For those of you gentle readers who are not familiar with ARCs, they are known as Advance Reader Copies. ARCs are given out to friends, loved ones and reviews before an author's book is fully edited and released. PC Cast and Gena Showalter have discovered ARCs up for sale on eBay. Now, I can understand being very excited to see a copy of your favorite author's book out before it's really released, but I think that the average reader should be aware that said author doesn't get a dime from that sale.
Now, while I'll agree with the statement that you write for the love and not money, it's still pretty crappy to see a work that you toiled for hours and hours over sold without your consent or any sort of remuneration. What people don't realize is that sales like this are going to make authors and publishers stingier with ARCs in the future, and that's a shame, because it's nice to be able to give friends, family and reviewers a free preview. I know I certainly want to give out some ARCs of Immortal Reveries to some of my longtime readers when they're ready, whether Aphrodite's Apples elects do that in print or eBook form.
This isn't just a matter of money either, it's a matter of respect and courtesy for the authors who bring your favorite characters to life.
I'll get off my soapbox now. ;-)
1 comment:
that just generally makes me sick.... My God, will people do anything for the almighty buck???
If nothing else, an ARC would be kinda like a "collector's copy" -- IE something rare, and something someone woudl WANT to have in their book collection!
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