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?
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.