2 authors, 2 very different viewpoints on ebook piracy
The publishing world is at a crossroads when it comes to ebooks: Publishers/authors can either embrace ebooks, trash all this DRM non-sense and reap the rewards (i.e. profits), or they can take the route of the music industry and fight against the rising tide of ebooks, slap draconian DRM on everything and watch the industry get taken over by pirates. If the latter happens, then it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing RIAA-style lawsuits.
Surprisingly, even among authors, digital distribution is a point of contention. Here are 2 authors that represent two opposite sides of the digital spectrum:
The author who sues his own readers
First is Harlan Ellison who, according to this NYT article, doesn’t take lightly to pirates of his work:
Nine years ago, Mr. Ellison sued Internet service providers for failing to stop a user from posting four of his stories to an online newsgroup. Since settling that suit, he has pursued more than 240 people who have posted his work to the Internet without permission. "If you put your hand in my pocket, you’ll drag back six inches of bloody stump," he said.
Ouch! So let me get this straight: This author sued 240 people who liked his writing enough to "pirate" it online without permission? I know a lot of struggling writers who’d kill for 240 readers who loved their work that much.
By doing a quick Google search, I came upon this website which I presume belongs to Mr. Ellison. You can find a lot of information about him there, even articles he’s written, transcripts of speeches he’s given. But you find his site selling any of his books as ebooks (at least not that I found). And on Amazon, I only found one of his books available on the Kindle.
If Mr. Ellison was so inclined, he could probably make a tidy profit releasing his books in ebook format on his website and then selling them for a fair price. If he’s popular enough to have his works pirated, then surely there’s a big demand for his books in digital format.
Give those ebooks away for free!
On the other end of the spectrum we have Cory Doctorow. This is an author who is way ahead of his time, at least, according to the same NYT article:
Cory Doctorow, a novelist whose young adult novel "Little Brother" spent seven weeks on the New York Times children’s chapter books best-seller list last year, offers free electronic versions of his books on the same day they are published in hardcover. He believes free versions, even unauthorized ones, entice new readers.
"I really feel like my problem isn’t piracy," Mr. Doctorow said. "It’s obscurity."
You did read that correctly: Cory releases free version of his novels at the same time the print version is released. I have seen several of his novels and other writings on Feedbooks where they are not only available for free, but no DRM either!
Now here’s my question: Who do you think will be driven to obscurity in the next decade or so? It probably won’t be Cory Doctorow, who makes his works widely available to dedicated fans and new readers alike. I also have a feeling Cory doesn’t spend a lot of time chasing down pirates (hint: because his work is already available for free!).
Harlan Ellison might have bigger problems. Instead of embracing ebooks, he fights against them to the point of suing his own fans.
Big authors refusing to embrace ebooks risk being shoved aside
On a much larger scale, J.K. Rowling has also refused to go digital with her popular Harry Potter books for the fear of piracy. Guess what? She now has a piracy problem because she hasn’t given fans what they want – her books in digital format!
Big-name authors like J.K. Rowling who refuse to embrace ebooks might become victims of the law of unintended consequences. That is, authors like this might get shoved aside. Fans will get fed up with their stinginess and will simply move on.
Independent authors, who have no choice but to embrace ebooks and other creative ways of getting their work out there, might start seeing themselves become more popular, especially as demand for ebooks rises.
Who do you want to be like? Harlan Ellison? Or Cory Doctorow? Leave a comment below with your answer and reasons why. I look forward to your responses!
Related posts
- J.K. Rowling still fighting ebook piracy, and ebooks are still being demonized
- 5 Ways Cory Doctorow is scaring traditional publishers
- How giving ebooks away for free increases print book sales
- What do authors owe their readers?
- Giving it away for free: Obscurity vs. Making Money as a Writer
Read More: Reading, eBooks, DRM, Kindle, Piracy, RIAA, Software
If it’s one thing we’ve learned from the RIAA, its that suing your customers isn’t the best business strategy. Insted of embracing digital media, going with the flow, and trying to bring your content to users in they way they want it, the RIAA sued the pants off anybody who tried.
I really hope eBooks and the Author’s Guild don’t go down the same path. They’re already starting to show their colors with the Kindle text-to-speech thing, and I really hope they get a wakeup call and soon!
[...] Random Post from Brad’s Reader [...]
After what authors have gone through to write their works, parade them about the publishing companies, and get them from their desks to the bookstores, it must come as a slap in the face, an insult to their craft to see their writings thrown around in cyberspace by internet subscribers who are not willing to commit to buying the physical product. A writer is a person who enjoys and is good at writing and has been able to build a career out of it. Writers, artists, musicians enjoy creating individual pieces of art that represent their views and ideals. No one would like to see their efforts sink into a pastiche of kitsch.
To VAnne: “No one would like to see their efforts sink into a pastiche of kitsch.”
Certainly not, I would expect those artists to want their works to be as broadly adopted as possible. Just answer this question: has there every been a point where consumers have willingly taken a step back in technology to “cling onto” something that was less efficient, less versatile, less mobile and less interactive? I am an avid reader, and I quite enjoy having my Amazon Kindle with me everywhere I go, loaded with more 200 books. I will never, every give this freedom up. Comments like yours conjure up images of people carrying around Amazon Kindles strapped to giant heavy hardbound Harry Potter books. Sorry, it just won’t happen. It’s okay for people to resist technology adoption for themselves, but please stop making it so painful for the rest of society to advance.