Daylight Robbery
Writing|Actually no. Private Eye magazine is a good source for statistics and there are other sources out there if you choose not to believe me, but many ebooks never sell more than 200 copies. Many print books never sell more than 500 copies. There are exceptions but unless the author hits it big and is one of those you regularly see in the top ten slot in your local book shop then they are not millionaires.
There are several factors regarding sales, including the genre, the publishing house, the distribution available. I’m pleased to say I sell well but I’m aware that I sell more than some and less than others. I can picture many shaking their heads in disbelief, wondering why writers write if there’s no huge financial reward. If you can’t at least earn a living at this, what’s the point? That’s very difficult to explain if you’re not creatively motivated. As I’ve said before, some people “need” to write. There are some writers out there earning a living on ebooks but they will tell you that they live carefully and they have many titles out with many publishers. There’s also the possibility of gradually making a household name for yourself or writing the one masterpiece that the world falls in love with. Writers survive on sheer determination and hope.
So, what can you do with an ebook? You can read it. Seriously, that’s all you can do. The copyright will tell you that you’re not even allowed to print it, but writers are aware many people do if they don’t like reading from the screen, so a paper copy run off on your printer isn’t exactly the same thing as having it printed up by a printing service, which is a definite no. I’m not going to debate the rights and wrongs of ‘Personal Use’ policies as they’ve affected the music industry for years, but commonsense should prevail.
You CANNOT resell. If you do so you are breaking the law and liable to prosecution.
“Well, if you can resell a print book, why can’t you resell an ebook?”
Actually, the reselling of print books is a grey area, although it’s been allowed for years. The basic idea is that if you resell a print book you lose your copy. Even though the writer receives no income from the resale, most turn a blind eye because I think at heart we know that print books are made from trees. If the reader no longer wants the book, what’s to be done with it? I think we all feel negatively to the destruction of print books, even with the advent of recycling. It’s seen as a waste. I’ve still seen some copyrights state that a book may not be resold, lent, read out in public etc., but if you resell an ebook it’s especially damaging, as the chances are the seller is going to keep their copy. They are illegally reproducing the book. To put this in it’s simplest terms, if the book were in print and the reader wanted to sell it but also retain a copy, they would have to reproduce the pages or scan the story therein to pass it on. This is against copyright law in every form of publication and it is ILLEGAL!
Likewise, you cannot give an ebook out for free. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling it or giving it away. You may NOT reproduce it and therefore you’re breaking the law. Anyone doing this even in all innocence cease and desist! Publishers and authors regularly trawl for these sites and they will have you removed from the internet and even prosecuted.
You should not give to a friend. Again, on the principle that the reader is likely intending to keep their own copy and produce another to hand over. Likewise, you should not lend. In print, lending is often seen as a grey area many ignore on the understanding that when you lend books you risk losing them, and for the author there’s a chance they may find a new devoted reader. However, I repeat that you may not “reproduce” the existing ebook and therefore lending is impossible. Copies in any format are illegal. Saying that, should a reader make a back-up solely to protect their library and for personal use, then most quietly agree this is fine, but you cannot reproduce this backed up copy either.
So that it’s clear, this is the copyright license in my last Loose-Id book:
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.
“Well, if the author’s not making a lot of money more fool them. The publisher is. I don’t care about piracy.”
Wrong again. If publishers were making so much money there’d be many more publishing houses. There wouldn’t be so many cases of publishers going bankrupt. The percentages discussed are standard publishing contracts in the industry. The author can scream that they want 60% of their cover price but any publisher offering extremely high royalties is dubious at best. It costs to produce books in any format. If a publisher tries to offer above average royalties in the hope to draw writers in then the chances are they won’t be around for long. Reading is at an all time low. Books today have to compete with busy schedules, TV, computer games and the Internet. Books and those who produce them in any format need all the support they can get, rather than being robbed blind.
“Yes, but it’s easy money. It’s not like there’s much work involved.”
I dare you to say that to a writer’s face. I dare you to say it to an editor. No, seriously. I’m sure to cover this some other time, but I’ll give you our schedules for a typical day, especially if it’s one where there’s a deadline involved, and then tell me that you’re feeling calm and relaxed by the time you can crawl into bed. Writing is work! Publishing is work! It can be fun and it can be rewarding, but it’s still work and just as I’m sure you wouldn’t like your wallet picked from your pocket, if you commit ebook piracy even in innocence then it is as if you picked the writer’s pocket.
