Book piracy on the internet will ultimately drive authors to stop writing unless radical methods are devised to compensate them for lost sales.
This is the bleak forecast of the Society of Authors, which represents more than 8,500 professional writers in the UK and believes that the havoc caused to the music business by illegal downloading is beginning to envelop the book trade.
Tracy Chevalier, the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring who also chairs the London-based organisation, said that her members were deeply concerned that the publishing industry was failing to adapt to the digital age.
Um.
Do these people
Um.
Do these people understand _why_ most authors write? In my experience, it is not a money thing. It is actually tremendously difficult to become a bestselling author, and rather hard to make a living writing books if you aren’t a bestseller. I’d say the majority of published authors write because they _want_ to — they enjoy it, it’s a mode of creative self-expression, they feel like they want to share something with the world. Of course the money from publishing isn’t a BAD thing… but I think plenty of people would still write, and share their writing, even if they weren’t paid for it. (Look at the burgeoning bulletin boards/websites for writers all over the Internet!) It is remarkable to me that an organization called the Society of Authors would be so out of touch with (again, in my experience at least) the major motivation for writers to write.
And if they’re going to make comparisons to the music industry… has piracy made bands stop recording? If anything, I think the new freedom of music dissemination is _helping_ bands, getting their music out to more people who might then be willing to buy an album or attend a concert. The only ones I’m really sure it’s hurting is the big record companies that have effectively had artists under their thumbs as long as they strictly controlled the distribution of music.
Speaking of money
As a semi-pro author myself, I find it difficult to stay quiet when people talk about downloading any artistic work without paying for it. Whether it’s a movie, a memoir or an MP3, at least one person and likely many creative people put a lot of time and effort into that work, and if they want to ask for compensation in return for sharing it, that’s their perogative. Yes, some artists just love the exposure and don’t care if people are taking their stuff for free, but that’s their individual choice, not a mandate to force all artists to give their work up freely as well. I realize there’s really no way of enforcing this, but that doesn’t make it invalid either.
In addition, while record companies, publishing houses and film studios certainly have done any number of unpleasant things to artists over the years – and I’m glad to see that more alternatives are emerging – there’s a dangerous tendency to think that piracy only hurts big companies that can afford it anyway. (The “victimless crime” argument also commonly employed by shoplifters.) Fact is, while a new economic model is emerging, at the moment declining sales means that labels and publishers are winnowing their artists, cutting ones that aren’t breakout superstars in favor of pushing those few that make them the most money. Booksellers are no different – if you’ve gone to any of the large chains recently, you’ll notice the number of authors is shrinking. Faced with declining sales, they’re going with proven winners rather than taking risks on lesser known authors in the form of unsold books and misused shelf space. And that sort of decision narrows the field for everyone and makes it even harder for authors to break out commerically.
Writers Write
A new hard cover book can cost 25 dollars. A new author gets what? A buck fifty? Two dollars?
What does a publisher do for their 94 percent markup? Distribute? Now we have the Internet. Market? Now we have Search Engines, Blogs, word of mouth. Edit? Make the story available to the public, they will gladly edit it for you…Open Source for fiction! Don’t you love it?
How about if I pay the Author 3 dollars to download the story…if they are a known Author I may pay that much. Maybe a buck for new talent. First 3 chapters are free.
Soon websites will crop up that will print it at whatever level of quality you want to pay…2 dollars? 5 dollars? 10 dollars? This is only if you want it printed at all…screen readers are getting better every year.
Maybe one day public libraries will become print jobbers for downloaded books. We can add four color printers to the list of technologies we use. Patrons can return the books, if they want, for others to read.
Publishers are pirates. When they had control, they abused Authors and Readers alike. Time to kiss them goodbye and give them the boot.
Writers will write, no matter the medium. Talent will find a way.