There's a better way to beat the ebook pirates

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by NVash

Would I be wrong if I asked why were still discussing piracy and why were not trying to figure out a way to help Mr. Jordan and possibly give him inspiration to write again?

Because this thread is about piracy... not my problems.

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

I also think it is foolish to cut off the supply of people who might go on to buy something else just to spite the people who were never going to pay anyway.

If you mean me... that's not it at all. I'm doing it because it's not profitable, pure and simple.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by NVash

Would I be wrong if I asked why were still discussing piracy and why were not trying to figure out a way to help Mr. Jordan and possibly give him inspiration to write again?

Possibly because the title of this thread is "There's a better way to beat the ebook pirates" instead of "Help Mr. Jordan."

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

I used to be big in the MAME scene, and that group is about the only one I've seen that would update. There were many that had what we called "Pokerom", who just had to have them all, and most of them would keep up to date with the latest version. I think the reason for that though, was updates to MAME would make old ROMs no longer usable.

Yeah, I remember that used to really annoy me about MAME updates. Especially after Dave's Classics got closed down and the new roms were harder to find.

I like the term "pokerom" for the rom collectors, we'll have to think of one for the ebook collectors.

[J. Strnad]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

$100 a month isn't too bad for something you wrote 10 years ago and presumably made some money from during its original print run. You actually released it into the pirate community yourself, long before you put it on Amazon, so can you tell us if doing that hurt your sales in any way?

Also, presumably if you wrote something else a lot of the people who have already bought (or downloaded) that one would buy the new one soon after it was released, and after that it would make about the same amount?

So the secret to making a living as a writer would be to write more?

Yeah, that's pretty much my attitude.

I don't think that releasing Risen for free many years ago has hurt sales. People can find the free PDF version with a Google search, but PDFs suck on 6" ereaders. And really, there are enough people who consider $3 a cheap price that, if they're interested at all, they'll pay it.

I'd love to write more, but I work full time, more than full time actually, sitting at a computer, and when I'm off, I have stuff to do. If I could live on $100/month, quit my job and write more books, I could manage maybe one a year. So my monthly income would go up by about $100/month every year, with some kind of exponential increase as I got better known. After 15 years or so, I'd be making enough to pay my mortgage. Meanwhile...I have to pay that mortgage.

That's why I think that writing more books might be a retirement activity.

But again, I want to point out that I don't think piracy is the problem. It's the glut of books. The business is just very, very competitive and natural selection favors those who procreate (write) prolifically and those who do it (writing/marketing) very well and those who are lucky (right book/right time/celeb blurb/etc.).

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

If you mean me... that's not it at all. I'm doing it because it's not profitable, pure and simple.

No, I didn't mean you, I meant content publishers in general. I'm not really convinced that you're being pirated at all, I think you're just seeing revenue generating click-through sites with your name on them because that's what you are searching for and that's how those sites work. But if you want to PM me the site you found I don't mind having a look.

If it is a genuine pirate site, have you thought of joining the site and putting your viewpoint across? Don't go in all hysterical, that will only backfire on you. But if you say you're just some indie part time writer looking for beer money you might be surprised at the response you get.

[J. Strnad]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Hi Jan,

How do you pronounce your last name?

I just had a look at your site and the comment about Risen being a supernatural thriller rather than a blood and guts horror interested me. I've put you on my wish list.

Regards
Caleb

Jan as in Jan (not Yan) and Strnad is Struh-NOD. It's Bohemian/Czech. BTW, the strnad is a kind of finch, and it has been voted Bird of the Year in Czechoslovakia for 2011. Way to go, my little avian brothers and sisters!

Thanks, Caleb, and thanks also to NVash for the kind words!

See, that's how it goes: You write a message, a few people check out the site, one or two buy a book, and maybe fifty are intrigued and hit the torrents to find a free copy. I'm supported by the one or two.

Even those those who pirate a book can help the author by writing a review on Amazon or B&N. Authors are usually happy to give a copy to someone who will commit to writing a review. If someone really can't afford to buy the book, they can always "earn" their copy with a quick review, an investment of maybe five minutes in return for a few hours of entertainment...like standing in line at a movie. I wonder how many pirates make the effort.

[Tome Keeper]

Originally Posted by NVash

Would I be wrong if I asked why were still discussing piracy and why were not trying to figure out a way to help Mr. Jordan and possibly give him inspiration to write again?

Might have something to do with the thread title

[NVash]

Originally Posted by intheendofdays

Might have something to do with the thread title

Would you believe I completely forgot about the title? Im so bent on trying to figure out how to help Mr. Jordan that I forgot about that. My apologies.

But it cant be done. There is no better way. Id say ask the music industry but its obvious they havent figured anything out right?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

But if you say you're just some indie part time writer looking for beer money you might be surprised at the response you get.

If I got anything other than laughter (and beer squirting out of their noses), I would be surprised.

Originally Posted by NVash

Im so bent on trying to figure out how to help Mr. Jordan that I forgot about that.

It's okay. The ebook readers of Planet Earth don't owe me any effort to read my books, tell others about them, stop pirates taking them or pay me a dime. Either I figure out how to get it done, or it won't get done. Don't worry about it.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Authors are usually happy to give a copy to someone who will commit to writing a review. If someone really can't afford to buy the book, they can always "earn" their copy with a quick review, an investment of maybe five minutes in return for a few hours of entertainment...like standing in line at a movie. I wonder how many pirates make the effort.

Can I just skip the piracy part and ask you nicely for a free copy? I'd be happy to write an Amazon review.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

If I got anything other than laughter (and beer squirting out of their noses), I would be surprised.

I just went looking for something similar I remembered from a while ago and it's already had a thread here.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=103776

[Quexos]

And speaking of the title, what is that better way to beat piracy ?

Originally Posted by intheendofdays

Might have something to do with the thread title

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I wonder how many pirates make the effort.

Given the nature of the kind of person who is likely to pirate books, I'm sure the answer to that is "pretty much none."

Originally Posted by Quexos

And speaking of the title, what is that better way to beat piracy ?

Don't publish.

[Tome Keeper]

Originally Posted by Quexos

And speaking of the title, what is that better way to beat piracy ?

My personal opinion is to remove geo-restrictions and the like, and implement more sensible pricing. Then the customers publishers are actually losing (those who resort to piracy because of publishing issues) would buy the books and the others would still pirate but they are mainly the ones who would never purchase the book in the first place.

[NVash]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

It's okay. The ebook readers of Planet Earth don't owe me any effort to read my books, tell others about them, stop pirates taking them or pay me a dime. Either I figure out how to get it done, or it won't get done. Don't worry about it.

Thats just it. I dont really think there is a way to 'figure it out' and it wont get done. My advice is to spend this time focusing on piracy elsewhere because honestly, its a never ending battle that you cant win. Even if you threatened to sue everyone youd still find pirated copies somewhere.