried to do the same thing with the issues of Sandman that she drew when those first started circulating. (Gaiman wrote Sandman).

[Duiker]

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

I added his first name...not sure that lacking a first name makes his last name wrong though...

Agreed. I knew who it was without the the first name.