Smart Bitchery member and fab author PC Cast wrote me the following rant, and I’d be a bad, bad bitch indeed if I didn’t pass it on verbatim to the rest of the world:
[S]everal of us (authors) are really getting pissed off at the horrid proliferation of the internet selling of our ARCs. It’s come to a boil lately (and you can check out my last 2 postings on my blog to get the dirt) because we’ve (MJ Davidson, Susan Grant, Gena Showalter, moi) discovered copies of our Mysteria ARC for sale on fucking ebay. Well this REALLY pisses us off because the goddamn copies are “like new no spine broken at all†which fucking means the fucking reviewers didn’t even bother to read the damn thing before they scurried out like cockroaches to sell their copy and make a damn buck. (One copy went for $30 something the other went for $20 something.) And we were only given limited ARCs for Mysteria, which we sent out at our own fucking expense to reviewers. So I feel fucked twice up the ass with no lube.
Okay, so here’s the point that we’re trying to get out there to readers: WHEN YOU BUY AN ARC YOU’RE RIPPING THE AUTHOR THE FUCK OFF. Not only do we not get any damn money from it, but no review, no numbers increase, and the publisher has an expensive ARC printed that doesn’t do us shit for good. Not to mention that legitimate, ethical reviewers and booksellers get fucked up the ass too when we (authors and publishers) run short on ARCs because unbeknownst to us we’re sending our limited supply to asstards!
Naturally I confronted the asshair sellers on ebay and got bullshit responses. I’ve reported their listings to ebay, too, as unethical. I mean PLEASE. It says clearly across the cover ADVANCED REVIEW COPY NOT FOR SALE. But ebay would sell its mom’s soul if it could turn a profit. Luna is actually trying to track some of these sellers to stop up the reviewer/bookseller leaks.
Anyway. It makes me mad. So fans who lurve us pay big money to rip us off? Okay, I can’t do math word problems, but this just doesn’t seem right.
Ack!!! A million apologies!
That wasn’t ‘Harry Potter books “sold” months before the release date’ but ‘available to customers’—I’m vewwwy vewwwy sowwwy.
On the topic of whether or not a writer can move her setting/characters to another publisher, it depends on her contract. Some contracts state that the publisher has right of first refusal on the author’s next novel that features any characters and/or plot elements from works the publisher has already purchased from the author. Sometimes, the language is even more sweeping, which is what is rumored to have happened in the Dara Joy situation.
Hey, girls. Just to add a bit of clarity, this comes direct from the legal department at my publisher:
“yes, it is illegal to sell these – they are made available only to specific reviewers. These almost always have a statement on the front of the ms or ARC stating that it is NOT FOR SALE. We also do try to track down any such offerings on ebay and make them stop.”
What makes people think it’s not technically illegal is that no one is ever prosecuted for it. But, with my publisher at least, it seems that might be changing.
Now, I have officially said everything I have to say on the matter.
and I agree that making a profit from it is definitely unethical, but…should s/he just toss it in the trash?
As I type this, I’m surrounded by at least 200 arcs I received due to a previous job. And they sit and they sit and they sit. I’ve never sold one on eBay. I have occasionally loaned some to my neighbor, but she always gives them back, dammit. I asked once what I should do with them and was told pretty much throw them away.
But they’re books! They don’t have shiny covers and the still uncorrected errors range from a typo to utterly unreadable, but…they’re still books. So I don’t sell them, I can’t bring myself to throw them away, nor use them as kindling in the campfire so here they still sit. I even tried to donate them to the women’s prison, but they didn’t return my calls. The literacy program didn’t want them because they’re romance.
So one horrible option for disposing of arcs is to let them pile up until they fall over on your cat. *g*
And, just because I’m here, but I don’t really care one way or the other—-I seem to recall Suzanne Brockmann being asked about her TDD SEALS and her single title SEALS doing a joint mission and she said no because they were two different publishers. My guess would be that that’s a contract by contract item that some authors have and some don’t.
What makes people think it’s not technically illegal is that no one is ever prosecuted for it
No, what makes people think that it’s not illegal is that it’s a contract subject to contract law, not a law itself. Contracts aren’t enforced the way laws are – it’s the responsibility of the contract signers to report violations to the police. Otherwise the police can’t do jack shit. It’s closer to trademark violations than burglary – it’s only illegal if one of the parties makes a stink about it. I’m not trying to say that it isn’t illegal until one party raises a fuss, I’m just saying the law doesn’t get involved until it’s brought to their attention by a signee.
The children’s clerk at the last place gave out HP#3 and #4 to customers to read months before the book came out.
I call bullsh!t on that one.
Oh, no, no, no. This happens all the time. We get customers coming in and asking for such and such, and when we tell them we can’t sell it until such and such date, they almost always say “but Wal-Mart is selling it.” Well, good for Wal-Mart, but we don’t break our promise to publishers that we won’t sell certain books before certain dates. Now, I’d be skeptical if it was HP 5 or 6, but even with #6 there were some slip-ups.
BTW – t’s the publishers we report such violations to, not the police. Unlike The copyright notices on movies that say to contact the FBI.
I wanted to post about this subject because I have a book review site (butterflybooks), where I’ve reviewed ARCs and books I’ve purchased. I am also a member of the media, though freelance at this point. When I was on staff at a newspaper in my area, I got free copies of books for review all the time, not just from publishers but from the local bookstore owner, who knew I was a bibliophile and that I couldn’t afford all the books I wanted to read by my favorite authors. So he’d give me ARCs from his gigantic collection whenever I wanted some new reading material. Then there are the books, crateloads of them, that my husband brought home from his various jobs over the years at all of the major radio stations in Seattle and one TV station. The radio stations were always trying to get rid of the tons of review copies they were sent, though not one of those stations had any shows that did book reviews. The TV station he worked for just threw all the review copies of books and CDs and DVDS in the trash. That’s right, in a BIG DUMPSTER. So did the radio stations, by the way, when my husband wasn’t quick enough to grab the books before the cleaning teams threw them out. So those authors who are all peeved about their ARCs being sold, would you rather that they were filling out the local landfill? My husband, being the kind soul he is, spent many hours dumpster diving and rescuing ARCs and review copies and bringing them home, where he’d sell them on Amazon or Ebay after they came out. Because working in the media pays crap, we really needed that extra money, which helped pay for food, housing, medication for Crohns Disease, etc. 98 percent of the places my husband has worked (and all the places I’ve worked) haven’t had health insurance for employees, so my prescriptions for Crohns treatment cost us over $200 a month. For awhile, my husband worked 2 jobs in the media to try and make ends meet. I find it hard to believe that people would deny him the right to sell books, CDs and DVDs that he pulled out of a dumpster on Amazon or Ebay. I have given away ARCs to friends to read, and I’ve donated some ARCs of review books I did NOT like to the library, because they sell them and use the money to purchase books for public use. I see nothing wrong with that, either. I am not a big romance reader, I read many different genre, and I respect books and have a massive collection of them in my home. I’ve written more than 100 articles on books and authors for the newspaper I worked for from 1997-2005. I have made my living writing (albiet non fiction) for the past 21 years. So I am not unsympathetic to authors, I just don’t really see a huge problem here. I think the people that buy the ARCs will buy a real copy of the book when it comes out, and I think that the good word of mouth that comes from ARCs can only help an author. And I agree with those who say f-word-filled rants turn off readers. I also think that as writers who love words and deal with them daily, cursing up a rant is just a sign of mental laziness. There are better ways to say things than to swear. That doesn’t mean that I never resort to laziness myself, because I do, but I try to find better words. Anyway, that’s my opinion for what its worth.
I review books for two different websites, and when I don’t want to keep an ARC I donate it to the local library book sale.
The author doesn’t profit, but neither do I. The money goes into the library supplemental funds to buy more books, and the books are oftentimes donated to nursing homes, homeless shelters, and other institutions that want reading material but don’t have enough budgeted for it.
I agree with all the authors who say the reviewers shouldn’t be selling the ARCs, but I figure if a non-profit is benefiting, and I don’t donate until after the book is out on sale, then I can sleep guilt free at night.
I love libraries and support them in any way I can, so yes, to whoever raised the subject: I would encourage reviewers with ARCs they don’t want to donate them to the library, and the library can sell them. Everybody wins.
As far as that radio station throwing away cds and dvds and arcs: what, they never heard of Goodwill? Public library donations? A dozen different non profits would come pick that material up and put it to good use. Are they lazy, or uninformed, or what?
I have a neighbor who is eligible to vote when the Emmys come around. He gets tons of dvds in the mail, whole television series, tv movies, specials, you name it. He watches a few of these, keeps one or two, and sends all the rest over to the AIDS hospice. Now, that’s a reasonable use of materials he doesn’t want or need.
I am lucky enough to get some first drafts as well as ARCS from some kick ass authors! I have never passed one on without permission from the author.
AND when it comes out in print, I buy it. If the author thinks enough of me to let me read their work before it is published, then I should think enough of them to buy the books once they are out! JMO!
tangent time:
I wonder what Harriet Klaussner does with her huge stacks of ARCs and books. She’s still on almost every ARC auto-send list I know of. . .Her house must be a scary place.
OK, I have one question here: do reviewers, in general, get paid to write book reviews?
Many of those reviewers [print and online] I know, the only “payments” they get are those books they are expected to review.
If they did their jobs reviewing those ARCs, is it still a “crime” for them to sell ARCs? Knowing that they did their job reviewing those books, attracting readers’ attention? Is it still wrong of them to sell something that they “earned”?
I’ve wondered about that sometimes. 🙂
I pitched a fit about this in an essay I wrote for Publishers Weekly last August. One-hundred-and-seventy-two- thousand books were published in 2005. Count ‘em! The same core group of reviewers gets these books to review. What in the world are they supposed to do with all these books? What would you do? (Marketing departments of publishing companies all use the same online list providers, like Bacon’s, to determine who gets what ARC. I know because I was the marketing director, special sales, at B&N Books. I studied these lists.) These “targeted” recipients also include an enormous number of people addressed as “Book Reviewer.” Who knows who gets those books? It’s pretty clear what they do with them.
Until the publishing industry changes the way it does business (don’t hold your breath), you will continue to see a thriving online cottage industry of new and used books undermining retail sales. (You didn’t think the system was designed to make YOU money, did you?)
Lynne W. Scanlon
AKA The Wicked Witch of Publishing
This actually happens to me all the time. A friend will be all, “Hey, an ARC of Undead and Unretrnable is on sale at Ebay for $130.” And I’ll be all, Good freakin’ Lord, I can’t think of a single book I’d buy for $130.
I always mention these things to my editor, who immediately begins to froth. Then she has to ask me to cut and paste the Ebay page and send it to her. Always. The reason? Berkley computers aren’t allowed to go to Ebay. Hmmm. Is it possible the sellers of ARCs know this? I assume they assume there’s no way they’ll get caught because Berkley can’t find them. Duh…we tattle! I’d rat out someone selling ARCs in half a minute if I could get my big, ham-handed mitts on them. But I usually just hand it over to my editor and agent and make them deal with it. (Believe it or not, I’m pretty non-confrontational.)
Anyway, I was pissed about it the first ten times it happened to me, but now I’m getting numbed…like my brain’s been coated with Preperation H. My editor still gets pretty mad, though, and tries to stop it. Lawyers occasionally get involved (yes, Virginia, it is illegal). As do my fellow authors, in case you didn’t know. 🙂
The anger and feeling of being ripped off is understandable, but unfortunately, it’s one of those “pick your battles” things.
OK, I have one question here: do reviewers, in general, get paid to write book reviews?
I don’t, that’s for sure. About 90% of what I read and review comes out of my own pocket.
That’s why I’m poor. Books are like crack to me. Except I won’t end up looking like Whitney Houston. I hope.
I don’t get paid to do reviews, nor do I know anyone who does, unless she works for a magazine like Romantic Times.
Holy friggin’ interesting discussion, Batman.
As a reviewer, I think that it is completely shitty to profit off selling an ARC. Anytime. To anyone. Anywhere. It doesn’t matter if you sell it in a garage sale or to the Shelter for Homeless Underwater Basket Weavers with Dew Rags and Clubfeet…if you profit from it, it’s morally and ethically wrong, IMHO.
And fucktarded folks who sell ARCs on E-bay (especially the unreleased ones) should be kicked in the nards/other tender parts with steel-toed boots. Repeatedly.
I review for an online site and I treasure my print ARCs. Why? It’s an issue of trust. Even if I think the book is entirely lacking in any (or every) way, I’ve been entrusted with getting the book in advance for the purpose of reviewing it. I don’t make any money off doing my reviews (and I’ve reviewed over 320 books in my time at FAR), but free books are almost as good as money.
If the ARC is by one of the authors I collect or by a new author I love (like PC Cast, who I got turned on to by reading an ARC of hers that I reviewed and loved), I’ll buy the book in print as well.
Taking advantage of free ARCs by making a profit off them is like screwing without kissing…it just ain’t right.
And if you think you’re pissed, PC, think of how it would feel to be Nora Roberts/JD Robb and have the huge secret of the sex of Mavis’ baby coming out in Born in Death this fall and ALREADY seeing frigging ARCs of it on Ebay. I mean, she’s 25 books into that series and people just suck to sell a book early, let alone a book with that kind of following. It’s not about money; methinks La Nora’s got plenty. It’s about people profiting unjustly off something they got for free…which sucks a stinky dick.
What part of “Not for Resale” needs clarification? It’s a sad state of affairs when assholios take advantage.
I’ve found the best solution is to pass ARCs on. I’ve got plenty of people I know who are thrilled to receive them as a surprise gift—and it’s served me well with the admins of various directors and VPs over the years.
:coolmad: I’m just a reader who has been lucky enough to win a few ARC’s of my favorite author. Until recently, I had no idea anyone was trying to sell ARC’s on E-Bay. I think it is highly unfair to sell them when it is clearly stated that they are NOT for re-sale. To do so is just plain dishonorable. I know it’s old fashioned of me, but where I come from, honor still counts.
On the issue of legality, lawyers will send out cease and desist letters even if they are not enforceable. Simply because they take action (and the action seems to be removing a reviewer from the ARC list), doesn’t mean that it is illegal. I can’t say enough that simply putting something on the cover doesn’t make it so. You could put Not For Resale on every book but the First Sale Doctrine protects the rights of purchasers to resell it. I hate when the term “illegality” is bandied about so loosely.
Further, it is apparent from this thread that ARCs (and Ms. Cast, they say Advanced READER’s Copy/Editions on many, many books. Not REVIEW), are not selectively sent to certain reviewers. They are sent willy nilly to all kinds of people who have no desire to read them, let alone review them.
Why aren’t you mad at the publishers for the indiscriminate method of distribution? Why aren’t you ranting and raving about the fact that the pubs aren’t doing a better job of direct marketing? Seems to me that if you want to make a real change in the ARC business, you want to clean your own house (ie the publishing house).
I’m the 100th poster. 🙂
I always wondered what reviewers did with all the books. I have mixed feelings on the subject. Nothing that hasn’t already been said here.
But I was at a conference over the weekend and talked with a self-published friend. He bought around 80 copies of his big hardback, included a CD and sent them out to reviewers. He spent a lot of his own money and it hurt him to see those books showing up in the used sales at Amazon and on Ebay. They have the CD so he knows how they got them.
I don’t see a way to stop this from happening tho. As MaryJanice said, we might have to let ourselves get numb to the idea.
Ooh, I got the 100th comment. Do I win a prize?
Why aren’t you ranting and raving about the fact that the pubs aren’t doing a better job of direct marketing? Seems to me that if you want to make a real change in the ARC business, you want to clean your own house (ie the publishing house).
Most publishers won’t even tell authors where the ARCs are sent; if we want to send our own, we give our editors a list, and they tell us which ones not to send it to to avoid duplicating efforts.
Publishers hoard promo/marketing information from authors like they were state secrets. And according to MJ Rose, often when they give us information, it’s a lie.
Dunno if that counts as a rant, but it’s reality. Sorry, I mean, it’s fucking reality. There, now it’s a rant.
This is nowt to do with this topic, really, but it’s a public apology to PC Cast. In this thread, I took her to task over using the “You don’t get it! It was just sarcasm/humour!” card too many times, but a reader’s comment at one blog made me realise that I may have confused PC with MaryJanice Davidson who used this card as well. Which is why I mistakenly thought PC Cast used the card before. So, I hope you’ll accept my apology, PC. No hard feelings if you don’t. 🙂
I know I could email her this, but I think it’s fair to admit my cock-up in public, so that readers will take my earlier response to PC in this thread with a
pinch
handful of salt.
I wonder what Harriet Klaussner does with her huge stacks of ARCs and books. She’s still on almost every ARC auto-send list I know of. . .Her house must be a scary place.
You know that house built out of old soda bottles? Harriet’s house is just like that but entirely of ARCs. They’re like shiny bricks of man-titty.
It and her unique lacquered “Savage” Welsh dresser (lovingly hand-carved with an authentic tomahawk out of romances featuring heroes from every Native American tribe) are two of the wonders of the modern world.
I can’t say enough that simply putting something on the cover doesn’t make it so.
Hear, hear!
The illegality comes in the wording of the contract – and there may or may not be an explicit contract between the publisher and the people they give acr’s to.
I understand thinking that it’s immoral, and that it’s not fair to the authors – especially when they are sold before the release date, but I find people’s lack of understanding about their own right’s as consumers to be troubling. Publisher’s don’t have our best interests in mind anymore than they are concerned about the author’s. If author’s want to stand up for their own rights and make people follow the contracts they’ve agreed to, they have my full support. But I also think they ought to be honest about what their readers right’s are as consumers. Simply saying “it’s illegal” without being clear about what makes it illegal only creates more confusion about a topic that many people have very little information about to begin with. Many arguments here – from authors and fans – have suggested, or even outright stated, that the illegality comes with the “intellectual property rights” or that it’s always illegal the way speeding is, and that just isn’t so.
right’s
ahem – that should be “rights”
No, I can’t spell.
Nope, still can’t see how selling an ARC post-publication is more wrong than selling any other used copy (and I have a personally autographed math textbook I’d love to unload…long story, odious author). I don’t think selling used books is wrong. I’m also in favor of libraries.
And yes, I’m aware that fiction writing doesn’t pay well; I’m also in the position of knowing that everything I produce on the job, including photography and writing, is automatically public domain, credited to my federal agency. So a couple ARC copies on Ebay? Not really reason to castigate loyal readers, even if it is “sarcastic” (which I’m not sure I buy).
“which I’m not sure I buy”
Me neither.
You can castigate the SBs for putting it up and say you would have edited it if you’d known it was gonna be up there for public consumption all you want, but obviously the sentiment is still there in your mind. Does that make it better?
Ah see? The effin readers aren’t as stupid as you think.
Actually, they are. Because, if you’ll read a few more e-mails down, you’ll see that although I very deliberately kept mum on the subject, people assumed PC’s rant was mine. “Oh, a writer isn’t rolling over and taking it up the ass like they’re supposed to…that rotten MaryJanice!”
So either the effen readers a) can’t effen read, or b) shouldn’t be allowed to post while learning to read, or c) both.
Either way, PC has every right to be irritated, though I admit to being more sanguine on the topic than she is. What’s not right is to kick her in the teeth (repeatedly), mix her up with another author (duh! sig lines much?), then pretend it’s her fault and that she thinks the effen readers are stupid.
So phhhhbbbbbtttttt.
Bwahahhahahahahahahaha!
I’m adding this to my list of “Reasons NOT to Submit My WIP”.
I HATE it up the ass. HATE. IT.
Wow. It only took MJD four days to come up with a witty remark. Someone must be sure of her position on the NYT list.
Because, if you’ll read a few more e-mails down, you’ll see that although I very deliberately kept mum on the subject, people assumed PC’s rant was mine. [snipped the rest of the response]
Oh, man. This is turning into a ugly little spat, no thanks to you, Miss Bring It On. This thread was dying down and so I don’t quite understand your reason to stir it up again. Anyhow, let’s be clear:
as far as I can see, I’m the only one who confused PC with you [and I have since publicly apologised here in this thread].
If you have a problem with that, say it to my face, instead of being coy by labelling me “people” or, worse, lumping other readers with me, which isn’t fair on the others. If you had done this in the first place, I’d have respected you enough to take it on chin.
Meanwhile, I have a couple of spare bullets you could use to blast the rest of your foot away because your response isn’t funny, clever or brave.
MJD, you’ll want to reread Maili’s unnecessary apology and the rest of the comment thread, as neither she nor anyone else but you confused “PC’s rant” for yours.
I don’t see why Maili apologized to PC Cast, as PC did backpedal on her comments by claiming it was sarcasm.
In deference to Candy and Sarah, I’m taking the rest of my comments to MJD to my blog.
As a librarian, I have to add my 2 cents to this. In terms of ARCs, at my library at least, we are not allowed to add them to the collection nor sell them. As they are uncorrected, they don’t get put in the collection. As it says, not for re-sale, we do not sell them, even to make money for the library.
A library is a non-profit County government institution and should be following the laws of said County. When a book says, “not for re-sale,” that’s what it means – even at a library.
Other libraries may do things differently, but that’s how we do it at mine.
Maili wrote: “Oh, man. This is turning into a ugly little spat, no thanks to you, Miss Bring It On.”
Was it bad that I laughed my tits off at that?
Nice one chuck!
Apology totally accepted Maili. Actually you had me scratching my head and wondering what the fuck I’d done and hadn’t realized…(urh, too much wine on my part? say it’s not true!)
And, ladies, I didn’t back peddle – I just clarified my point of view. I have a smart mouth and I’m strong about my opinions. I don’t back peddle on them, but I realize people who don’t know me can very easily take me wrong.
MJD – hugs and kisses to ya baby! I certainly don’t mind being confused for you! Hey…could our royalty statments get f-ed up sometime, too?!
Not restarting the bitching thread here ladies, just coming out of Deadline Hell and checking in. My sentiments (god I hope I spelled that right) are stil the same but my wip is sapping my creative juices and my bitch-ness. I do love this site!
Wowza – I first read this post when there weren’t any comments, right after Sarah put it up, and now look.
A few peeps went feral aye? *g*
Well crap. I misspelled backpedal. I really shouldn’t write without spell check. (Which is probably backpedaling…)
Ok,
I just found out about this thread and thought i would check it out for myself before i made any decisions. And i must say that i am a little dissapointed in the behaviour of everyone. While i see the wrong in selling an ARC i will say i have bought them. Granted it was at a church sale for a dollar where the dollar i spent went right back to the church and to charity so it’s not like anyone was making money on it.
If it’s a book i truly liked and would read over and over again (which is pretty much every book in my extensive collection) I will buy another copy of the book.
But how do you feel then about buying used books. Not everyone can afford to go out and spend $7 on a book they don’t know if they’ll like. And i look at as if i buy a used book i’m more likely to be introduced to the author and then run out and buy the rest of the books as they come out. So the author eventually gets my money. But what about out of print books. Some of those go for just as high if not higher than ARCs. is it wrong to sell a used book that is now out of print. Not everyone puts it on ebay with the intention of making money. most people jsut want to get back what they paid for it so they can then go buy another book they want. And they can’t control the amount the bidder will spend on an item they trully want.
Following the copyright thoughts. I know i would be pissed if i saw someone else selling an original work of art that i had made. But then are museums wrong for buying paintings and sculpture for way more than the work was originally worth just because the artist is now dead and it’s a one of kind piece of art. It’s a double edged issue. How does one truly decide how morally wrong it is. Okay so someone is making money on your book and you aren’t. is that really a reason to make the fans that might have bought a used book once before they knew your work, feel stupid and wrong. I know personally if the author is not nice(not that i want butt kissing and every person is entitled to their own opinion) then i will more than likely not buy another book by that author. And stating your opinion is fine but it shouldn’t be stated in the heat of the moment when you will offend someone with how you state things, and the language you use.
And personally to me i felt that the whole tone of this blog was that author isn’t getting paid for the ARCs that are being sold on ebay and that’s the problem. not the copyright infringement but that the author is not getting their money for their work. If that is all an author can think about then they shouldn’t be writing and doing this. They obviously dont’ enjoy their work enough to put their heart into and gather fans that will say good things about their books.
J, the thing is, for a lot of authors, the book money is the only money they get—once you become a full-time writer and have been one for a couple of years, it can be surprisingly hard to get back into the traditional job market when the freelance gets tight.
And it’s hard to keep perspective when you’re scraping to pay rent or the electricity bill and then see somebody profiting unreasonably off your hard work (for instance, ebayers selling pre-release ARCs to eager fans for inflated prices).
But, re: selling used books: this isn’t a legal problem due to the first sale doctrine. You could even rent out a novel if you wanted, but the book market is so poor compared to the movie market that nobody bothers. ARCs are not covered by the first sale doctrine, however.
But, yes, if you want to support an author being able to continue to make a living at writing (and thus continuing to produce books), buy new if you can. I realize that money’s tight for readers, but it’s tighter than you might imagine for lots of authors, too.
Lucy,
I am an artist. Granted a visual artist and not a written artist. it is just as hard for us to rejoin the working world after trying to make a go at it ourselves. I work basically 9-5 M-F. or so i say. but most days(like today) i can be found at work till 6pm or later trying to finish up jobs so i can make money. I do my work because i love it. But i still have to take jobs i hate. I realize how hard it is to earn a living in the arts. I”m trying to do it myself right now.
And with my reading habits(when not working three or four books a day) It’s hard to be able to support all the authors i want to. However i try as much as possible and i know many other fans do as well..
As to the ARC most people would purchase them for collectibility. coming from a family of collectors i understand that and personally if i ended up with any other ARCs they would go in a place of pride as a collectible book. I wouldn’t get it for resale value most true collectors don’t.
Of course i would also be just as likely to purchase a regular copy for reading so as not to damage the ARC.
J