Jun 5th, 2014, 4:37 am
Spookiegal wrote:Wow, what an honor to have an author of your caliber on this website. I have a quesiton for you in return. When I find an author whose work I like and want to support, if I have obtained an item at no cost, how can we make it right financially? I wish there was a no questions asked type of place where we could pay authors.


I have thought about that a few times. I try and buy the ebook of books I read and enjoy, but if there isn't one available then it leaves me with a bit of a quandary. I think a lot of us would be wary about hitting an author's Paypal "donate" button as they'd have a means of tracing you back, but then again you don't need to tell them why you are throwing them a buck or two. There is Flattr, but the system seems overly complicated for what I want and Gittip is focused on an ongoing, monthly payment system but does have the micropayments going into an anonymous pot that is handed out on a regular basis. You just want to be able to click a button or link, chose the amount and it'd get added to a pot of money that the creator would get at the end of the month - a virtual tip jar.

If there was a system like that, and the author had signed up (or anyone else, it'd work for pirated music, films, TV, comics, 3D printer designs for sex dolls and plenty of other stuff I've not got around to thinking about because I got distracted) then I'd be happy to include a button/link in my releases on here and even add them into any ePubs I prepare, as I know releases tend to get picked up form here and put out elsewhere pretty quickly.
Jun 5th, 2014, 4:37 am

Links dead? Need re-up? PM me.

Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is Lost Carcosa.
Sep 11th, 2014, 8:05 am
Mr. Konrath (alias), I applaud you for you wonderfully open and understanding attitude. The publishing world could use some of that. :)
Sep 11th, 2014, 8:05 am
Jan 12th, 2015, 9:05 am
I'm fairly new here but I did, in fact, download quite some books prior to ever make an account. I've read through the posts in the related threats and I'm impressed how you authors are handling the topic of sharing. I do write myself, primary for my brain to relax since that one runs usually a 100 miles a second and just doesn't shut up when I get into ideas and fantasies about whatever character's turning up. Very much to the entertainment of my family and friends, a large part of them love to read.

However, I was actually thinking about what is, if I ever want to publish and what's happening with file-sharing. Well, I've figured, I will probably simply post my stuff myself.

One reason is, sharing is a fact and it doesn't serve me to ignore a fact. Who ever doesn't want to pay, won't. Period. Second, I do not write because I want to make a living of it, not that I ever would exclude that possibility. I write because it does me good. Third, I do actually spend more money on books than I did ever before I've got to download for 'free' on sites like mobilism. Why is that? Because I've read authors I've never known of before and as a rule, I do buy what I like with a few exceptions, where buying is not possible.

While most certainly it's true that for every download here the author would not benefit in terms of $, and I agree this triggers ambivalent feelings, this sort of sharing is also publicity. If utilized together with other marketing strategies, one with potential for a steady, if not predictable or even high/sufficient income. Which anyway is a hard reality for many authors out there no matter what. Because the flipside of writing, it can be lonely, grating, aggravating, frustrating and making a living solely of it for a lot of writers isn't an option (which why most still have a day-job). File-sharing or not.

Also, I've got books this way I would have never had any access to, either because they're out of print or not sold where I live due some (silly??) restrictions. I might want my books available to as many folks wherever on the planet.

A word to DRM.

I hate it. Plain and simple. I am soo not happy with an industry trying to impose on me what device I am using to read my books. Or how many times I actually have the right to copy it to a device over my lifetime (which most likely would be more than the allowed number... yes, I know I could ask them to unregister devices, but why the hell I can't do that myself??). I love my Sony reader... I don't care for Adobe simply refusing to acknowledge it and make an ebook unreadable for me. I don't care for Kindle trying to make me use their (for a long time) overpriced reader. I also don't like to depend on Amazon or any other seller to actually keep what I bought and not just simply pull it and delete it from my devices as they see fit, and claim their right to do for whatever reason. They do not come to my door and collect the print books I've got on my shelf, right?

I do not care for geographic restrictions (seriously? Publishers ever heard of the internet connecting the world? Just the basic thought is not logical to me, but maybe that's just me...).

In short, I experience DRM as a way to control overly much how I'm reading reducing my choices as a customer in the process. I refuse that.

Just my 2 cents.
Jan 12th, 2015, 9:05 am

If you like what you read consider supporting the author and buy the book.

I like you clicking the Thank You button
If links down, pm
Feb 12th, 2015, 3:34 am
I understand I'm extremely late but as someone who loves to read and owns several physical copies of books as well as digitals I applaud you authors on here for your honesty. Yes I'll admit over the last year I've pirated a few books. But here is my reasoning almost all trial books you get from the big names such as nook and others they generally only give you the first maybe twenty pages to look at which sadly contains mostly reviews and what not. So it's hard to even decide at that point if you would enjoy the book because by the time you get to the actual story you possibly have five pages to make a decision based off of. Secondly as some of you have pointed out I whole heartedly agree prices need to be rethought. I have no qualms spending a little more for had back books and have been known on occasion to splurge. But that is with the understanding of time efforts and physical resources that went into publishing the book and all the people that had a hand in doing it. However on that note to spend upwards of 10 dollars on something I don't physically own and could easily loose if the company I go through decides to suspend my account as happened to one amazon customer frankly it's ridiculous. Some books I've pirated I've happily gone back to that author and bought more by them but without the quote un quote digital library lol they would have never received patronage from me to begin with. So really it's catch 22 here for authors I suppose without one you possibly wouldn't get the other. And fyi I have seen digital books for 60 US dollars before made me shudder.
Feb 12th, 2015, 3:34 am

If you like what I'm posting let me know with a thanks or if you have any requests for different formats pm. I won't bite hard I promise
Feb 25th, 2015, 6:30 pm
Late to the party as well.

I, too, have pirated books. However, I look at it this way. The problem isn't so much with us the readers, as it is with the people who price the books (more specifically the big publishing houses as usually self publishers don't publish their novels for outrageous prices). I'm even talking about e-publishers. I've seen, for example, an erotic romance publisher publish their books that are approx between 75 and 250 pages (some books have more, but it's not a common thing) for $6 or more. I'm sorry, but $6 or more for 250 or less pages (and 250 is on the high end of the scale in this example). That just boggles my mind. I feel like I'm being robbed. Plus, for a lot of us, who can afford to buy many books at that rate (let alone some other publishers that put books out for even more as a few people mentioned upwards towards $9 or so dollars). How many books a month would we be able to buy at those prices? 1? Okay, probably more than that... 2? 3? It depends on the person and their financial situation but I don't think it's going to be a lot, which means no trying out new authors and probably not even keeping up with the authors you'd consider your 'regulars' who have new books out.

Plus, let's face it, one of the most important things for a new author, is when people 'try out something new' on a whim right? But if you didn't have the money, or only had enough for a few books, you'd choose those you knew you liked and were well written... so many new authors would never (or at least have a much harder time than they already do) getting a fanbase, and sales.

Also, it's a fact that there are just a lot of bad books out there.... okay, not 'bad' exactly but just ..... 'meh' (I'm talking fiction here). And who wants to pay the above prices I was talking about for 'meh'? Not me, LOL.

So yeah, those are my biggest reasons. Though I do still buy books, esp once I have a following with an author, as long as they are super reasonably priced.

I think it's a great thing that a lot of authors are seeing the actual benefit to pirating though and aren't just sitting around thinking up ways to hunt such people down to get their money (that was a joke --- probably didn't come out right, sorry). I mean, it is kind of one way to get your book out there. I was shocked by the one post that said they actually put their book out there to be pirated on purpose. That's an interesting marketing technique (and I didn't mean that sarcastically at all!) :)
Feb 25th, 2015, 6:30 pm

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Dec 31st, 2016, 3:56 am
jakonrath wrote:Please read and discuss my Timecaster books--they need your help.


OK I will, thank you!
Dec 31st, 2016, 3:56 am
Jan 12th, 2017, 3:01 am
This is incredible. as someone who intends to write a book on the benefits of piracy in the future,the insight and words of actual authors is awesome. thanks very much :D
Jan 12th, 2017, 3:01 am

SUPPORT DEVELOPERS. IF YOU LIKE IT,AND CAN AFFORD IT, BUY IT.
May 13th, 2017, 7:00 pm
Authors should have a Patreon account.I can not afford to buy all the books I read (100-150 per year) but I would gladly give a little support via Patreon.
May 13th, 2017, 7:00 pm

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." - Jojen Reed
Online
Dec 4th, 2017, 5:06 pm
Love the attitude!
Feels similar to Cory Doctorow & Charles Stross in "the rapture of the nerds" who have a similar stance, but go the Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 license route.

DRM always felt like collective insanity, you are then selling that which you yourself do not want to buy... Because the right to read a book for on a specific medium which has and expiration date never felt right.
Es-specially considering I'm about on about my 3rd e-reader.

For me I've given away hard-copies most of the books free ebooks got me seriously hooked on (because after I think, "yeah I've got to buy this" I still don't care about the physical book)
I have officially bought ebooks I really liked though but that is a minority of the books I download, they're also on my device so I have some choices and can easily after 5 pages to a chapter or 10, say, this is not for me and have not lost anything but time.
I'll have a look at that timecaster book :)
though I'm immediately skeptical of time travel sci-fi, it is so often inconsistent, have you seen Primer? At-least that gets the time travel brilliantly right, you might have to look again for the subtle and not so subtle hints to understand everything though.
Dec 4th, 2017, 5:06 pm
Jul 13th, 2018, 9:23 am
Like everyone else i am a prolific reader and really cant afford the asking price in the stores online or physical. I aslo previously would get stuck in a rut so wouldnt have found any new authors or genre without Piracy as again leery of teying something new in case I didnt enjoy it. My local library is sorely behind the times as well so I cant even borrow from there to continue the series. I would however gladly donate to the author if there was such a system. Click link, choose payment, and done. Something quick, easy, simple, legal.
Jul 13th, 2018, 9:23 am

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http://tinyurl.com/p2xmwa5
Dec 25th, 2018, 7:51 am
Replying to an old post, but would like to say a few things. First, I love most of konrath’s books. Because they are so reasonably priced, I alctually own many of them on amazon and have bought audibles of most of his major books including almost all of his work that does have audibles. Why did I buy his works? Because I thought he deserved my money and because I was not paying $10+ an ebook.

The most important part of this post is actually that I would have never even bothered reading JA Konrath except that I discovered him “risk free” on kindle unlimited. Most of his books are available there. I am not sure how I ended up listening to his books (likely as a result of listening to Barry eisler’s books on KU). While KU is not free, it worked as an advertising tool to introduce me to Konrath since I didn’t have to pay any more money to read and listen to a book that I was not sure I would like. Since I haven’t been to a library to borrow a book for years, digital distribution is the only way I find new authors and books now.
Dec 25th, 2018, 7:51 am
Jan 29th, 2019, 9:59 pm
I'm the same! I give away more books than a sell. Of course, I hope to earn reviews in return, but that rarely, if ever happens. It's sad, but that's the way of things. I write because I have these stories in my head and if I don't get them out, the voices will drive me crazy :) I never intended on making a ton of money, I know that's not a realistic goal. I make a few dollars a month, and I'm okay with that. Would I like more? Of course. Am I willing to jack up prices or pay tons for marketing that may not work in order to get those extra sales? Nope.

I agree, prices for Ebooks are ridiculous. Mine are all priced at $2.99 for full length novels/anthologies. The shorter length ones will be $0.99 or $1.99, depending on length and what I personally feel is appropriate for that. When I see Ebooks priced at $9.99 or even $14.99, and the paperback is $7.99, it honestly makes me angry. There's NO reason for that, when you take into account that you no longer have to print and ship these books. I have a Kindle, but I prefer print books when possible. Lately, I've been buying my books used, because it's all I can afford. When Ebooks are more expensive than new print books, I can't afford those either.

Publishing needs to realize they're enabling piracy by making it a more attractive option, especially those where currency is devalued or shipping is atrociously prohibitive. Ebooks shouldn't cost so dang much. Period.
Jan 29th, 2019, 9:59 pm
Feb 9th, 2019, 10:26 pm
OK, since this has been revived here's my story.

First, I understand the angry reaction when an author/musician/artist finds their creation "out there" for free. I think it's deliberately blind to say they don't lose *some* revenue from such actions. I also agree that stuff "out there" exposes us to new things on which we might not otherwise want to "waste" our time or money.

The Husband and I used to buy *lots* of books. Hardbacks, TPBs, mass market paperbacks, box sets, coffee table books - all of it - from any place that sold books and, usually, without care of cost. We eagerly pre-ordered what we could. I still miss the physical presence of books and the ease of flipping back and forth. Then some Things happened.

My eyesight started to worsen (I've always been legally blind) and book fonts became too much of a strain, an acquaintance sold us an unused Kindle, we lost our jobs, then my car, then our house, then moved in with my mother to care for her in her last days, and The Husband's health took a severe dive and he could no longer work. When we moved, we had to leave our books. I desperately saved too many, but I stopped counting the "discards" at 350. That Kindle saved my sanity. I discovered Gutenberg, then the local library (limited choices and long wait), then Mobilism. I was initially shocked at Mobilism. Did I really want to get involved? Well, when you (and 2 other adults) exist solely on a limited income below the poverty line, even a $0.99 ebook makes you think twice and thrice.

That's why I'm here. I understand DRM and even agree with some aspects of the concept. But I can rarely afford to buy anymore.
Feb 9th, 2019, 10:26 pm


Use this. It's free. https://www.libraryextension.com/
A link to my family's fiction wishlist is posted in my profile.
Rules apply.
WRZ$20 each.
No PDFs, PDF conversions or archive.org scans (I can get those myself).
Aug 18th, 2019, 3:21 am
Fantastic and welcome attitude.

I buy a lot of books and have downloaded many as well. My perspective has always been, if the digital book is relatively inexpensive, I buy it, especially for independent authors. Guys like Glynn Stewart, a fantastic Canadian author, I go out of my way to buy everything he releases.

I've also scanned a ton of old books, stuff that literally doesn't exist anywhere. Scanning is painful and time consuming but I have books from authors such as Paul Edwin Zimmer whose Dark Border series (fantastic btw!) has never been released digitally. I also spent time (and money) hunting down all of Keith Tayor's Bard series and again scanning them. Also a couple of books by Matthew Woodring Stover that don't look like they will ever be released digitally.

It makes me wonder though about authors with a very contradictory perspective. I was a fan of the author Rob Thurman whose Cal Leandros series was well written and well received (I've read the entire series a couple of times). However when time came for her to release the final book in the series, she balked at it and went on a rant on facebook and twitter about how she wasn't making enough money writing books and ultimately she decided not to publish the final book (despite the prior book ending on a huge cliffhanger).

As a fan that not only published the entire series in paper but later also bought the entire series digitally as they were released, I felt pretty damn underappreciated. I am a lifelong reader and frankly my book collection assemble over decades, collecting books I read in my youth is my most valued collection. I actually have two backup USB's sitting in an EMP shielded box inside my gun safe with my book collections. Steal my watches but leave my books alone.

Books are defined as a form of art for a reason and I get that there are authors that publish solely for a paycheck (yes Lee Child I am referring to you) but for an author to stiff her fans is pretty pathetic.

I've been exposed to hundreds of authors by sites like this that I would never have gone near in my local book store (or they wouldn't have had them). This had led me to purchase hundreds of books by association.

Nice to see an author that understands that there are people that appreciate open sharing.
Aug 18th, 2019, 3:21 am
Oct 31st, 2019, 1:14 pm
I'm surprised no one's yet posted a link to Eric Flint's Salvos against big brother, but here. https://www.ericflint.net/index.php/2011/09/26/salvos-against-big-brother/
As to the morality. Duplicating is not stealing. If I duplicate your sandwich I haven't taken it away from you and you won't go hungry. I MAY have indirectly caused you not to earn money you could have earned. Leaving aside the question of who says you deserve/need that money more than I do, the way I look at it is I couldn't have afforded the book anyway.I would've gone to read it in B&N or a library. All I did by downloading it was save myself the time and effort of going, which has nothing to do with you. I do buy books occasionally, when I have extra money, and, it's usually not books I've never read, but books I liked enough to think they're worth a reread and want a hard copy. I may read your book just because I liked this post, and if I like it, I still won't go out and buy it (I'm broke) but I will likely recommend it to other friends that do buy books. Which is some of the point of a library. Eric Flint says it better than I do, read the link.
Oct 31st, 2019, 1:14 pm