Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Leehla wrote: "I spend a lot of time on these file-sharing websites "

That's because you are a thief. File sharing sites are where thieves hang out and distribute stolen copies of author's work.

Given you laughable justifications in this thread I'm starting to suspect you are also a troll.

You completely dismiss copyright notices that appear in most/all books stating that it is illegal to copy/upload/distribute. Obviously the law and even basic moral tenets of right and wrong mean nothing to you.

But that's what thieves do - they come up with ridiculous arguments to try and justify their illegal actions.

File sharing is theft.
It is illegal and a breach of copyright.
Authors lose money.
Thieves do not buy books, they either obtain them illegally in the first place (like breeching NDAs in ARC teams) or buy from Amazon, strip out the file and then return for a refund.

What you are doing is theft and I hope some day your illegal actions come back and bite you hard.

A.W. wrote: "I can't decide if you are trolling us or if you are so morally deficient that you truly don't understand the concept of theft"

@AW: Yeah, that was my reaction after reading partway through this thread... LOL, I'm guessing troll. ;-)

Troll or just so thick, nothing gets through.

A.W. wrote: "What you are doing is theft and I hope some day your illegal actions come back and bite you hard. "

^ THIS.

Not only is it theft, she KNOWS it is. She also knows now, if she didn't before, that it's not only authors this thievery harms. It also harms ME and every other person and establishment that purchases books legally, and obtains them through other legal means.

It hurts publishers.
It hurts authors.
It hurts readers.
It hurts libraries.
It hurts those who borrow books from libraries.
It hurts kids.
It hurts teens.
It hurts schools.
It hurts parents of readers.
It hurts relatives of young readers.

Etc., etc.

Because WE are the ones who pay for it, or can't afford books, or as many books, because of it.

Given that it's pretty clear she's a troll, I'd suggest our Mods ban her. Then we can get back to discussing books and writing.

I’m sot of glad the Leehla discussion is over. It did deal with morality, legality, loss, and the economics of writing. I had/have a question that looked like an appropriate one when I looked at the beginning of this thread. Then I looked at the last comments and thought that there was no way I could continue it, but after some thought I realized it was a perfect entry. Why do people write and publish (self or big company). Why do they want their book to be in a bookstore or some listing by which people could obtain the book? Clearly if money is a factor at all, she is stealing from you. If she doesn’t give you full credit, she is stealing from almost everyone. However, suppose your main motive is to have as many people read what you think is important or at least needs to be known, then although she is still morally corrupt, she may be doing you a favour. To a certain extent you are doing the same when you give your book away free.
My question then is the one I raised above. Why do you write and put your book out there? The answer for me follows. I did not writ to make money, but rather to lose as little as possible. I was motivated by “Star Wars”. Here was part of the history of a far distant galaxy.
I looked for a history of our galaxy and did not really find one. I decide our galaxy needed one; I sort of started it at the beginning of sentient life in “Pygmalion Conspiracy”. There was more to the book than the beginning of sentience. I wanted to say something about how the creators, their god, and the created should be. Unlike “Star Wars” this was not a book about warriors, although the creators and created were far from patsies when push came to shove. The women were neither weak/submissive nor men with breasts. Since the creators were mostly scientists their measure was mostly intellectual and determination not warrior related. How good a character is at killing is seldom a measure in any of my four books. Jeevra, the protagonist is a brilliant and mostly moral woman (Leehla would have definitely offended her). There are other sorts of philosophical issue that I deal with especially in the fourth and final book in the series, “The Grandchildren of Lemma”.
I was sufficiently involve in the concept that I initially thought I would not admit it was fictional (In my blog, Jeevra.blog, I don’t. It consists of letters between three characters form the books and me, So, Leehla you have my permission (does that ruin it for you?) to steal my book and distribute it wide and far. To further ruin your fun anyone can get it free at https://www.prolificworks.com/author/....
So I’ve told you why I do what I do, how about you?

Bruce wrote: "I’m sot of glad the Leehla discussion is over. It did deal with morality, legality, loss, and the economics of writing. I had/have a question that looked like an appropriate one when I looked at th..."
Bruce,
Many authors do seem to lose sight of the reason they wrote their novels in the first place and I'm glad you brought that up. Money unfortunately doesn’t always happen when it comes to writing, so if money is the motivation, wouldn’t it be best to put the efforts spent on the novel into another day job?
As for your question, I write because I love to and want to share my stories. I believe Leehla was misunderstood and treated unfairly. From my understanding, she was not saying SHE pirated books, she was simply looking for opinions and thoughts on the topic from authors. Many gave their solicited opinions on the topic as well as their unsolicited opinions about her character.
As an author, I want my stories to be read and shared. If I make money off them, that’s great. That’s why I have mine listed at $2.99 for the Kindle edition. It’s enough to earn some royalties while also allowing me to participate in Amazon’s promotional deals, such as offering my work for free for five days during the three-month Kindle Select period. That price point and the ability to participate in the promotions makes it accessible for many readers, especially those who cannot afford novels or go to the library. If readers want to download my books and upload them to a file-sharing website, they are welcome to. At least I will know someone thought my books were good enough to pirate. If that also means my stories are being read more, even better. That’s free marketing. Marketing is expensive. Advertising is expensive. If someone wants to do that at no expense to me (my books are otherwise just sitting there on Amazon, waiting to be downloaded at no expense to me) that is more than okay with me.
I understand not all authors feel this way. Yes, it is nice to be paid, but we also cannot control that. Rather than focusing on the economics of writing, I encourage authors to remember the reason they began writing. A novel takes far too much time and effort to bring to publication with no guarantee of a payoff to do it simply for the money. Remember why you love to write and really focus in on that. Generosity tends to repay itself. Share your stories and consider that while you might not get paid, you might gain something far more valuable, such as a friends and dedicated fans.

When I originally got into writing in the 90s it was about sending out a message (spiritual, but in other ways as well) but also about trying to figure out what the best ways to print/market/etc. would be--in the days without internet! So I got way too many copies printed of my first book in my trilogy and the right amount for the second book in the trilogy. The third book in the trilogy is up on my site https://omegabooksnet.com and can be downloaded FREE in PDF form (plus there are instructions to put the PDF on Kindles,etc. and it worked for my Kindle app). In 2018 I finally broke even financially with book sales. The entire three-books-in-one The Prodigal Band Trilogy published by Lulu did cost money but it has been cost effective so far (print and e-book versions available on Amazon and many other platforms). So that when you are ready to publish, find out what works best and what is most cost effective. As with C.M. and others, it;s about the love of writing or the message in the writing, not about the money.

I love to interact with other authors and to exchange reviews. This is a very rewarding experience for me because I get to critique their books and vice versa. I also love to get reader feedback on my books. My favorite part though is to autograph my book when a reader asks me to.
www.warnasuriyabooks.comThe Villa

M. wrote: "My dystopian novel, The Book begins with four words: "Don't read The Book." It goes on to explain itself & if you've read the back cover by that point you'll understand that statement to mean more ..."

I love the first line of your book...how captivating!! I also agree that outlining is such a crucial part of the writing process and I don't know what I'd do if I didn't set things up that way first.

Here is the short form: pirating books is theft.
An author and the publisher have a contract. That contract stipulates how the book will be published (hard, soft, audio) and sold. That contract takes into consideration library sales with the understanding that libraries loan books, so one sale may result in a hundred reads. It takes into consideration that some digital forms may have some sort of "loan" or sharing option. So each purchaser or reader is obtaining the book downstream of the contract.
Certainly if you buy a book, you may then turn around and loan it to a friend, donate it to a library sale or regift it because you obtained the book legally.
If there is no contract between the publisher or author and a site that allows for downloads without compensation to, and often without the knowledge of, the author, obtaining books through that site is piracy. Yes, people do it and the internet has made it relatively easy to do. And yes, it is theft.

Exactly

Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go? Do you always know ho..."

I often start with brainstorming on a story to tell. I try to think of a story I will want to tell from either my experience or what I have read. A storyline (brief description of a story to tell) of a chosen story I have come up with is what follows. The next in the thing that follows is my writing down of a synopsis of the story if satisfied with the storyline. I begin to tell my story after I am satisfied with my synopsis from the first event in it to the last event in it. So I must Know the beginning of the story and its end before telling it.

Sometimes I THINK I know where the book is going when I start it--However, it usually doesn't quite end up where I thought it would. My characters often take over the story and I just follow along...

For me, I know how the book will start and I know how it will end and I work towards the ending I know I want to have. Before I start to write, I will make bullet points to keep myself on track (this event, then this one, make sure you bring out this point before revealing this other point, this has to happen before this happens, etc.), but but what happens in-between and how the characters react to the events is fluid. The main thing is to know where you're going and work towards that end even if you end up taking a different route than you initially imagined.

While witing my one and only novel, I made a list of all of the characters, providing extensive details regarding the background, experiences, and unique behavoirlal and social traits of each.

As the story progressed, I referred to the character notes to make sure that a character involved in a situation behaved as they would, not as I would. On those few occasions when I failed to do so, thankfully, the conceptual editor would point out the error and I would re-write the scene.

When I wrote my first book, I went in with minimal planning and a rough idea and it came out fairly good but now I'm trying it with an immaculate plan for every chapter, every section, every scene and I am almost fully convinced it's gonna be brilliant already. I only know this because my planned chapter 1 has now become chapters 1, 2 and 3. Planning everything this time around is perfect because it's still given me room for lots of improvisation and now a singular 2500-3000 word planned chapter has turned into a whole 10,000+ words written in total.

But I always know exactly where the book is gonna go from start to finish, that never changes.

Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go? Do you always know ho..."

Yes. But it's dangerous because it's like starting a house with no blueprint. Can it be done? Yes. The odds of it having a solid foundation, walls that hold together, and a roof that doesn't leak are very, very slim. But it can be done. Generally it's easier to try and do that sort of thing if you're already inside a cave. Of course, that's cheating in a way, but it's also a way of making shelter quickly (satire would be the analogue here).

Glenn wrote: "Hey, I've got an idea that will be fun and help all of us imagine that we're promoting our books:

What's the first line of your novel?



Buckass naked in hot hand boiled bathtub suds playing with his tin New York dairy truck he heard old Rooney's brakes set to squelching.

Timothy wrote: "Hi Julie,
Why should you be any different to the rest of us? I can't remember ever reading a book without a few typos, mainstream or indie. It is annoying and I have to say is an increasing happen..."

Ditto.

Nell wrote: "Russell wrote: "One of my books got slammed recently... Unfortunately, his review sticks to practically every website on the net and every time I spot it, I feel I deserve a right of reply..."

It will never come off well because it will always read as if you're punching down. Even, generally, reviewing a similar book in your category will read as self serving. And that's a tradition in reviews going back as early as some of the first printed books.

Justin wrote: "I have a simple question for fellow Authors, Have you found Kindle to provide more sales then actual purchases or the real thing given Kindle being the hot thing right now?
Reason I ask is because..."

As this was ten years ago, things have changed all over the place, but for me, I'll say it really depends on the book.

A.L. wrote: "I once knew someone who told a not so educated and wise acquantaince that Fellatio was a character in Midsummer Night's Dream"

I once had a reader who didn't know the difference between that and when I said "fallacious." Though, I suppose, if that's going on every time you're supposed to be making a sound argument, it's sort of a fellacy fallacy.

Henry wrote: "Florence, not all self-pubbed authors attempt to manage without an editor. Some do, but others recognise the important ..."

And spoiler: not all traditionally published have editors or editors who care or editors who care and have the time etc. etc.

Justin wrote: "I got a question, when almost ready to release your book is it best to release info about it and promote it before it comes out or the day it comes out? I ask cause I have so much stuff in mind but..."

Before. Actually a year before if you can.

Jacqueline wrote: "Okay, people,
Where do you do your best thinking?
For me, it's in the shower. I swear, I could write a whole book in there if the hot water tank was large enough! Put me under a pounding spray of h..."

I don't know about best, but most frequent is on walks. Body needs to move to get the blood to the brain.

Mati wrote: "So I have a question to keep things going.

What do you do when you realize you have a plot flaw in your book? Do you immediately drop everything to sort it out? Outline? Organize coffee with a fr..."

I see if it can be fixed in a couple of scenes forward, otherwise it's time to delete back to the issue and write forward. Deleted 15,000 words that way one time (read: an entire novellette's worth of work)

Just like in real life, there are differences among authors. There are Plotters and there are panters. Plotters will hae the need to map out their novel and some go to great detail before they can start to creat the story.
A panter feels the need to tell a story and starts off with no idea of where the characters will end up. There have been award winners in both classes, so it is what works inside you.
I am a panter and my 84th book was puclished on Oct. 27, so that is my thing. The important part is to keep writing.

M. wrote: "Just like in real life, there are differences among authors. There are Plotters and there are panters. Plotters will hae the need to map out their novel and some go to great detail before they can ..."

Can you name some of these award winning pantsers?

I write as a hobby and offer my ebooks for free on Free-Ebooks.net. I don't make any money with my ebooks and I don't care: my goal is to use my retirement years constructively while entertaining others with my stories. About plotters vs pantsers, I definitely am a pantser. While I always have a solid debut scenario and list of characters when I start writing a new book, the planned end for it is what you may call 'nebulous' or 'approximate', as I like to let my imagination free to roam and come out with new things as I write. My only criterias are to make sure that my characters stay true to what they are supposed to be, that the story is entertaining and that it makes sense (as much as you can when writing science-fiction). I believe that solid research work on the subject to be written about is essential in order to have a credible story and background. Since I don't sell my ebooks, I can't pretend to be an award winning or best-selling author but I can honestly say that my stories are normally among the top rated ones on Free-Ebooks.net and I have had my ebooks downloaded a total of over 150,000 times over a period of twelve years. I also concentrate on writing series rather than standalone books, so I consider world building a very important part of a story.