Request

[kyteflyer]

Before ebooks, we bought hard copy. If we could not afford new copies, we went to second hand bookstores. Thats not an option with ebooks so now, we just have to exercise a bit of patience and *wait*. Or go to the second hand bookstores and get hard copy.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Hey, when I was a student, I spent my lunch money on books many times. If you want a book badly enough, you can figure out a way to buy it. I worked my way through college. I never thought that anyone owed me anything for free.

That was then, this is now. The cost of everything has skyrocketed, while student wages have crawled upwards. When I was in school many could earn enough in their summer jobs to easily pay for the school year away from home. You'd have to earn thirty thousand dollars clear today in the three summer months to cover the costs of doing the same where I live now.

Another difference is that we were all reading physical books when I was in school. The important ones got passed around so that they could be discussed and enjoyment shared. If you wanted your own copy, you could find it in a used bookstore for cheap. If we all had to buy new copies ourselves to read like you do with ebooks, there would have been a lot less shared culture.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by rkomar

Maybe, maybe not. You can't get blood from a stone, and most post-secondary students in USA/Canada have very little money (and most of what they have has been borrowed). So, the author wasn't going to be paid whether the student read one of their books or not. Someday, the student will graduate, hopefully get a job and pay off that whopping debt, and then start to have some disposable income. At that point, if they haven't been reading new books for the last decade or two, chances are they're aren't going to take it up. Authors will have lost the chance of ever making any decent money from them.

I would guess that college graduates make up a big chunk of big-spending book buyers. Killing the new book reading habit in their most important years sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

One has to wonder where those college textbooks came from and how they were acquired.

Maybe, maybe not.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I would guess that college graduates make up a big chunk of big-spending book buyers. Killing the new book reading habit in their most important years sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

Killing the habit of honestly acquiring one's entertainment sounds like a worse disaster to me.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

One has to wonder where those college textbooks came from and how they were acquired.

Maybe, maybe not.

Okay, I can see that for some people money is the most important thing in life. Books are for authors and publishers to make money. Copyrights are for making even more money. It is really important that nobody who doesn't pay gets to read the work, because cheating the IP owners is really bad. Who cares about any other reason for books. They are simply commodities for buying (but not reselling).

If you think that's ludicrous, then you should look more into the example you brought up. Some courses force you to buy a textbook, whether you want it or not. It is changed every year to ensure that everyone must buy a new one, even if it is no better than the previous one. And of course, the prices are ridiculously high for the captured market. Even worse, they are coming up with business models that take the book away from you when the course is over. For the textbook industry, the paragraph above is gospel. It's what happens when one side gets to make all of the rules.

I believe that books are important for far more than just making money for authors and publishers, and that putting books behind paywalls is bad for everyone. I believe that you should pay for a book if you can, but if you can't or won't pay, then we're still better off if you get to read the book anyway.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by yoyomorocks

Hey guys,
I'm new to the cite and I wasn't too sure where to request books, but I've been looking everywhere for the wereworld series by curtis jobling. Does anyone have a epub, mobi, or pdf file available for them?
Thank you in advance

I just found the first book in the series legally for free. If you are in the US and you have a library card that has Overdrive, you might find it there and if it'snot there, you can request it and hope the library buys it.

If you are in Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand, same Overdrive rules apply.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Killing the habit of honestly acquiring one's entertainment sounds like a worse disaster to me.

Young people with little money have been taping, dubbing, ripping and now downloading music for many decades, yet somehow they turn into adults that pay for music. I don't think that piracy is as habit-forming as you think.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by rkomar

Young people with little money have been taping, dubbing, ripping and now downloading music for many decades, yet somehow they turn into adults that pay for music. I don't think that piracy is as habit-forming as you think.

Of course taping and ripping music are quite legal and thus not piracy. That particular legal argument was settled back in the early 80's. (the Betamax case, or Sony verse Universal City Studio).

As to your greater argument, that downloading and trading copies of music have been around for a long time and are technically piracy, you are right. I'm one of those guys who likes to own his digital content (music, movies and books), so I buy and always have. Some people grow out of pirating, some never do. For that matter, I know a few professional musicians who are pretty loose in that regard.

I think that a bigger point to be made is that piracy tends to be a mind set thing. I buy because I'm greedy. I want more and more. But I'm not going to get more unless authors continue to write and musicians continue to perform. The only way they can do that is by making enough money to make a living. As long as we keep reminding people of the ramifications of piracy, then we combat that mindset.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I think that a bigger point to be made is that piracy tends to be a mind set thing. I buy because I'm greedy. I want more and more. But I'm not going to get more unless authors continue to write and musicians continue to perform. The only way they can do that is by making enough money to make a living. As long as we keep reminding people of the ramifications of piracy, then we combat that mindset.

I agree with this completely. I would add that I also pay out of gratitude for created works, and not only to encourage future works. I'm sure there are other emotional "reasons" mixed in there for paying. If feels good, as long as you can afford it.

[hildea]

Originally Posted by cromag

For legally free books you might also check out the Baen Free Library.

http://www.baen.com/categories/free-library.html

Another source for legally free books: https://www.instafreebie.com/

And if you like fantasy, https://ejadelomax.com/ has two series for free, both are very good.