Posted By Scath on December 29, 2009

There are a lot of articles floating about concerning piracy of ebooks in regards to the effect on print sales, such as this one that Dhympna sent me today.

Let me attempt to distill the ebook piracy issue.

Why do people pirate or download pirated versions of stuff?

• 1. It’s not available in digital format.
• 2. The price is too high for your average Joe to afford.
• 3. They have no intention of paying for anything if there’s a way to get it for free.

To those traditional publishers who think delaying the ebook version release keeps hard back sales from being ‘hurt’, you’re idiots.

Sorry, blunt truth hurts. See point 1 above.

Release the hard back, delay the ebook, and what happens? Some ticked off reader scans the hard back and sticks it on a download site or P2P network. Or several.

Guess what? Some of those readers who prefer digital versions and are ticked off that you’ve delayed the ebook release go searching, find that pirated copy and download it.

Do you seriously think they turn around and purchase the legal version when you decide to release it?

‘Hell no’ comes to mind. You just lost some ebooks sales because you’re an idiot.

Those readers aren’t going to buy the hard back. You’re not damaging your hard back sales by releasing the ebook at the same time. They are not going to buy a physical version.

When you figure that out, the chance of your titles being pirated will lessen. Right now? You’re kind of encouraging piracy, and alienating a portion of your target audience that owns ereaders.

Now for point 2:

It mainly concerns software, but considering the high prices some publishers have been sticking on ebook versions (which Amazon turns around to place on sale for $ 9.99 and goes into the red over – but hey, there’s that 65% from all of us independents that distribute directly through them to make up for that!), it can encompass fiction ebooks as well.

Solution is to stop being idiots about your cover prices for ebooks. They should be sold at a much lower price because they aren’t physical; you’re not out printing expenses.

Sensible pricing for ebooks isn’t that hard. Really it isn’t.

Ebooks are a ‘green’ option; they put a stop to the storage problems avid readers/book collectors face, and so on.

Yes, I do know that there are expenses associated with publishing ebooks. After all, that’s what I do: publish ebooks.

But you cannot take into account those expenses when pricing ebooks, because it leads to overpricing them. Which leads to increased chances of piracy.

Seeing the theme here? I hope so.

Okay, now for point 3.

Here are your true ‘criminals’: the people who have absolutely no intention of paying for anything if they can find it for free. That don’t give a damn someone’s trying to make a living from their writing/software sideline/whatever.

There’s not much that can be done about them, to be honest. But you’re not losing sales when this type downloads an illegal copy of your ebook, because they have NO INTENTION of paying for anything they can get for free.

My advice? Ignore them, let the law handle them if they get caught.

What you need to do is concentrate on not alienating those who WILL and who WANT to legally purchase your titles.

Those who download illegal copies because you’re not supplying their demand, or are doing so at price points they simply can’t afford on a regular basis.

Not recognizing that you’re contributing to piracy and lost sales by the practices mentioned above is just hastening the doom of traditional publishing.

I mean, you are doomed to a point; but you could at least try to come to terms with the digital age and find a way to work with it, instead of ending up totally extinct, don’t you think?

Okay, now how does all of that above affect those of us who tend to publish electronically as a rule, rather than as the exception or after thought?

Honest answer?

No one has a damn clue, people.

Many independents do price their ebooks reasonably (even ridiculously low in some cases), so that rather negates point 2 above. Their titles are available in digital format, so that takes care of point 1. Point 3 isn’t a consideration for them either, since those types weren’t going to buy a copy anyway.

Some say you’re losing sales if your titles are being pirated. Others will tell you that you’re losing out on free advertising if they aren’t, plus the potential for future sales of other titles.

As many have said, obscurity is the bane of every writer’s existence. Problem with saying that is that it appears to make it ‘okay’ for your titles to be illegally distributed. After all, hey, you’re getting free advertising! Yay!

No, I’m sorry but it’s not ‘okay’ for my, or anyone else’s, titles to be illegally distributed. It’s against the law; doing so does mean that yes, the doer is a criminal.

But that’s the doer’s problem. It’s not mine. Moving on.

So what’s the answer?

We know it’s not DRM, because that pisses people off. Strangely enough, something like 55% of my sales to this point have been DRM ‘infected’ Kindle versions sold through Amazon (though I believe Amazon is making changes to that, so that may no longer apply).

I also know that 100% of my title sales through my own site were all in non-DRM PDF format. Which apparently ALL ereaders are more than capable of displaying.

So if you buy an ereader and are moaning about having to purchase DRM titles from a particular site, you are not required to do so. Go to Smashwords and browse. All titles are DRM free and available in a variety of formats for the different ereaders.

Yes, epub, mobi and others. Make your opinion of DRM heard by NOT buying protected/infected versions from those sites.

That’s still not an answer to how piracy affects those of us who publish electronically.

You know, until there’s a way to track whether someone downloads an illegal copy, then comes to purchase other titles, or continues to download illegal versions instead, we won’t have an answer.

It’s so very tempting to say “I’m losing sales” when you find your title(s) available illegally.

But if you have them available for reasonable prices at several distribution points, then you’re not losing sales. Readers who are law abiding citizens will buy them. Readers who aren’t will not.

Readers who receive a copy of your titles that are law abiding citizens and ‘borrowed’ it from a friend who bought it just might come along and buy a copy themselves. Or buy the next title in the series, or another of your titles.

Readers who buy are the ones we all need to be concentrating on.

Do a little educating about how little you actually make per sale of your titles (that’s the fad now, you know. All the cool kid writers are doing it!).

Make it easy for them to buy.

Note: If my sales suddenly dry completely up and I discover all my titles are available on download sites or P2P networks, I reserve the right to change my opinion.

Note #2: Via email, I was informed that there’s other types of ‘pirates’: those who might download because they don’t have access to a credit card or their library isn’t able to get the book by any means. Or who don’t have the funds right that minute to satisfy their craving to read a particular title (but who are likely to pay later, when they do have the funds).

To be honest, I can’t say I view such as ‘pirates’. The second are buyers – belated, but buyers.

I’d hope the first,  who download illegal copies because they can’t otherwise get the title, would spread a little positive word of mouth as ‘payment’.

And also, there’s the whole ‘borrowing’ thing. People who buy books are used to being able to loan out and borrow. With ebooks being digital files, you legally can’t do so, because doing so means making a copy that you then illegally distribute.

However, my personal opinion of ‘borrowing’ is that it’s just that: borrowing (yes, I did just say that).

You’re still not losing a sale, because there’s little chance the person borrowing the title would have tripped over it and decided to buy. Having a friend recommend and loan it to them is a nudge towards them ending up a fan and buying future titles from you.

It’s not massive illegal distribution, but word of mouth, take a test drive from friend to friend.

By law, still illegal, but tell me: are you going to be a complete dick about that kind of free advertising?

I’m not.

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Categories: Self-Pubbing
Tags: DRM free, e-books, Smashwords, traditional publishing, writers, writing