On the road again

[rolanni]

Today it's your turn, Skowhegan!  We're off for the long-delayed eye exams, and to run various errands, probably including new glasses (sigh).

For those wondering What On Earth the Woman is Doing, I offer the following notes on progress:

1.  Reviewed and signed contracts for seven novels and one novella.  Steve put them all in the mail yesterday evening.

2.  Threw away 2300-ish words on the commissioned short story and started again, this time with an outline and a break-out of POV for each scene.  The new iteration stands at 839 words, and feels much better.

3.  Regarding yesterday's report of piracy, someone asked how books get pirated.  Short answer is that someone buys a legitimate copy and decides that it is their right, and their duty, to make it available to as many people as possible, for free.  Before ebooks were as common as they are now, some people spent what I can only imagine was days, scanning books and uploading them to pirate sites.  I'd say you have to admire that kind of dedication, but, honestly?  I don't.

As to why they do it...some justify their behavior by saying that they can't find the books through legal channels (obviously untrue in the case of Necessity's Child).  Others will say that they're working to throw off the tyranny of copyright/the big publishers/millionaire authors; that they are in fact, vanguards of The Revolution.

In the end, it really doesn't matter why they do it; they're still stealing.  Not only that, they know they're stealing and they know it's wrong, which is why they make with the justifications.

4.  As reported elsewhere, I am currently somewhat short of spoons (see Spoon Theory).   This means that I may be scarce on The Intertubes; I promise to check in when I can.

...I think that catches everything up.

Everybody play nice.

Comments

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

I can almost understand the temptation to make available a book which is long out of print and being held hostage by a publisher with other priorities. I have to squint my brain up in painful ways to do it, but I can get a glimmer going.

But I certainly cannot understand the attraction of pirating a book which is currently easily available for a quite nominal price, which, when paid, goes to not only keeping the publisher in business to oversee the publication of it and many other tasty books, but to keep the authors of said books happy so they will write more of the words I love to read. The only motivation I can conceive of is a desire to wreck the entire industry; a short-sighted hooliganism which glories in destruction for its own sake. Or perhaps mere childish greed for free stuff. Neither is very pretty.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I can sorta understand it in the case of a book that's not available anywhere. I myself would very much like to re-read The Secret Language and The Trouble with Jenny's Ear (among others) without having to pay $90 for a used copy, but apparently that's not going to happen.

For books that are readily available, or that will in a few months be readily available at current market price, I can't understand it at all.

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

Exactly so.