In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had indie authors mention pirated ebooks to me in various 
online conversations. “How can you find out if your ebook is up on a pirate site?” “How many sales am I losing because of pirated ebooks?” “What do I do if I find my ebook listed on a pirate service?” Things of that nature.
I’m not really the right person to ask about this stuff because honestly I don’t worry about it (though I’m throwing in a couple of links at the end of the post in case you are looking for answers).
Why don’t I worry about it?
a) The people who pirate stuff probably weren’t going to buy a copy of my ebooks anyway, so it’s not like I’m losing sales.
b) I think Elizabeth Warren is right and a lot of people just can’t afford to spend much money on entertainment these days (I pirated music left and right when I was a broke private in the army — back in the late 90s, when I was stationed in South Korea, everybody in the barracks with a computer had Napster on it. I share this tidbit, not because we were in the right, but because it might change your opinion of who your stereotypical pirate is.) Don’t want your stuff pirated? Write to appeal to an older, upper class audience :D.
c) I’m a nobody author at this point, so I’d be more flattered than anything if someone went through the hassle of hunting for my ebooks on a pirate site (that said, I doubt my opinion will change even if I become a somebody author one day). I kind of wonder how much of a problem this really is for any indie author who isn’t in the Amazon Top 1oo.
Naturally, I’d rather folks bought my ebooks, but I’m not going to take it as a personal betrayal if they don’t.
Oh, and incidentally, I ended up buying tons of CDs back when I was in Korea (and you could find anything on Napster for free). I discovered a lot of good music, stuff that wasn’t played on the radio, stuff I never would have tried if I’d had to take a chance on a $12-$15 CD (this was before Pandora and iTunes existed). Just saying. I agree with Neil Gaiman on this.
Okay, now that I’ve had my little say, here are some links if you’re concerned about this stuff:
I’m with you: Don’t sweat it.
As a convenience to my readers, I have even opted out of any of the DRM options available for my ebooks.
I think some people get up-in-arms about the issue because they assume that if it weren’t for the pirates not paying, they would be rolling in the money. It’s a silly, unfounded belief. But good luck shaking them out of it. =)
-David
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Shiloh Walker has a repeating post about what to do if your work is pirated, I think she re-posts it every other month or so.
I get that it’s frustrating but I also think it places more stress than you need on yourself to worry about it. It’s going to happen. I try to look at it more like authors who offer up a book for free in hopes they’ll gain new readers.
My sister did the Napster thing for awhile but ended up crashing her computer so many times from the viruses that I never took the chance. But you’re right when times are tough people do things they wouldn’t otherwise do.
I think I read Joe Konrath actually did an experiment where he encouraged people to pirate one of his ebooks and he tracked his sales. I don’t think he had any noticeable drop in sales, may have actually had an increase, but it was awhile ago and I can’t remember the details.
BTW, you’ve been tagged! 😉 See my blog for details. Playing is optional, of course, don’t feel obligated.
Very interesting We used … it wasn’t Napster, but something like it — people sharing music files. A lot of it was music I had owned on vinyl or cassette or some other outdated form and someone else had the tools to convert it. But it was a great way to try out new stuff.
I love Neil. Interesting that his sales went up with piracy. I’d be flattered, too, if anyone pirated me.