Publisher pirates their own books

[elcreative]

And English is such a rich language, full of meaning, subtle shades of intention and little things like irony, sarcasm, mocking humour, puns and much, much more... We seem to be losing all of this and going to taking a post word for word with no attempt to recognise the writer's intentions but just the reader's literal interpretation... shame really, and results in silly meaning contentions all over the forum (and I'm just as guilty of that if someone really irritates)...

So add a "Here, here" to hidari's post above...

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Dimwit

It's not PIRACY! If it's posted by the author or publisher it's free. It has become marketing, not anything to do with piracy.

Please people, use your words carefully.

If you're going to be like that, copyright infringement has nothing to do with sailing around in boats wearing a pointy hat and pinching stuff from other boats.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Dimwit

It's not PIRACY! If it's posted by the author or publisher it's free. It has become marketing, not anything to do with piracy.

Please people, use your words carefully.

Well actually if the author has signed over all ebook rights to the publisher, then the author has no more right to spread an unauthorised copy than anyone else.

[AGB]

Originally Posted by elcreative

So add a "Here, here" to hidari's post above...

Where, where?

LOL, sorry, but I just thought it was funny, given the context of those few posts about taking something literally (it's "hear, hear")

[din155]

Originally Posted by AGB

Where, where?

LOL, sorry, but I just thought it was funny, given the context of those few posts about taking something literally (it's "hear, hear")

LOL..I really didnt get your point for few momnet

din

[susan_cassidy]

I fail to see how marketing your book to people that don't pay for things will benefit the author in the long run.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by AGB

Where, where?

LOL, sorry, but I just thought it was funny, given the context of those few posts about taking something literally (it's "hear, hear")

Gosh who would've thought it!!

Never mind... I'm going to take up posting in literal word-for-word translations in Tagalog... Here, Here... and I'll now put in some pretty pictures which may explain the original quote (if you actually have a sense of humour or know what a pun is or even taking the...)

[AGB]

Elcrea,

My comment was made in a well-meaning spirit.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by AGB

Elcrea,

My comment was made in a well-meaning spirit.

So maybe I should have clarified with... There, there, there... and a big arrow to hidari's post...

[AGB]

Hehe, yeah

[JDK1962]

Originally Posted by juxtapose

I think piracy increases visibility with authors and their books. If you are a self-published digital only author, it is very hard to seperate yourself from everyone else. One way authors gain exposure is to load their book on torrent sites. I have known of a few authors to download 10 best selling authors, use calibre to convert all the files to different formats, put their book along with the other ones and then upload that torrent. So when other people are more likely to search for a james patterson or charlaine harris and download the new compliation file their book is there. More likely people will read it and then pay attention to the author for when new books come out. Piracy can be used intelligently to generate a viral following. People equate books with their other company. If i see an author constantly who is in a bestseller torrent file, i will think this author is on equal level with the others. It is a way an author can boost their credibility as a new author. The more visibility they get the more people will pay attention to said author, visit their webpage or blog and might generate into buyers of the next book.

I have no problem with an author putting their own work up on a torrent site. However, pirating the works of others so that you can put yourself in a bestseller torrent file seem pretty scummy. Even worse than normal piracy, where the person uploading isn't doing it for financial gain.

What is the world coming to when you can't even trust the torrents you're illegally downloading.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

I fail to see how marketing your book to people that don't pay for things will benefit the author in the long run.

For most authors, their biggest problem is obscurity, not piracy. It's hard to build up a fan base if nobody has ever heard of you.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

I fail to see how marketing your book to people that don't pay for things will benefit the author in the long run.

I'm seriously thinking about "pirating" my own book, once I finish writing the darn thing, so I'll answer your question seriously.

Torrent users, in general, are collectors who like to grab buckets of free things. Books are downloaded willy-nilly and goodness knows if even 5% of the downloaders are going to READ your book. Probably not even that many -- for many users it's about the collection, and random sampling, of the goods.

Those who download your book are almost guaranteed to never, EVER buy your book sight-unseen. Why should they? They've got buckets of reading material already. So it's not a lost sale by any means.

BUT! Say your book is downloaded 1,000 times. 100 of those users actually read the book. 25 of them LIKE the book. Of those 25,

* 5 of them buy a "legit" copy of the book because they like having it wirelessly delivered to their Kindle/Nook/Kobo/Sony on vacation and freeing up their SD card for the rest of their library.

* 5 more of them buy a copy of the book (or recommend it as a buy) to a close friend/relative who may not know/want-to-know about their torrent habit.

* 5 more of them mention the book favorably online and in forums, driving "word-of-mouth" recommendations to the author. Bonus points if they fill out your TV Tropes page for you.

* 5 more of them keep an eye out for your next title -- legit or otherwise -- and may even buy on "publishing day" instead of waiting for the torrent version to come available.

* The last 5 of them comment-bomb anyone who trolls your book reviews with witty, incisive comments that demonstrate that you have a pleasantly rabid customer base.

Seriously, saying "what does the author get out of pirating their own book" is like saying "what does the author get out of donating their book to libraries". The biggest part about being an author ISN'T rolling in the monies (), it's convincing people to READ THIS BOOK I WROTE, DANGIT.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

I fail to see how marketing your book to people that don't pay for things will benefit the author in the long run.

Really? Independent research says that unauthorised downloaders spend 4 times as much on legitimate digital content than non-downloaders. And with them being 10% of the population worldwide, that's a big section of the market you would be cutting yourself off from.

With so many ebooks to choose from I doubt there will be many people who still buy titles from writers they are not already familiar with, unless it's a zero-risk proposition. I know I don't. Even in the paper days the only way anyone would make it onto my buy list was via a 2nd hand paperback for next to nothing.

Plus the pirate sites always seem to occupy the top few listings in a Google search for any type of book you care to look for, so if nothing else it's a good way of getting your name noticed by the people who do pay for content.

[juxtapose]

Totally valid points. I think people do recognize that torrent sites do rank higher then say someone who wrote an article about you and your book on a small blog. I do agree with some previous posters who said it is not illegal to share your OWN book or donate it if you will to a torrent site, after all its not illegal to share your own book. Now if the book is owned by a publisher or you somehow sell your rights, it could be looked upon as illegal. But if you are merely a self-published author that submits your own book to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords or other sites to sell your book, I would say get as much exposure as you can. If you don't there is no way you will stand out with so many other people submitting books.

It is well known Amazon is becomming a cesspool of people uploading PLA books or pirating books and submitting them to the service to make a quick buck. The more sources carrying your book the better chance you have to be noticed if someone googles you.

I also agree with anam about how digital pirates often are the ones that end up buying your book. I see many book pirates say "if you like the author, support the book" I think many people end up doing just that, maybe not a super high degree of people, but i know people often feel guilty about pirating a book and will end up supporting the authors they like. After all, you can get a book faster buying it, then waiting for it to be posted on a torrent site (if it ever is)