WHERE'S MY HOLIDAY BOOK? - MARGARET TANNER
Ah! Summer reading. Those long hot days lying on the beach
or the sun deck, slathered in suntan lotion,
wearing a hat or sheltering under beach umbrellas or awnings so we won’t
end up as red as lobsters. We have a long cool drink by our side, a few
nibbles, and a book, be it print book or e-reader. What bliss. This scenario is
played out every summer in most countries of the world.
Of course, if you are unfortunate enough to live in a cold
climate, there is nothing like curling up by a roaring fire, watching the red
flames dance as you sip a hot drink. A block of chocolate is within easy reach,
and of course, a book. I mean, you can all visualize this. It happens so often.
Have you ever been on the train or bus going to work and not
seen at least one person reading a book? It is like breathing, we do it all the
time.
My question is. What if there were no books, or only a few
books to choose from because authors weren’t writing anymore? It would be a
disaster. Can’t happen you say, and maybe not, but there is the risk that one
day it could.
Everyone expects, and is entitled to a fair days pay for a
fair days work. In the case of authors, except for the few who make it big,
most are scratching out a living, or writing for the love of it with little
reward, but you don’t expect to have your work stolen.
If authors choose to give their work away, i.e. free Kindle
downloads etc. that is fine, but what I find particularly frustrating are the
plethora of pirate sites giving away authors’ books without their permission.
Someone is making money and it sure isn’t the author. There are enough
legitimately free books around these days, so there should be no need for these
pirate sites, and yet readers obviously continue to patronize them. Of course,
these people would not go into the supermarket and help themselves to something
and walk off without paying for it. Only
thieves do that.
Downloading books from pirate sites is theft, pure and
simple. If no-one went into these sites and downloaded the books, they would be
out of business within a couple of weeks.
Most e-books are in the 99cents - $2.99 category, so surely this
is not a great deal of money to spend for several hours of enjoyment.
I know of authors who have given up writing because they are
sick of their work being stolen. So please, enjoy your holiday reading, but act
with integrity and acquire your books in an honest and fair manner. That way
you ensure that there are plenty of authors churning out plenty of books, so
that no matter what genre you read, you will find something that suits your
taste.
Margaret Tanner is an award winning historical romance writer,
published by Books We Love.
Her latest release is Dangerous Birthright.
Tagline: Georgina has been living a lie because of a deadly
secret from her past.
4 comments:
Thanks for speaking up on this topic, Margaret. I'm sorry to hear some authors have stopped writing because of pirate sites. I also agree there are so many books out there for free or less than $3.00, one really does not have to do business with a pirate site to have books to read. And, of course, there is always the library!!! B.A. Binns' post this past Saturday was all about readers and libraries.
While I agree with your analogy that people generally do not walk into a store and take something without paying for it (there are 'shop lifters' who do), if someone stole items and then offered them for 'free', I'm afraid I do believe there would be a line around the block for whatever it is.
And although I do believe most people are honest and purchase our books from reputable sites, there is an element that ascribes to the saying "get it while you can and for as cheap as you can".
I don't see how pirates make money giving books away, unless they harvest information about their 'customers' and sell it. Another reason for people to think twice about going to pirate sites.
Unfortunately, it is a rampant part of the online experience. Not all pirate sites give books away free, but sell them at a reduced rate. Thats why it is so important for authors to continuously promote and publicize there work and where to buy it. I.E. safe links. Good blog,
Thanks ladies, it is a sad state of affairs really. I know most people are honest, but those who aren't really burn me up, and these pirate sites take advantage of this. Quite frankly, if pirate sites gather information from their "clients" and use it for less than honest purposes, I call it karma.
Cheers
Margaret
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