I had a conversation about books with a friend of mine and we came into the subjects of buying books vs borrowing books from a public library. He said that he likes to support the author and prefers to buy the books he reads.
This made me think. The answer is pretty clear when it comes to buying vs downloading a pirate copy, but in the case with libraries it seems incorrect to say that I’m not supporting the author, but I can’t say why.
What do you think?
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It depends. If I’m ever able to publish physical copies I’m definitely sending a few for free to some big libraries if I can. Libraries have given so much to me in my life and I feel like it’s my duty to give back to them. So, while I don’t get more money from the library after the initial purchase of the book, I just care about more eyes on my work and less on the money. I want to inspire artists like they have inspired me.
A library and downloading are copy are essentially the same. The author gets paid initially and then the book is shared by lots of people. Just think of the internet as a larger library with no late fees, every book always available, and easily accessible.
Look who hasn’t heard of PLR lol
Also - the library will order the next book by the author, and pre-sales are super important!
On the other hand, if people stopped supporting libraries, we’d lose an extremely valuable social service.
One of my favorite authors said he would rather have a million people read his book than have a million dollars.
Love that, what author?
T C Boyle
Libraries pay more than the listed price to allow them to lend out books.
The more a book gets checked out, the more of a chance the library will have to purchase more copies due to eventual damage or requests for the author. Larger libraries might purchase 100 copies of an author’s new release in book form, but also audiobook, ebook, and e-audiobook.
Libraries support authors.
I’m always surprised to read that. In my library (and it size is decent I think) most books have only one copy, I guess some really popular books like Harry Potter or The Stranger might have a bit more but that’s all.
I am a he, I prefer to purchase over borrow in order to support the author, I have had this exact discussion recently with friends on more than one occasion, you and I may be friends.
Libraries pay for books, and authors get a cut. So yes, you are fine. No author worthy of the title would say otherwise.
As a librarian, we support authors because we buy books that are in demand. The more people who reserve a popular title (e.g. yellowface recently) the more copies we’ll buy. We also buy books in bulk for book groups and sometimes we get free reign over what books we buy for our branches!
Doesn’t the library pay a higher cost for the book to be on the shelf?
Not an author but I generally check out books from the library when I read them and I really enjoy them, I buy a copy as a bookshelf trophy.
Of course there are some authors I will buy without reading it first.
Sounds like some propaganda that a bookseller puts out.
#RightToLibrary
If the library sees the demand for a certain author it is more likely to buy their other books.
Author here, and yes, we receive nothing from a library check out. To be fair, libraries carry almost exclusively traditionally published books, and the author typically doesn’t get anything when you buy the book either because they have to sell a certain (very large) number to actually start getting royalties, which are crazy small anyway.
Most authors don’t mind giving a book away for free because they are looking to build fans who are willing to buy special edition hardcovers and such. Much like bands, secondary merchandise is where a majority of their revenue comes from (assuming they are making a living, which is rare).
This does not apply to indies, who typically would rather be in kindle unlimited than a library.