Why Books Aren't Free

I've been following a conversation on another blogsite, where people are arguing all sorts of ways about copyright and the music industry and why ebooks should (or shouldn't) be free. I finally couldn't stand it, since most of what they're saying takes in nothing about the fiction publishing world, and wrote a much longer comment than I'd intended. Here's the abridged version.

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Here's how it works in my world. I put in a year or two per book, creating a story that will give pleasure and...