So how can I vote with my wallet and ensure you get the sale?

I won’t but paperbacks etc because I don’t want to support that side of the business for environmental reasons.

Daj.

Now that geographic regions are being inforced for ebooks I have no other option than to be a pirate.

Fictionwise have a quote on their site that says that this region coding effects less than 10% of their secure titles. What the FAQ doesn’t say is that the titles that are restriced are the popular titles by big name authors. The rest is junk anyway.

In the past I have purchased ebooks if they were available, and read pirated versions if the ebooks weren’t available. I voted with my wallet. Now I don’t even have the option of purchasing ebooks I want to read.

Until the industry works through this problem they are giving non-USA readers no other option than to be pirates. When readers find out how easy and cheap it is to be pirates, it becomes harder to attract them back as paying customers. The industry needs a global business model.

Daj.

But the reality is a lot, if not most people are only going to really tune in–whatever their opinion afterward–when it’s a recognizable name doing the speaking out.

Jane X Author says piracy sucks is not going to get the same hearing as Household Name Author says piracy sucks.

They want a book and they want it now, so they assume, like they do with music, that it doesn't matter if they're raiding for illegal books because writers are making a ton of money all at once.

Which is why I think having huge names like Stephen King or Nora Roberts or JK Rowling speaking out against piracy can actually be counter-productive–especially if they’re the only ones speaking out. It’s hard to feel sorry for Bill Gates when you get that illegal copy of some Microsoft program, too, because he’s certainly not hurting financially. It’s easier to have a Robin Hood mentality if you’re stealing from the rich–when you’re forcing some regular shmuck to go back to their day job, that’s a different story.

I can’t count the number of people who ask me why I’m still slinging chow mein in the evenings since I’m published. Uh, dude, even if I was with a traditional publisher that pays advances, I couldn’t give up the security of that waitressing job until I had several books consistently performing for me. So yeah, the general public has no clue how hard it is to make a living writing fiction, or how tenuous that living can be, even when you’ve reached the point where you can do it full-time.

Most people have no idea about the publishing industry. They see the exterior–Stephen King, Stephenie Meyer, JK Rowling, celebrities getting millions of dollars–and they assume being published is a cushy stay-at-home job. They have no idea that the majority of writers don’t make a living from their writing, that most do not get million dollar book deals, how royalties work, etc. 99% of consumers who wander into a bookstore have no idea books are typically released apprx the last Tuesday of each month. They want a book and they want it now, so they assume, like they do with music, that it doesn’t matter if they’re raiding for illegal books because writers are making a ton of money all at once.

I for one think it’s that lack of transparency that’s creating this influx of piracy. We online are having this conversation, and are struggling to raise awareness, but where are the publishers? Why, if they are having this same conversation, are they having it behind closed doors?

And I’m in no way affiliated with regencyreads. Just a devoted fan.

Perhaps publishing is thinking that eventually consumers will move past the resentment stage and still buy, just like those of us who buy from stores where the games are locked up (although I'm trying to remember if Game Stop has locked up games.)

The problem is when you consider value-added/value-removed for ebooks vs print. I mean, when you have to pay that surcharge at a store, you’re not forced to pay more for the games that are out of the case than the ones that are inside it. You’re not forced to pay more for a pay-per-view movie or a Netflix rental than you would to actually buy the DVD.

And yes, there are aspects of ebooks that–to me, and to others–make them preferable to print, whether that’s instant gratification, ease of access, ability to enlarge the font, portability, whatever. But there are rights you give up when you choose ebooks, too, and those rights are easier to measure in dollars and cents than simply being able to buy a book at 3 in the morning without getting out of your jim-jams–the right to resell, swap, share, lend, etc.

I mean, you can argue all day that a book is a book is a book, whether it’s delivered in ink and paper, or in bytes. But the nature of how you’re allowed to consume and dispose of an ebook is very limited compared to print, and consumers expect prices to reflect those limitations.

And because people know–they know–ebooks are less costly to produce than print books (once you factor in the ongoing costs of PPB, shipping, warehousing and returns vs the one time cost of format conversion and the relatively small ongoing costs of maintaining a website and shopping cart), and that those costs only get smaller per copy as the number of copies sold increases–when that ebook sells for as much or more than the print version, the consumer doesn’t just feel resentful. They feel like they’ve been bent over a desk and cornholed.

I’m an ebook author, and damnit, when I find an ebook that’s more than $7, I think long and hard about how much I want it. If it’s nudging the $10 mark, it’s pretty much got to have me salivating all over myself before I’ll fork that money over. Over ten bucks–not a chance in hell am I buying. And that’s from someone who prefers digital to print in about every way that matters.

*Admittedly, that group has access to both print and electronic and I would assume their particular level of focus would change if the only access to the book was by electronic download or if the ebook was a loaner equipped with a timed kill switch.

The MO of traditional publishing on pricing seems to be to recoup in advance the potential losses to pirating by tacking on a “piracy loss surcharge”. Which again, penalizes the honest consumer for the behavior of thieves. And that builds up the kind of resentment that can make an otherwise honest person wonder why they're paying through the nose for something they could get for free with no penalty at all…

I think this is true of any industry, but most people don’t really see it. When insurance premiums go up, we’re paying for those who don’t have ins for one reason or another, the ones who follow to closely, etc.

We see it in prices going up a WalMart, Sam’s, Penny’s, Macy’s etc. when they have to compensate their losses with things like equipment to secure high-end items, security to patrol a store. These are things we see, but don’t equate as “surcharge.”

I’m not disagreeing with the fact that resentment occurs, but I think the publishing industry is doing what most business would do to cover their losses, they just don’t realize how visible the action is to consumers. I think it’s something people consider more with eBooks than they do when they have to hunt down that invisible sales clerk when trying to look at the cover blurb on a video game that’s locked up in a glass case. Then feeling like a jerk because you decide it’s not for you, even if the front cover was enticing. Perhaps publishing is thinking that eventually consumers will move past the resentment stage and still buy, just like those of us who buy from stores where the games are locked up (although I’m trying to remember if Game Stop has locked up games.)

Pirated ebooks meant solely for pure reading pleasure may not yet have the numbers to support concern due to e-readers still being considered a luxury item

Rosecollette: You do not need an eReader to read an eBook. I, personally, do not own an eBook reader, yet I read eBooks all the time. Anyone who has access to a computer, (which all people who visit these torrent sites possess) has the ability to read an eBook.

@kirsten saell:

Actually, you make three new copies-one in the sent file of your email, one in your friend's inbox, and one on their computer. Those things are worse than freaking bunnies.

Okay, this is the misconception I was talking about yesterday. Way back when I was taking computer classes in the dark ages ;) we were taught as part of the philosophy of the new digital age that basically from the moment an electronic file is created it’s out there and available unless it’s protected. Locked down and encrypted in some way. Expect it, believe it and be prepared for it. That’s what information technology is all about.

It’s not about how many times a file can be copied because that’s automatically infinite.

It’s about access to that file.

It’s about the devices and technologies used to control that access and who controls that access.

Which is where digital rights management (DRM) comes in.

The idea of copying is another misconception that is a holdover from the physical and the days of actually physically copying tapes, disks or whatever, whether we’re talking about films, music or simply computer discs. We are no longer working in the physical, though, are we? For the most part, we are downloading directly from the Internet. So, essentially, what’s meant by “copies” in this context isn’t about how many there exist but to how many devices a file can be downloaded to. Many of you have already mentioned that your accounts allow for “access” to a certain number of devices. You could conceivably download the same book an infinite number of times to those devices, couldn’t you? So the normal use of “copy” does not apply. It’s access we’re talking about. You have purchased access for a certain number of devices.

You want my honest opinion? If product is out there in a file form for downloading to any device on multiple formats, it’s fair game for just about anyone who comes along. That’s not about right or wrong, rights or legalities. It’s about what is in terms of technology and access. The only way books are ever going to be truly protected are for them to be in dedicated systems with limited formats and rigid standardizations. Why? Because books are not complex computer programs. They are only text documents in the first place. We’re not talking about anyone having to break codes here. All they have to do is open files once they get past the locks, people. If they have the correct programs and most of them do, all they probably won’t even have to do any clean-up either.

So, either publishers want to restrict the access just a tad or they want people to free graze. They need to make up their minds.

And now you understand why I like eBookwise, a dedicated reader. It ain’t perfect, no. But the info tech in me respects the idea behind knowing things are locked down a bit more than they otherwise would be. Both for myself as a reader and for the authors I’m reading.