When I call e-pirates thieves? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about sites like Asatalk and Demonoid that upload ebooks to file-sharing sites by the thousands. That's not sharing a book with a few friends. That's not "building community." That's ripping off authors, and making it harder for us to get compensated for our work. Reasonable people can agree on this topic, yes? One would hope so.
But then I stumble across readers making comments like, "Why should I care if authors make any money on their writing? It's not my problem. I don't care if their books are being pirated. I don't care if Amazon rips them off. I don't want to hear about it."
And I begin to wonder about this whole "community building" thing. Especially when I've seen some of these same readers (in the comments of the same blog, too) say, "Where are all the new and interesting books? Why isn't there anything good to read? I'm so bored. Everything sucks."
Take those two statements together, and you've got something that smells an awful like entitlement. And I start to feel as if authors are being asked to do all the heavy lifting in this "community building" enterprise.
Here's the thing: After you pay for my book, I don't believe you owe me anything. Not a fan letter. Not a good review on a blog or elsewhere. Not a recommendation. Nada. As far as I'm concerned, our transaction is complete. Which is not to say I don't love to hear from readers in all the ways I've listed. I just don't expect it. I don't feel ENTITLED to it, in other words.
But if you're going to start bandying about the idea of building a community of readers and writers, then there has to be give and take on both sides. If I can get behind Kindle users sharing a book with five or six other buddies, surely readers can get behind denouncing the true pirates.
As far as I'm concerned, if you don't care whether we are compensated for our work, you are not a member of any community I'd ever want to join.
(X-posted to SelahMarch.com - Romance of Dubious Virtue)
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chasethestars
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And I begin to wonder about this whole "community building" thing. Especially when I've seen some of these same readers (in the comments of the same blog, too) say, "Where are all the new and interesting books? Why isn't there anything good to read? I'm so bored. Everything sucks."
Reader entitlement bites. Not like this is new. I've said it many a time before in various ways.
But see, here's the thing a lot of people don't get: the more readers turn on writers and treat them as a disposable commodity there only to do their bidding, the more withdrawn writers are going to become. (As have many entertainers and athletes.)
I think it would do writers (romance writers in particular) a huge amount of good to really take a giant step back and refrain from a lot of interaction. Never mind that many of them simply don't have the desire or skill to interact (be it online or in person) but I think the easy availability has been a huge contributor to the entitlement issue. It's very seductive, that feeling of immediate gratification and feedback and (hopefully) adoration, that leads so many authors to feel as if they owe their readers. The only thing they owe readers is a good book and even then, the reader has to come second. The only person the author really owes their best effort to is themselves. To tell the very best story the author is capable of-- then, it's a win/win situation, the writer is happy with the fruits of their labors and the reader gets their money's worth for that book.
Honestly, there are a lot of writers who don't interact in any meaningful way with their readers and yet it doesn't hurt their readership which would also seem to support the argument that in the end, the story remains and hopefully always will remain, the main thing.
Which is as it should be.
Dogs go 'splodey. Tree pretty.