There's a better way to beat the ebook pirates

[NVash]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

Where's the art in chasing dollars?

Forget that, wheres the love in it? The art is no fun anymore, love is out the window. Cant that mess up the writing in the long run?

[carld]

There's nothing wrong with making money from art. Given the choice between being a well-fed artist and a starving artist, I'd pick the former every time.

[carld]

Originally Posted by NVash

Forget that, wheres the love in it? The art is no fun anymore, love is out the window. Cant that mess up the writing in the long run?

Many things can mess up writing, but especially being broke and hungry.

[NVash]

Originally Posted by carld

There's nothing wrong with making money from art. Given the choice between being a well-fed artist and a starving artist, I'd pick the former every time.

Oh who would argue if given the choice? But then again, who is given the choice? As I understand it you start off starving and make your way up. You have to put in the time, correct?

Originally Posted by carld

Many things can mess up writing, but especially being broke and hungry.

Then one would need to consider a new occupation. This is what Im trying to say, 'broke and hungry' comes with the territory with the off chance that one can end up rich. Might happen but its highly unlikely.

[boxcorner]

Heard of any millionaire poets, lately?

[NVash]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

Heard of any millionaire poets, lately?

Thats exactly my point and what Ive been trying to say all along.

[carld]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

Heard of any millionaire poets, lately?

Millionaires no, writing and making a living, yes, a few.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

Sounds nice but gets more difficult when you have to get more specific. Unlike the oil industry book publishing isn't exactly a business that generates tsunamis of cash.

I have written before in other threads about the problems I see with lifting geo-restrictions. What is the right price for a book published in "global" languages like English and Spanish? A price that is appropiate for India and the US, for Spain and for Guatemala? What will happen when shifts in exchange rates suddenly make sellers in countries with devaluing currencies much more competitive?

UK and other countries add on extra sales tax to ebooks, which makes them (in the UK at least) 20% more expensive than they are in America. But not many people bother trying to source them from America to save that money. That's only really worthwhile when you are completely locked out of buying it in your own country.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by carld

Err no, rather exactly the opposite.

No, Johnson's right: I've had one profitable year out of 5 (year #2)... the rest were failures. I kept writing, and losing money. That makes me a blockhead, all right. I will point out that in those 5 years, I've released over a dozen books.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

Heard of any millionaire poets, lately?

You mean, like Maya Angelou?

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by carld

Many things can mess up writing, but especially being broke and hungry.

George Orwell capitalised on it, so to speak.

Down and Out in Paris and London

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Bah.

My novels are available in multiple formats (plus an RTF to "roll your own"), at $2.99, No DRM, No geographical restrictions, meticulously edited and proofed, with quality covers, at multiple online bookselling outlets, including my own site.

Yesterday, I received yet another Google Alert of another site giving away my books for free... and not even a torrent site, but a site that pretends they have the right to sell books "free to members."

Say whatever you want; people are going to keep stealing ebooks, just because they farking can. And other consumers turn a blind eye, or egg them on, at their discretion.

Worldwalker got it right in his post. Who cares what non-customers do? Most of them will never read it anyway, and if they don't download yours they will download someone else's instead. If they do read it, you might benefit from them in other ways — positive reviews, mentions on blogs/forums, etc. Or you might not. The only certainty is that if they downloaded someone else's book instead of yours you wouldn't gain anything.

You should be flattered someone thinks you're good enough to share.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

You guys are digging way too deep into this. It's simple: I write to make money, and I'm not making any money... in fact, I'm losing money by the shovelful. Writing was a failed experiment in making a second income. So, I'm gonna stop.

And yeah, I do happen to think that piracy is adversely affecting the industry... one more thing preventing my making money. I'm not going to debate how much... we should all realize by now that that debate is going nowhere.

Yeah, it's frustrating... and not just for you. It's frustrating for me on multiple levels, because I also like to write; but I don't have time for such a time- and energy-consuming hobby that frustrates me, and doesn't do what I need it to do. And I'd also like to be a part of finding a solution that satisfies me, and gives me a good reason to write... but as the Gods are my witnesses, I don't see one, and haven't heard one from anyone else.

I took a few good ones for the team; now I'm too beat up to play anymore. Put someone else in, coach.

I have no idea how long you've been writing. I've never read anything you've written BUT I did buy one of your books for my mother who said she enjoyed it greatly.

The point I'm making is that I purchased your book - as a gift - solely because I saw you here on MR. Even though you don't do much advertising, even though I don't read sci-fi, and even though you have a tendency to rail on and on about piracy and would rather have a police state than deal with the fact that people steal all the time...and you are just one casualty among many (we’ve had this conversation before). I had planned to buy the other books in the series for my mom but I have to admit that the tantrum is turning me off.

I've never seen you on Goodreads (a book site vs mobile tech site): you don't have a profile (though your books are listed), your books have never been listed in GRs contests or giveaways and I bet you've never once stuck your head in to check out the group that had your book up for a BotM read last year.

Here, let me prod you in the right direction: http://www.goodreads.com/author/invi...en_Lyle_Jordan

It's hard to make a dollar outside of your regular 9-5. My husband has a business and he shells out a lot of money to just barely break even. He's spent money on websites, fees, training, programs, supplies, etc and that's BEFORE he started paying for advertising or had to deal with customers who don't want to pay. Every business has to deal with a certain amount of loss…and it doesn’t seem that you are well equipped for it. Maybe owning a business isn’t for you and you are much happier as an employee. I’m sure my mom will be sad to learn that you’ve stopped writing…but since you are more concerned about pirates than your paying customers I’m positive she’ll get over it.

[NVash]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

No, Johnson's right: I've had one profitable year out of 5 (year #2)... the rest were failures. I kept writing, and losing money. That makes me a blockhead, all right. I will point out that in those 5 years, I've released over a dozen books.

Where? I just checked your Profile, I figured you might have your own website or even links to your books. Nothing. Your avatar isnt even a book that you made. Simple things like that could up your sales, IMHO.

Originally Posted by Hellmark

You mean, like Maya Angelou?

Thats one out of how many people? And how many years did she spend broke before she made it big?

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

You should be flattered someone thinks you're good enough to share.

A very good point. Not only is it free publicity but its also saying that someone knows of you and likes your writing that much.

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I had planned to buy the other books in the series for my mom but I have to admit that the tantrum is turning me off.

I was thinking that too, the minute I saw his post about giving up. Im all for buying cheap books. I buy Imogen Rose just because shes cheap. I read a few pages of Portal and loved it but havent finished yet. Even so, I went out and bought two more of her books just because they were cheap. She also does alot of advertising. I dont see any of that from him but Im willing to admit Im wrong. However I have yet to find anything proving me wrong.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

You mean, like Maya Angelou?

Life, for her, has been no crystal stair. She went through things that none of us would wish on an enemy before she attained that star.