One Size Fits Some
Yar, matey.
Writers used to worry about making money and political persecution. They probably also worried about things like what to write next and being the target of social mockery, but the biggies were starving to death and getting imprisoned/beheaded.
The future (now known as “The present”) has brought a whole new range of things for writers to worry about and added complications to the classics. For instance: internet piracy, which I doubt Dante could have predicted on his darkest day. The gist: if people pirate ebooks then they aren’t paying, and so the author isn’t paid. There’s that money thing again. There’s also the fact the publishers don’t realize the book is being read, and if it is they certainly aren’t earning from it, so the book is not republished.
In one of those twisty-opinion things newspapers love (see also Liberal whingers are wrong—We should close our libraries!), last week bestseller Paulo Coelho spoke out favour of internet piracy. He’s made all his books available on The Pirate Bay and said, “if you enjoy them, buy a hard copy – the way we have to tell to the industry that greed leads to nowhere!”
Readers have described him as “a visionary,” “a role-model for all mankind” and “a hero,” because hey, who doesn’t love a free book? Another fan noted, “If I wasn’t a pirate I never would read your books!” Good point, fan!
But to look at Coelho’s point with more seriousness, let’s evaluate the summary:
“The good old days, when each idea had an owner, are gone forever. First, because all anyone ever does is recycle the same four themes: a love story between two people, a love triangle, the struggle for power, and the story of a journey. Second, because all writers want what they write to be read, whether in a newspaper, blog, pamphlet, or on a wall,” he said. “The more often we hear a song on the radio, the keener we are to buy the CD. It’s the same with literature. The more people ‘pirate’ a book, the better. If they like the beginning, they’ll buy the whole book the next day, because there’s nothing more tiring than reading long screeds of text on a computer screen.”
Let’s evaluate the assumptions.
First, that all ideas simply recycle the same four themes. Interesting. I wonder when the good old days were, when themes were more numerous. Ten years ago? One thousand years? What happened? And can we break them down further? Isn’t a love triangle also a struggle for power? Isn’t any kind of love story also a journey? Maybe there’s only one or two themes after all. Maybe there’s just one: “something happens.” There. How simple storytelling must be! We’re finished already. But what does this have to do with piracy?
Second, that all writers want to be read regardless of the medium, be it newspaper, blog, or “wall.” So why even bother with getting your books pirated? Post them to your free blog. Done. This makes all publishing worries kind of a non-issue, actually.
Third, that reading one book, free or otherwise, can inspire a reader to spend money on that author’s books. I believe this because I’ve experienced it myself every time I read a great book I borrowed from a library. If I really want to read another book by that author, I don’t wait for the free copy. I track it down myself at a bookstore. Not everyone does this, but there are enough of us out there to make it a reality. No sarcasm here. It’s a good point.
Fourth, ebooks are like samplers because no one wants to read a whole book on a computer screen. Sure. Yes. Of course. I guess. Someone should introduce this guy to the Sony Reader and Kindle.
Anyway, there’s also the conclusion that these points apparently add to, which is that ideas are no longer owned by one person. I don’t know where he’s going with this. I guess someone should take all that money back from J.K. Rowling because boy wizards do not belong to her, they belong to us all. Or something. What?
Leaving aside snark for a moment, if not the remainder of this article, there’s at least one major problem every time an author speaks up for or against ebooks, piracy, and the publication world generally: it’s just not that simple. Here we have a world-renowned author with one opinion. That’s fine. J.A. Konrath, the writer who made self-publishing look so attractive and then signed a deal with Amazon, has other opinions. As does J.K. Rowling who only made the Harry Potter ebooks available… er, not yet, actually. It would be impossible to argue that an author’s fame has nothing to do with their books pirated or purchased. Writers who aren’t famous and don’t have the press coverage and backlist of titles to buy will have other opinions. Strategies for the former are not as useful for the latter no matter how much we wish we were in the same category as these superstars.
Coelho can give his books away and he knows he will inspire more sales because he’s already in a position where there are a lot of people in the world saying, “I want to read one his books some day. I can read one now, for free? Excellent. I will.” Of course it will work for him.
Should a writer self-publish? It depends on the writer. Does a writer need an internet platform to raise awareness of their books? It depends on the writer. Should a writer offer their books for free?
I hope you’re noticing a theme here.
