Pirates Ahoy
Monday, November 23rd, 2009 by admin
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This blog was written by Michelle Gagnon, a crime fiction writer. The blog was originally posted on The Kill Zone, and is reprinted with permission from the author.
I received a Google alert last week for a website called, “Plunder.com.” I clicked on it, and lo and behold, it led to a file sharing site. And there were all three of my books, in their entirety, available for free download. Including THE GATEKEEPER, which was just released two weeks ago.
Obviously this is not a rarity, I know plenty of other authors who have been the victims of piracy. And to the site’s credit, as soon as my publisher’s legal department contacted them, the files were removed. But still–who knows how many free copies were downloaded during the few days that the files were posted? Ebook downloads still constitute a small portion of overall sales–but did the free files make a dent in my Kindle and/or Sony Reader sales? Impossible to say.
The publishing industry is entering a new phase. They’re now confronting issues that the music industry has been wrestling with for the past decade. Year after year, total music sales have declined, and industry insiders attribute much of that loss to the continued popularity of pirated songs. According to a report issued in January by the IFPI, fully ninety-five percent of all online music downloads were unauthorized. The statistics are much lower for pirated books, but it’s only going to get worse. As eBook readers come down in price, chances are they’ll become as ubiquitous as iPods. And when that happens, this type of piracy will become more and more prevalent.
Most authors who renewed contracts in the year since the financial meltdown saw their advances slashed by thirty percent or more. Combine piracy with the impact of the book price wars, and it’ll become nearly impossible for most writers to eke out a living from their work.
Last week Declan Burke posted a poignant message about why he’s decided it’s no longer feasible to pursue a career as a writer. Unfortunately, there’s a chance that more and more authors will be forced into making the same decision. Our own John Ramsey Miller recently posted about the difficulties writers face today, and how it only seems to be getting harder.
Some people argue that self-publishing ebooks will fill this void. To be honest, I have my doubts. First of all, the benefit of an advance is that it enables an author to pay the bills while writing the book. You also receive editorial assistance, marketing help, and distribution. I can say for a fact that without that editorial help, all of my books would have suffered. Sure, I could hire an outside editor–but that would involve more money out of pocket. Throw in cover design, formatting, marketing materials…and my ebook would enter the marketplace down a few thousand dollars. So I’d need to earn at least that to see a profit.
And if the marketplace is flooded with self-published books (which is already happening), how does an author stand out among the crowd? Even if you manage to claw out a niche for yourself, how do you sell enough books to earn a living? I know authors who are garnering a few thousand dollars a year from their ebooks, but that’s clearly not enough to survive on. And it’s only going to become more difficult.
Sorry to be all doom and gloom, but the truth was that seeing my work posted for free struck me as a harbinger of worse things to come. I spent a year of my life on each of those books. If you factor in the total hours worked on them, I earned less than minimum wage for their creation. And now someone was giving them away, completely disregarding all of that effort. Someone was basically saying that they were worthless, so people might as well have them for free.
I realize that “Rachell” probably didn’t have all this in mind when she converted the files so they could be shared. But think of it this way. You can’t leave a restaurant without paying for a meal, otherwise the next time you go, the restaurant will likely have closed since they couldn’t pay their bills. A good meal costs money to produce; so does a good book. If you don’t pay for things, down the road they won’t be there for you. So if you love books, and want to continue enjoying the same wide selection down the line, for God’s sake buy them. If you want to read them for free, get a library card. Anything else just makes you a thief, and in the end you’ll be stuck eating mac and cheese.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I understand your angst concerning the future of your income but don’t make the same mistake that we’ve seen in the music Industry. E-books are likely a large portion of the future sales and cost to distribute far less. Not to mention the ability to bypass a publisher all together. In order to survive and even be healthy you need to look at the opportunities not the downside.
What about a co-op owned by writers that distributed books via the Internet without publishers taking a chunk?
While I still prefer paper myself I already see publishers and retailers pushing people to piracy. Why? Many books available in Paperback for $10 to $11 are $14-$15 for the e-book version. Huh? This is seen by many as just pure greed and while I know it doesn’t justify piracy you may be shocked at how many people would.
Every one who has a stake in this needs to figure out how to best to protect their interests. Times are changing and value propositions will be the clear winners.
I can’t see myself willing paying more than $5 for an e-book, knowing how cheaply it can be distributed
And while not knowing how much you personally make off each of your books, what if you could keep 4.50 of that amount?
This is what a shared distribution system might allow you.
One thing you should understand fully is that file sharing can not be stopped.
In this environment how will you move forward?
November 24th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Ah, but my books are available for $5 (and less) on Kindle and other epublishing formats.
I agree, hardcovers will ultimately go the way of the dodo (except for collector’s editions) when ereaders come down in price point and become as ubiquitous as iPods.
I don’t have an issue with self-publishing- in fact, my blogmates and I will be putting a series of short stories out on Amazon and some other sites soon. However, piracy is NOT self-publishing. There is a very important distinction. If I had self-pubbed the books, I would be retaining 100% of the net. And there would be a net, since they wouldn’t be offered for free- cheap, but not free.
The music industry now offers song downloads for $.99 (or less, sometimes). And yet their piracy rates have not diminished. Personally, I don’t understand not paying less than a dollar for a song when they make them so cheap and easy to download- to steal them instead is out and out wrong.
Somehow, artists whether they be writers or musicians MUST get paid for their work, or we simply will not be able to continue producing it.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Well put, Michelle, and thank you for guest-blogging with us!
When I think of the value I derive from a book, I think $5 is, frankly, pretty cheap. I’m happy to pay more.
As for the 99-cent song, think about a song you love, that you have purchased, and how many times you’ve listened to it, then amortize that cost. I’ve listened to Kashmir by Led Zeppelin so many times, we’re probably talking about a 1,000th of a cent per listen.
For some, anything above zero is highway robbery. It’s highly unfortunate, and demonstrates a lack of understanding of time and creative effort. If only they knew how much time a writer invests in a book.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:05 am
I didn’t mean to suggest piracy was a form of publishing. Now reality is competing with a free and convenient market. I don’t see a way around it. Obviously you need to charge something to make what you do worthwhile. The trick is luring people to a legitimate form of consumption.
I believe the music Industry and gaming Industry have done this the best. $5 I’d be happy to pay and I think it’s great that their are works available at this price. However go check Amazon, Many kindle books sell for $3 to $4 more than their paperback counterpart. In protest you can even find that they have a special tag applied to them as over priced(sorry don’t remember the actual tag) by kindle users.
Unfortunately even if you offered your own books for free on your own site, you would still most likely find them on file sharing sites.
On the Music Industry their Pirating rates have definitely diminished
From another European study
In June a poll of Swedish users of file-sharing software found that 60% had cut back or stopped using it; of those, half had switched to advertising-supported streaming services like Spotify. In Denmark, over 40% of subscribers to TDC’s broadband-plus-music package also said they were making fewer illegal downloads as a result. In a British poll published in July, 17% of consumers said they used file-sharing services, down from 22% in December 2007. Music executives reckon people are moving from file-sharing networks to Spotify, though they may continue to download some music illegally.
I think the Music industry has made great strides in competing with freely available music. Prices are very reasonable, Full album purchases are not required, Audio quality is excellent, distribution services are very good although I’d like to see more, removing consumer unfriendly drm was a smart move and including some value added stuff like background or music video was smart.
Self publishing is a great idea and I hope it’s successful for you. What I think creators really need is an Apple like storefront but one where they’d have more control over distribution charges and costs.
Good luck with the self publishing endeavour, I think it’s even a better relationship when the creator gets closer to the consumer
November 30th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Michelle, you ask: how does an author stand out among the crowd? Connect with your fans, and give them a reason to buy physical books and other scarce goods. Also, focus on the Eight Generatives Better Than Free: Immediacy, Personalization, Interpretation, Authenticity, Accessibility, Embodiment, Patronage, and Findability.
December 4th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I feel your pain. All seven of my novels have been pirated a number of times, and I’m getting pretty darn tired of having to forward them on to my publisher, but it’s certainly better than having to hunt them down on my own. I’ve been in the biz for over a decade now, with the support of a major publishing house and literary agency. I don’t believe my books would have reached the audience they have without that support, and don’t see how self publishing is going to replace that. I have a very open online relationship with my fans, but they are only a fraction of my readers. As you point out, how does a writer, especially a first timer, attract the attention of book buyers? And what about editing? Self editing only takes you so far. An objective, professional, informed eye is invaluable. I just don’t see it, but I know that things are going to change somehow.
Jeff makes a very good point about Kindle editions selling for more than hard copy edition. It’s ridiculous, makes no sense, but is entirely out of control of the writer. Grrr.
December 4th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I’ve just started looking over your blog, and I haven’t noticed the one glaring thing about piracy that always reminds me that it may not be as bad as it seems.
The fact is that most people become pirates for the fun and challenge of it. They want to see if they can break the copy protection, or upload successfully, or whatever. Most of them don’t have any thought that what they are doing is illegal and is stealing.
Sure there are a few ‘professional’ pirates who really do big harm by flooding the market with low cost counterfeit copies, and those are the ones you need to focus on.
The vast majority of the people who download a book or music for free would never buy the music or book if it were not available for free.
I think the music industry way overblows the piracy problem, because only a small fraction of the people who download for free would have ever bought the music, and yet the music industry counts every pirated download as lost revenue. It’s just not true.
I think the same is true for books. I think that a very large percentage of people who actually want to read a book are more than happy to buy it. Personally, I like the extra stuff that comes with a legitimate purchase.
As a photographer, I run into similar problems, but I know for a fact that I am not going to change it no matter what I do. Instead, I have switched my business model to charge for my time to take the images, and then I provide a disk with all the images with a license to copy and print for a small fee. I make the same amount of money, and I don’t have to worry about piracy. I know that many of my fellow photographers think my business model is part of the problem. I think they just haven’t realized that technology has obsoleted the old ways and there is no way to reverse it. In fact, I feel that if they don’t switch their models like I have, they will slowly go out of business.
Russ
December 5th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Lynn I definately here what your saying. There are big changes facing many industries and I’ve been thinking hard on a number of them. First let me say it’s never enough to have a good idea, you realy need someone commited to carry the tourch.
If writers can be members of large association’s why not leverage that into a business. In other words what I’ve been thinking lately specifically for writers is that they need a large web based store front similar to Itunes. A place that’s compelling and would draw readers in. Perhaps more than a store front, such a place may even be way to bring editors and writers together. It could be for profit or it could be a writer owned co-op with a portion of each sale going to maintaining the site. An easy way to get promotion would be to have a rating and review system built into the site. Best of all the Author would choose the sale price.
Also a system could be out into place that would see a balance between promoting the the top selling authors as well as newer or less popular ones.
I think in all this mess writers are more uniquely able to take advantage of this type of scenario.
I realize these are very rough ideas but in my head I can see it happening.
Good luck what ever direction you choose
December 6th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Jeff Power says: “I can’t see myself willing paying more than $5 for an e-book, knowing how cheaply it can be distributed.”
Jeff, distribution is one of the smaller costs involved in publishing. Agreed, e-books should be slightly cheaper than hardcopy, but not more than 10 to 15 percent cheaper. The price of a book, e or paper, must (1) pay the editor to read submissions, to negotiate with the author or agent, to work with the author to improve the book and more; (2) pay the designers for the cover art and cover copy; (3) pay the marketing department to sell the book to bookstores, digital or bricks-and-mortar; (4) pay the legal department that draws up the contract and deals with any legal issues involved, which are sometimes extensive; (5) pay the production department that turns the book into a Kindle, etc. file; (6) pay the Web site designer; (7) pay the folks who supervise all these folks, and (8) oh yeah, pay the author, hopefully enough to reimburse her for what she could have earned at a “real” job.”
Jeff says: “writers … need a large web based store front.” Jeff, there is one. It’s called Amazon.
“If writers can be members of large association’s [sic] why not leverage that into a business… such a place may even be way to bring editors and writers together. It could be for profit or it could be a writer owned co-op…”
Jeff, you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this and in fact, something like this may be the way of the future. However, most writers don’t want to do all that. We want to write and like having other people in charge of producing and distributing our work.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Jeff Power says: “I can’t see myself willing paying more than $5 for an e-book, knowing how cheaply it can be distributed.”
Jeff, distribution is one of the smaller costs involved in publishing. Agreed, e-books should be slightly cheaper than hardcopy, but not more than 10 to 15 percent cheaper. The price of a book, e or paper, must (1) pay the editor to read submissions, to negotiate with the author or agent, to work with the author to improve the book and more; (2) pay the designers for the cover art and cover copy; (3) pay the marketing department to sell the book to bookstores, digital or bricks-and-mortar; (4) pay the legal department that draws up the contract and deals with any legal issues involved, which are sometimes extensive; (5) pay the production department that turns the book into a Kindle, etc. file; (6) pay the Web site designer; (7) pay the folks who supervise all these folks, and (8) oh yeah, pay the author, hopefully enough to reimburse her for what she could have earned at a “real” job.”
Jeff says: “writers … need a large web based store front.” Jeff, there is one. It’s called Amazon.
“If writers can be members of large association’s [sic] why not leverage that into a business… such a place may even be way to bring editors and writers together. It could be for profit or it could be a writer owned co-op…”
Jeff, you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this and in fact, something like this may be the way of the future. However, most writers don’t want to do all that. We want to write and like having other people in charge of producing and distributing our work.
Annie perhaps I’ve overestimated the brick and mortor/shipping/printing/store employee costs. I’m certainly not against paying a fair price as I’m already spending substantial sums on hardcovers and paperbacks. I know about Amazon , my only concern there was that after all the costs you’ve stated how much soes Amazon take?
I was thinking of strictly a digital distribution. But then I should look at myself as I’m not at all comfortable with the current e-book business model and would much rather have paper in hand.
Which also brings to mind that not all content should be treated as being identical in their distribution.
I’d rather have all my movies and music on a hard drive, with the hard copies in storage, although that may just be personal taste. But all my books are displayed on bookshelfs in diffirent rooms about the house.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Russ a fellow photographer, I agree with of your insights but as I pointed out in a post on this site which was not approved for some reason, when it comes to piracy all creations are not equal.
In my original post I argued (with the support of a new poll ) that while counter intuitive it may well be that pirated sources of music may be aiding sales and that the the revenue issues in the recording industry was more likely caused by the return of the single.
The movie industries dynamics however are far different and any benefit seen from downloaded music would not automatically transfer to the movie industry.
The movie industry looks be the most damaged by illegal downloading
My point being that we can’t ascribe the same damages to each industry nor can we the same solutions
I feel as a photographer I’ve taken little damage from piracy but the massive availability of free images(some of compelling quality) on-line makes it difficult to justify a presence there.
Like you I’ve looked to more of a local market, I’ve also worked on personal relationships and word of mouth.
Still even if ignoring copyright aided one industry, we shouldn’t do that to the detriment of another.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Annie perhaps I’ve overestimated the brick and mortor/shipping/printing/store employee costs. I’m certainly not against paying a fair price as I’m already spending substantial sums on hardcovers and paperbacks. I know about Amazon , my only concern there was that after all the costs you’ve stated how much soes Amazon take?
I was thinking of strictly a digital distribution. But then I should look at myself as I’m not at all comfortable with the current e-book business model and would much rather have paper in hand.
Which also brings to mind that not all content should be treated as being identical in their distribution.
I’d rather have all my movies and music on a hard drive, with the hard copies in storage, although that may just be personal taste. But all my books are displayed on bookshelfs in diffirent rooms about the house.