Will literary piracy will take away writers' motivation to write? A british authors' society claims it may.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3648813.ece
This brings up the question of how should writers be paid for their work? Writers just want to write and be paid for it so they don't have to work multiple jobs (is that so much to ask?), but digital piracy steals bread from authors' mouths (and the mouths of their children). Should fiction writers be subsidized with grants? Will writing grant proposals take up all of the creative time and energy writers need to create fiction?
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Writers get paid a percentage of the cover price of every copy sold at full cover price through normal retail outlets. Writers negotiate advances against royalties, but if the book doesn't sell enough copies to earn out the advance, not only does the writer not get any more money but he also gets tyhe difference deducted from the advance on his next book. If copies are distributed electronically for free, the writer doesn't get paid for writing new works.
ReplyDeleteWow, this post hits it home for me. I understand more now who is hit hardest in this game. From the article you cited: "It’s hitting hardest the writers who write books that you dip in and out of: poetry, cookbooks, travel guides, short stories – books where you don’t have to read the whole thing. Although people still buy [books by] Nigella and Jamie Oliver and Delia it is because of their celebrity. Cookbook authors are really struggling. I do it myself – if I want a recipe I go online and get it for free."
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that a payment schema that pays the author electronically and directly is the best way to go. But how long will it take to get there? I fear it will be a long time.
It makes me wonder if authors themselves need to start using DRM before sharing their works with publishers! Maybe they already do this.