RE: Re: Copy protection and Smashwords

You probably don't talk to as many authors and industry professionals as I
do. I'm on in excess of 50 lists and a handful of industry organizations,
for precisely these aims, most indie/e (where people are much more
reasonable in general than conglomerate) but some cross-industry. I'm on an
additional few dozen that have both authors and readers on them, so no...I'm
NOT ignoring readers either. I'm also distribution manager for a publisher
with in excess of 270 authors AND former EIC for another publisher that
rivaled that. DRM is a nearly constant discussion point on all of these
forums and lists. So...of the two of us, I'm going to assume you are the one
that doesn't know what most authors think. 

 

Most of the ones I deal with on a daily basis are not the evil nasties you
portray and are not at all unreasonable about access to what a reader has
purchased. In fact, since most of them are also ebook readers, they know
first-hand what it's like to lose books when Gemstar or Mobi went down or
their old reader died and they purchased a new one. They don't want it to
happen either, to themselves or to readers. There are a rare few authors
that go off the deep end, but there will always be high-strung types in the
mix, in any population. I don't apologize for them, because I don't agree
with them and don't feel it's my place to apologize for anyone else.

 

It seems to me you just want to believe you are being wronged by authors,
and rather than learn the truth, you'll continue to think so due to whatever
personal biases you harbor. So sad. Two people have explained to you now
that it is NOT authors that DRM books (unless they are self-publishing and
choose the option to do so). PUBLISHERS choose to DRM or not and can change
their policies mid-stream without even telling authors it's happening. I've
seen it happen, and it's not pretty when authors against DRM find out it has
happened. Believe it or not, we advocate for our readers a lot more than you
believe, but we are also trapped in bad situations until the end of our
contracts with said publishers. It may not be that an author doesn't WANT to
leave but contractually cannot leave yet.

 

The ONLY thing I agree with you on is the idea of showing your dislike of
DRM by not purchasing it in the first place. Excellent first step. I've
tried to organize groups of people doing this to sway the conglomerates into
realizing what DRM costs them, but it doesn't seem like many people are
interested in a concerted effort.

 

Brenna

 

 

 

Subject: Re: [ebook-community] Re: Copy protection and Smashwords

 

  



Since you are the first author I have seen who has made a statement
like this it I rather doubt that the majority of authors agree with
you. 


I can now break the DRM on almost any book out there, it's a trivial
matter. I don't purchase DRM books because I don't want to encourage
the use of DRM. And the attitude pisses me off.

Barbara



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