Tayari's Blog: The Bootleg Issue: Where I Stand
Posted by TayariJones on June 28, 2006 10:36 AM
Filed under
The Writing Life
So yesterday, I posted Tyler Perry's concerns that way too many people are buying bootleg copies of the Madea DVDs. I can understand his point, but I think he's being a little myopic.
Of course, there is the Black angle, that we really MUST support our artists if we want them to be able to continue to make art. (Although, I must say that it seems to me that Mr. Perry is enjoying plenty of support.) I guess this applies to ALL artists, but as a marginalized people, we have an especially pressing need to have our stories told.
But there is a little more to this issue than that.
It is unreasonable to think that consumers will buy a more expensive version of a product when there is a cheaper version easily available and sometimes available BEFORE the "official" version. That is just a basic truth. I really can't cast my lot in with the people who demonize the people who take advantage of this. The fact is that the marketplace is changing and it is up to corporations that sell art to figure out ways to make a profit in this brave new world in which technology is changing all the rules.
Let's take it to books. When I wrote my first novel, Leaving Atlanta, I was devastated to discover the advanced copies were being sold for cheap on half.com before my book was officially released. Wide-eyed and hurt, I wrote to the sellers on half.com explaining that I was a first time novelist and I really hoped they would not undermine my success with such unethical behaviour. (Can you believe I actually did that? By my second novel, I'd gained a little perspective.)
But really what is the use? The secondary book business is not going away. The Strand bookstore in New York makes a huge chunk of its inventory on "review copies." These are books given for free to book reviewers who then, often without ever reading the book, sell it to The Strand, who sells you a hardcover first edition at a bargain price. The author gets nothing for every book sold in this way. Used books are the bootleg of the publishing world.
Of course, I would prefer that everyone who reads my book does so at the full $23.95 hardcover price. And while I am wishing, I wish they would do it all in one day, in one hour, making my book a huge bestseller, securing a big juicy contract for my next book.
However, I know that the people who buy my book for a twenty-five cents on amazon are not all people who would be willing to drop twenty-five bucks on a hardcover. The bootleg books are the way that I can reach some people who I wouldn't necessarily reach otherwise.
I WANT PEOPLE TO READ MY BOOKS. Yes, I want them to buy them. I need a certain sales figure to satisfy my publisher and I hope to reach it. At the same time, I don't get funky with people for borrowing my book from the library, even though I didn't get a sale out of the deal. Sales are good; sales are necessary; but sales are not what get me out of the bed in the morning. Sales don't provide the energy that pushes my pen.
At a book signing, sometimes people come up to me with a book for which I have received no royalty, no credit, and say something like: "This book touched me". When this happens, I thank them for taking the time to read my book, to listen to my voice. I thank them for coming to my event. I sign their books. I don't complain.
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There are 4 comments on "The Bootleg Issue: Where I Stand". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Jackie ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
I get where you are coming from and only disagree with this: librarians will make sure they purchase your books if they like the book or beleive it will increase circulation. There are often multiple copies of that "street lit" on the shelves which tells me that somebody is checking it out. Don't these sales count?
I always wondered how the Strand was able to sell hardcover current books at half price. I went there once about four years ago and was amazed at what they had in the basement (books I had paid full price for).
BTW do you ever visit libraries on your book tours?
June 28, 2006 11:23 AM
Comment #2, by Judy
Your feelings on the issue certainly make sense. Accept the inevitable. After all, we write because we have to, and new readers are always a plus, no matter how we gain them. Still, there are folks who have never thought about the effects (and power) of their buying, and I've found that some of them are quite interested.
Like Perry, Oprah, too, is enjoying plenty of support, but without it she would never have been able to celebrate those black legends and young'uns in the manner that they deserved, a manner no one before her has come close to. Sometimes plenty of support is necessary to do what needs to be done.
June 28, 2006 12:55 PM
Comment #3, by Michael Fischer
I’ve worked in several used & new bookstores, so I can see this issue from both sides. On one hand, I think it’s important for an artist to be realistic about his or her medium and/or genre; for instance, unless one falls into the 1%< of literary fiction writers who actually make a living solely off their books, having his or her books sold in used bookstores probably isn’t as big of a deal as it might be to more popular artists, as the literary fiction writer most likely never expected to make much off his or her work to begin with.
Then again, one of my jobs at the last (new) bookstore I worked at was searching for titles in the computer that had not sold well in the past year; if a title had sold less than two copies the past year I would pull it from the shelf. Well, sadly, it seems like I spent an awful lot of time pulling novels by first time authors in the literary fiction section. I would toss these “failures” into a random, giant pile in the back of the store, where they would be carted off in an unmarked van to a remainder bookstore in Fort Lauderdale or Myrtle Beach called “Giant Booksale.” Rest assured, folks, that “Giant Booksale” was most likely in a building that used to house Piggly Wiggly or Big Lots. Once there, the literary novel by the new author—most likely someone who won an “emerging” award—would be “shelved” next to a World Wrestling Federation cookbook edited by Hulk Hogan. Ugh.
June 28, 2006 02:50 PM
Comment #4, by edi
First I have to warn you and say that my mom has told me I hold people to too high a standard; I judge harshly. That having been said...
I think that working around the legalities and morals of issues is what we Americans do best and it is what we're know for around the world. Example: when I relayed to teachers at my school that it is against copyright law to show a movie for entertainment purposes at school, rather than understand what that meant and how to comply, the conversation was about figuring out how to work around the law.
It is illegal to sell bootleg movies regardless of what everyone else is doing. Yes, it will continue, folks may not ever be arrested for it, but if I were to buy a DVD I would make it a legitimate purchase.
And I pay full price for books too.
And I *stay* broke, but I can live with these decisions.
Library sales do count and are very important to authors as they make up a large volume of the number of books sold.
Books that don't sell are pulled and marked down because of the taxes imposed on warehousing these items.
These copyright laws are meant to protect artists, but they seem to provide quite a market for those who work around the law. It would be interesting to see a study comparing the profits of open market and black market items and to see how the booteg industry works.
June 28, 2006 07:51 PM