Publishers Suggesting that Modest Piracy Could be a Positive Thing?!
On March 25th the BookNet Canada Technology Forum took place at Toronto’s MaRS Centre with approximately 200 publishing professionals in attendance. With the theme being “Calculated Risk: Adventures in Book Publishing” discussions naturally surrounded the implications (positive and negative) of digital publishing. Piracy continues to be a hot button for many and everyone seems to have their own philosophy about what it will do to the industry and how they can take control of the issue.
Bob Miller, group publisher of Workman Publishing (formerly of HarperStudio) is a fresh voice in the sea fear. So many are consumed by the idea that every pirated digital copy means a lost sale, but what they fail to accept is that the pirated files are most often taken by readers who would never have purchased the book in the first place. What’s really going on is a form of promotion that is happening out of the hands, and control, of publishers, but which still has the potential to drive sales when the numbers are within reason. Miller likened it to one of the most common forms of promotion in the industry. “Certainly, if we saw our business being pirated completely, it would be terrible. However, we give away 2,000 copies at BookExpo, and we’re upset if we can’t give them all away!” he said. “So I think 2,000 copies being pirated is good news. It shows they will read it, tell their friends, and go buy the author’s next book.” Richard Nash, an independent publishing consultant and entrepreneur agreed. “Two thousand pirated e-books is a good sign – it means somebody wants the damn things,” Nash went on to explain that stagnation is where real risk lies. “It is too risky not to completely reconceive our business. The risk lies in remaining siloed, remaining in the manufacturing business.”
Piracy is something that we all need to keep on top of so that as Miller suggested, the entire business is not pirated. That clearly is not a sustainable business model for anyone. But the fact is that pirates are extremely good at breaking systems so we have to accept that there will always be a little bit of this going on. Additionally, many houses are finding that the majority of the pirated copies are coming from in-house (late stage manuscripts) or from advance copies (scans made from the printed version). Two of the big six stated that this was more often the case than their eBooks getting cracked and shared. So what is the lesson here? Don’t ignore piracy but keep the ball moving forward. What is gained from the digital form far outweighs what is perceived to be lost. There is still a lot to be ironed out and innovated in this new landscape, but the future will be bright for those brave enough to venture forth and smart enough to see where opportunity lies.
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