Piracy is NOT a victimless crime

Recently a friend of mine sent me a link to her audiobook that came out not too long ago. It had been downloaded over FOUR HUNDRED times. This means that at least 400 people stole this author’s work. Her time. And her money. AND this was ONE site. How many others are there that have stolen and passed around this work?

Writing isn’t an easy job. You need to constantly keep up a constant supply of fresh and innovative ideas. Make engaging characters. Situations that aren’t rehashing what you’ve already accomplished. And so many authors do this amazingly well. They deserve to be paid for their work. Yet there are people who seem to think nothing of going to a website and downloading a copy of the book – in whatever format – and seem to think they’re not hurting anyone. I might agree with it if there was just one person doing it, but that’s not the case at all.

Let’s put some numbers to this.

This e-book costs $6.99 and it’s audiobook companion costs $19.99…

The author makes approximately 35% (average, not indicative of all publishers) per e-book. This means he or she makes about $2.45 from an e-book.
They make approximately 25% (average, not indicative of all publishers) per audiobook. This means that he or she makes about $4.99 from an audiobook.

The sales on the books are average. They might make it into the top 100 of Amazon. So let’s assume that they’ve sold 300 e-books and 50 audiobooks (these are guesses, not legitimate numbers. They will make $735 from an e-book they worked months on. They’ll make $249.50 from the audiobooks. So that’s slightly less than $1000 for three months work (writing, editing, etc.) Minus editors, covers, and the like if they’re self-published.

 

So my friend had FOUR HUNDRED copies of her audiobook downloaded. One book.  That’s almost $2000 that they’ve lost to pirates, because let’s be honest; how many people are going to pirate a book and then turn around to buy it?
(Dilbert comic used with permission per website agreement)

 

 

The most infuriating part – to me anyway – is that people were posting comments about how much they loved the series. Really? Did you buy it? Did you support the author you claim to love? Or do you even care that you’re basically walking into their house and taking money from their kitchen table?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not too long ago,  I unfriended a person on Facebook who had the audacity to say that by pirating books, he was HELPING authors, because he turned around and recommended them to others. Then turned around and said what he was doing was no different than what Amazon was doing, because they were stealing from the author’s pockets, too. Because Jimmy did it, that makes it okay for me to do it, too? That mentality was stupid when we were thirteen. It’s unforgivable now that we’re ‘adults’.

It’s amazing to me that people who would call the police if you went into their home and helped yourself to their hard-earned belongings find nothing wrong with pirating. Be it a movie, a song, a book, or a work of art, it’s stealing. Pure and simple. I don’t think it can be said often enough. If you pirate a book you. are. stealing.

Let’s be honest. Most of us are huge supporters of our author friends. We will read a book, leave a review, encourage our friends to try the story. We will pull out the stops to get others to try an author, and that’s amazing. For those who pirate, it’s selfishness. I can’t really find another way to describe it. NOW, before I get taken to task for being greedy or selfish: I know friends who are having a hard time of it. None of them have come to me and said as much, but I know of their problems with money and I sympathize. I am more than happy to give them a copy of MY books, and have even offered it to them. I don’t mind if an author shares his or her books, because it’s their property and they’re welcome to do so. If you need one of my stories, talk to me. I’d rather you do that than go to a pirate website. Not just for my sake, but for your own. Do you know how they’re going to use your credit card information (assuming you pay for it), or are you sure they haven’t infected the book to get information from you?

 

And finally, keep this fact in mind:

Many of us want our favorites to write more. And they could if they were being compensated for their work properly. Who here couldn’t use an extra thousand dollars? Maybe more if people were honest and bought the works, then told their friends.

Don’t pirate. It’s risky for you. It’s illegal. And you’re hurting real live people.