infoneer.net

The default position is that we ebook readers are always engaged in some form of wrongdoing. We are charged more. We don’t get the book at the same time. We are constrained in how we use our books, on what devices we read them on, with whom we can share them. We are not considered legitimate customers if we do not leave our house and buy a paper copy.

Sharing is a fundamental part of reading. Sharing is a reader’s way of saying “try this, I think you’ll like it. There is no risk here.” It’s a way of building a relationship with another reader so that the next time you are reading a book, you can say, “get this” and that person will go and buy it, solely on your recommendation. From one reader to another, there is no greater expression of trust than to buy on another reader’s recommendation.

Sharing is part of creating the reading community. Sharing seeds reading. It creates and generates more interest in reading. Why is this important? Because the biggest threat to authors’ livelihood is not piracy. It is not casual sharing. It is a declining readership. It is rising rates of illiteracy. It is alternative forms of entertainment.

I am not arguing that piracy is right. It is not. But sharing between people on one Kindle account is not piracy and to equate piracy with sharing is incredibly insulting and frustrating. As an ebook reader, I have given up so many rights.

Seen at Dear Author, …