So the other day I was surfing the web, and ran across a review of a new book by one of my favorite authors. The book is titled Iorich, written by Steven Brust. I know since it just came out in hardcover it will be a long time before I will see it in Japan. But it reminded me that I should put electronic versions of all his previous books on my iPhone, since I have all the books sitting on my bookshelf right over here, thank you very much.
There is no easy way short of re-typing or scanning all my books into a digital file, so instead I do a quick search and find that digital versions are available out in the darker reaches of the Internet. With no guilt whatsoever I download them in less than a minute – after all, I already paid for the books and I just want to read them on my phone.
But included in the download is also a digital version of the latest book Iorich, and now the guilt is starting to show it’s ugly little face. I can read the book now and buy it in 9-10 months when it gets to Japan in paperback, or delete it and try to forget I even saw it. Of course I kept the file, put them all on my phone, and read the new book in about a day.
The problem for me is that the availability of this book was over-convenient. It was just too easy to get. In my situation (which I admit is not the norm) paying for movies, books, music and other media is ridiculously difficult. I am perfectly willing to pay (and will do so) but why make it so tough on me? Media that is available on the legit Internet is often not available outside the USA, which just serves as an impetus for learning how to find other (illegitimate) sources that are much more convenient, and also happen to be free.
So offer a way for me to buy media overseas as easily as I can download it for free, and then you’ll have a lot more sales and happier customers.
And by the way, Steven, not a bad effort. Keep on writing and I’ll keeping buying.
