Believe it or not, most genre writers don't live like Ric...
Believe it or not, most genre writers don't live like Richard Castle, Temperance Brennan, or even Jessica Fletcher. Very few of us end up on Oprah. Most writers need a mundane day job just to keep them in MacDonald's coupons Kraft macaroni and cheese the manner they're accustomed to. Very few writers can actually make their living as a writer, and I'm talking about award winning authors here!
That's why illegally downloading books hurts so much. It's not like the music or movie industry where the corporation only makes 30 million instead of 35 because of illegal downloads (although I don't know how bad the actors get ripped off when this happens). Your average genre writer advance for a novel is between $5-10K, if they're lucky, for a book that may have taken a year or more to write.
I recently heard of one writer who found their book had been downloaded illegally 7000 times on one site alone. If that had been translated to actual sales, the writer would have made enough money to…um…supersize their meal at MacDonald's, at least.
And here's the thing: if you want an author to write more of your favourite books, you have to make it worth their while--or, at the very least, worth their publisher's while. If their book doesn't sell enough because everyone is illegally downloading it, odds are the publisher isn't going to buy their next one, which means you won't get to see it either.
Hey, the least you could do is send the author feedback and tell them how much you liked their work. After all, they don't know you stole it.
That's why illegally downloading books hurts so much. It's not like the music or movie industry where the corporation only makes 30 million instead of 35 because of illegal downloads (although I don't know how bad the actors get ripped off when this happens). Your average genre writer advance for a novel is between $5-10K, if they're lucky, for a book that may have taken a year or more to write.
I recently heard of one writer who found their book had been downloaded illegally 7000 times on one site alone. If that had been translated to actual sales, the writer would have made enough money to…um…supersize their meal at MacDonald's, at least.
And here's the thing: if you want an author to write more of your favourite books, you have to make it worth their while--or, at the very least, worth their publisher's while. If their book doesn't sell enough because everyone is illegally downloading it, odds are the publisher isn't going to buy their next one, which means you won't get to see it either.
Hey, the least you could do is send the author feedback and tell them how much you liked their work. After all, they don't know you stole it.
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