R.J.’s answer to “I'm a future fan.. but first need to actually read your books. Don't get me wrong, I want to read y…” > Likes and Comments
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Well, to be fair Scribd is not the piracy site it once was -- they now have agreements with publishers that allow them to provide e-books legally (subscribers can read A POCKET FULL OF MURDER and A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON on there courtesy of my US publisher, for instance). But my UK publisher doesn't seem to have the same agreement with them.
But yes, piracy is a huge problem for authors, just as it is for musicians. It's one of the biggest factors that keeps us from being able to make a living from the books we write. Libraries buy their copies legally and will buy more if a book is popular or gets worn out; and even used bookstores can only sell copies that have already been bought once. But piracy creates virtually limitless copies that the author never sees any money from at all.
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Well, to be fair Scribd is not the piracy site it once was -- they now have agreements with publishers that allow them to provide e-books legally (subscribers can read A POCKET FULL OF MURDER and A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON on there courtesy of my US publisher, for instance). But my UK publisher doesn't seem to have the same agreement with them.But yes, piracy is a huge problem for authors, just as it is for musicians. It's one of the biggest factors that keeps us from being able to make a living from the books we write. Libraries buy their copies legally and will buy more if a book is popular or gets worn out; and even used bookstores can only sell copies that have already been bought once. But piracy creates virtually limitless copies that the author never sees any money from at all.
It is rather shocking the number of websites out there that are breaking copyright. That is one of the big things that bothers me as someone who hopes to eventually publish. I don't want people to be able to read it for free with no copy bought. I get the library thing kind of does that but it doesn't allow you to have a permanent copy forever unlike downloading a PDF illegally.