Arr, Matey: Book Piracy and the Indie Author

At this stage in the game, we all know book piracy is pretty rampant. Whether it’s someone in a country where the major stores don’t operate, or it’s someone who is tight on cash who still really wants to read a book, or someone is trying to stick it to “the man,” or it’s someone who is just being cheap, there are many different reasons people will pirate a book.

As a result, book piracy happens to pretty much every author these days. The question is what can be done to protect authors but also satisfy readers.

Why Is Book Piracy a Thing?

The first question a lot of people have is why would someone pirate a book? As things go, books are … well, they’re not cheap. They usually clock in around $10 a pop. Trad pub books often run higher than that, while indie books may be more reasonably priced.

Cost is often the first reason people cite when they think of book piracy. If you ask authors, then they figure readers are just being cheap. Readers may justify not paying for books by suggesting they don’t have the budget. Maybe they read too voraciously to buy every book they read. If the average cost of an eBook is $10 and you read 10 books a month, you’ve easily spent $100. In a world where wages have not kept pace with inflation, this is understandable.

The solution, some people would say, is to simply not read books. And that is a solution. It’s similar to the argument that people who can’t leave a twenty percent tip shouldn’t bother going to a restaurant. You can’t afford it, so don’t do it.

Unlike the restaurant meal, though, a book is something that can be pirated—which means there are ways to make it available for free.

Can You Even Get a Copy?

Other arguments include people in countries where stores like Amazon, Apple, and Google Play simply aren’t accessible. People have no choice but to access books through less than legal means if they want to read them. I know this one to be true. I’ve read my share of manga scanlations, because nobody had bothered to license an English translation and put it up for sale in my market. In short, the only way for me to access the manga I wanted to read was to pirate it.

Some other people may feel they are “sticking to The Man” by pirating. This is especially true with books that are available only on Amazon’s platform. There have been plenty of Amazon boycotts lately, especially as it looks like Jeff Bezos is getting cozy with America’s right-wing administration. So people look for ways around using Amazon—and that might include pirating books that are only sold on Amazon.

Why Book Piracy Is a Problem

Most authors think piracy is a problem because it means a lost sale. The book pirate would have bought the book if the pirate site didn’t exist. They therefore see piracy as a detriment to their sales.

Copyright law agrees with them there, to some degree. Copyright exists to try and protect creators from exploitation. You deserve to earn maybe not a living, but some small amount for your creation. In short, you deserve to be paid for creative work you do.

Imitations, knock-offs, fakes, and piracy make that much harder. Knock-off Louis Vuitton sells for a lot less than the genuine article, which makes it accessible to more people. Yet people who might have bought the real McCoy instead opt for the cheaper version. That depresses sales of the original and makes it more difficult for Louis Vuitton to stay in business.

In a creative arena like books, people might either pirate books (straight up taking an author’s work and offering it for free), or plagiarism may be the name of the game. In the latter case, people just copy the work—perhaps with some minor tweaks or changes—and sell it, often for less, alongside the original. That leads to confusion in the market. Both situations depress sales for the “real deal,” which in turn means the author is not being compensated.

Copyright law, though, exists to some degree to protect small indies from being taken advantage of by big corporations. We’ve all heard stories about publishing houses “stealing” authors’ books or movie studios rejecting a writer’s script, then making the movie. While this situation can be difficult to tease out, it does happen. Copyright law should protect the individual artist—although big corporations often abuse it to line their own pockets.

Were You Really Going to Make That Sale?

The question I ask here is whether the “that’s a lost sale” line of thinking is really true. If someone looked for a free copy of your book, versus simply buying the damn thing, there’s a good chance they were never going to buy a copy.

Think about it. If I looked at a book, looked at it on Amazon, and went, “Hm, I wonder if I can find a free copy,” I am extremely motivated to not pay for this item. I am going to do everything in my power to avoid paying for it.

And if I can’t find a way to access it for free? Then there’s a good chance I will simply give up and not read it.

So, in my mind, the “lost sale” argument doesn’t hold any weight. That’s before we consider situations where people literally can’t buy legal copies of the book.

Pirates Can Be Your Biggest Fans

Piracy isn’t necessarily a net negative either. Think, for example, of people in markets where they can’t access your book except through illegal means. These people want to read your book so badly they’re willing to break laws. Wow. We should be flattered. It can also take time and effort to find a pirated book—this person is motivated.

So, yes, it sucks that these people are violating intellectual property laws and that authors are not being compensated. That said, book pirates may turn into big supporters.

Keep in mind what I said about the myth of the lost sale. The book pirate was likely never going to buy your book. If they can’t find a free copy, despite their best efforts, they’re just going to give up. That means they never read it—and you’ve lost a potential fan.

When the book is available to them, then they will read it. And some people will love that book. They may go on to support you in various ways: recommending the book to others, leaving ratings or reviews, and even, eventually, buying a copy of that work or other books you write, as the books are available and they have the means.

That kind of support is much more valuable than a one-time royalty payment. By shuttering out pirates, then, we’re potentially shuttering out some of our biggest fans. We’re limiting access and our reader base will include only those who are wealthy enough or privileged enough.

Art Should Be Accessible

This wraps into a bigger debate about how art should be accessible to everyone—but so very often, it has barriers to it. Examples abound, and not just in the age of capitalism. Take, for example, the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. That is an amazing work of art, but it was painted on a Renaissance pope’s private chapel. The public was largely forbidden to view it for centuries; it was hidden from most people. Only the wealthy or powerful could see it.

That … sucks. Today, we live in a world where people can go and see the Sistine Chapel, and where pictures can be reproduced in books and on the internet, so we can all experience its beauty. But for many of our ancestors, even those living near the Vatican, that was just not the case.

Where Book Piracy Hurts Indie Authors

That’s not to say piracy is a-okay or that we should encourage it. It’s more a reminder to think about how capitalism pits us in “wars” with each other over what we view as scarce resources. The book pirate maybe doesn’t want to part with their hard-earned money. In turn, the author doesn’t make a sale, which hurts their bottom line. That eventually makes publishing unviable for them, which means they have to close up shop and never publish again.

That is also a shitty situation. As much as art should be accessible, artists live in a capitalist ecosystem that demands they use their art to make money. If they can’t, they might need to stop making it and find another way to survive.

This is especially true for indie authors. Publishing houses like Penguin Random House or HarperCollins have more funding behind them. The indie author is usually an individual hoping to make a few bucks here or there. Most can tell you exactly where those dollars go: to shelter, to food, to clothing, transportation, utilities bills, or, maybe, if they’re lucky, supporting other authors.

That’s why piracy hurts indie authors so much. Yes, boycotting Amazon is a good thing—but pirating an Amazon-only book hurts the author more than it truly hurts Amazon.

Amazon as the Ultimate Threat to Indie Authors

The biggest problem with piracy isn’t actually book pirates, though. In the indie author ecosystem, Amazon and their Kindle Unlimited program is the juggernaut. Many, many indies use the platform to reach their readers. Amazon demands exclusivity for any book enrolled in the program; that means the book cannot be anywhere else.

And Amazon does not make an exception to that for pirate sites. If Amazon’s bots discover a book enrolled in KU on another site, even one that’s known as a problematic pirate site, they bring the ban hammer down … on the author.

Yes, Amazon has been known to ISP-permaban author accounts for “TOS violations” of the KU program.

Indie authors have very little recourse here. Pirate sites are often unreachable or unresponsive to C&D letters and DMCA takedown notices. While it’s a good idea for authors to attempt to submit these to pirate sites through any means possible—and to keep record of their efforts, so they can show Amazon what they’re doing to combat piracy—Amazon may still boot the author if the works aren’t removed from the pirate site.

Obviously, another solution is taking the books out of the KU program and going wide. Yet, for many indies, that comes at significant cost. So, yes, book piracy costs indie authors a lot—but it’s not the pirate sites or the individuals pirating books that are the biggest threat. It’s Amazon, which has a vested interest in maintaining that exclusivity clause. If they’re so invested in their cut of the royaltyies, they could use their clout as one of the biggest corporations on the planet to shut down pirate sites.

Instead, Amazon turns that clout on the little guys, who have next to no power in the ecosystem.

It truly is a rock and a hard place.

What Can We Do about Book Piracy?

As I noted, the difficulty here is balancing the needs of creatives—to make a living—with the needs of readers, who may have any number of reasons to access works in a less-than-legal way.

Things authors can do include protecting their work through things like DRM and issuing C&D and DMCA takedown notices. They can also think about the impacts of piracy when they make the decision about putting their books in programs like Kindle Unlimited—risks and rewards must be carefully weighed.

Authors can also take other steps, such as having sales or giving books away for free. Going wide may be a strategy to help make the book more accessible to more readers—and it may do away with some of the arguments about sticking it to “The Man,” provided “The Man” is Apple, Google, or Amazon. Itch.io offers an alternative platform for authors to offer their works, and some platforms allow for “pay-what-you-can” pricing. Pricing strategies may also be considered—is your book simply too expensive? Could you lower the price and make it more affordable?

How Readers Can Support Authors

Readers have a part in this as well. Those who can legally access books and have the means to should buy the book. Programs like Kindle Unlimited and Kobo Plus offer subscription services—all the books you can read for a set monthly fee, which can help a reader stretch their budget. Readers can also sign up to be on ARC teams or ask authors for review copies, which are essentially free copies given in exchange for an honest review. Many, many indies would happily give someone a free book, versus having it uploaded to a pirate site.

Readers can also take steps to support authors. Recommend books, rate and review, and, when you can afford it, actually make purchases. Donations to something like a Ko-Fi or signing up for a Patreon are also good ways to support an author that can cost less than buying the book.

And, as a whole, we as a society need to figure out how to balance the needs of readers and creators, so everyone can survive and thrive, while also enjoying a wide diversity of art.