I bet that title has you all confused! Hah! In the past few years my reading had gone down a lot – I got into the habit of picking up books at the airport or randomly at the mall. But since I’ve finally gotten down to reading again in the past year, I face the age-old conundrum – to buy or not to buy the book? With so many resources available online from where you can easily get a free e-version of books – I have reduced my book buying but not stopped. I feel extremely guilty every time I read a pirated book and actually enjoy the book (the bad ones I find it easy to let the guilt slide). So to be a pirate or not? (😛)
WHY I FEEL GUILTY BEING JACK SPARROW –
- The main reason of course is that the author doesn’t get his/her dues.
- If I really like a book – boy the guilt is so much – because the author doesn’t get their due despite the marvelous work they’ve done.
- An e-reader consumes a lot of energy and can be less energy efficient than buying books (if you read more than 40 books/year on your e-reader than you’re probably being energy efficient) but this guilt holds true for non-pirated Kindle books too.
WHY I DON’T FEEL GUILTY BEING JACK SPARROW –
- I get the book instantly – there is no wait to get a book after I’ve made up my mind that I want to read it (which can be achieved by buying kindle books too so jump to point 2)
- When Kindle books are priced almost as much as the physical book – it really annoys me! Atleast with physical books you can pass on the book to someone else after you’re done or if you really like it can be a part of your vast library but why would someone pay the same amount for a Kindle book especially after having already paid to buy the Kindle?
- If a book isn’t good – I don’t feel bad about having spent money on it.
- Book prices need to be dynamic in my opinion. I am sure this will be an unpopular opinion but authors and publishing houses should change the book price depending on it’s demand like airplane tickets. Higher demand – charge more, lower demand – charge less; that way 15 years after the book has been published and it’s popularity isn’t that high instead of charging 6 Pounds for it, you now charge 4 Pounds. Or a dynamic pricing model based on volume sales maybe? The first 100,000 books will cost X, the next 100,000 will cost 0.95X, the next 100,000 will cost 0.9X and so on till you reach .5X and then that will be it’s fixed cost. It’s a thought, what do you think?
- Reading books online means less paper usage leading to lesser trees being cut.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you feel guilty reading pirated books? I usually do a 2-1 thing wherein I read two free books and then buy a book to make myself feel less guilty.
PS: If you are confused about who Jack Sparrow is – I recommend watching Pirates of the Caribbean NOW! (Disney+)
I recommend reading my other latest posts too –
- Content I Binged Watched Recently: Netflix, Hotstar (Hulu)
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It would mean the world to me if you’d give my Instagram page a follow –
Happy Panda 
I either buy paper books or borrow ebooks/paper books from the library… I’m a huge supporter of the library but not sure how the author gets paid when libraries pick up their book? Since pandemic of course the libraries have shuttered so I’ve really only been borrowing ebooks from library… Before that I hated ebooks and only wanted to read in real form.. I love the feel of a new book, the excitement of turning crisp papers ❤️❤️ but then jumped on the eband wagon finally 🤪but just to note… When I did buy books I rarely bought them at the big box stores… I only ever went to my local used book store or a huge penguin /random house book sale (have to be hooked up to go to those) and books here were always between $1-$5 🤓😊🤭gosh i miss house!!!
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*miss those… (Opps so early in the morning here…)
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*miss those
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I just learned today that you could pirate books 😅
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Same here! 😄
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I read mostly pirated books 😉 😂 and saving trees was my excuse… with my work looking at phone is depressing and now I started to buy books, luckily I have a deal with the book seller here, I buy and return and buy another book by paying only few bugs, that means my initial book price was my investment, by returning them I am saving a lot. this happened very recently and I regret why I haven’t met him long before. Paper book reading is good, but ebook saves more energy and trees. I stick with ebook and mostly pirated 😄 as you said the price is high… it should be moderate.☺️
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Ahh I have thing with paper books —a untold love story. I need paper form to get into the book, savour the story, fold the page, decorate it on my bookshelf and the list goes on. Just love paper books🙈🤷🏽♀️xx
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I read somewhere recently that the idea that print books was dead (due to e-readers, etc) was wrong. I think they still make up the bulk of sales, esp if you look at any bookstagrammers profile, just filled with people who love physical books and show off their books.
As a writer who is trying to get her stuff read and out there, I can say that what we make via book sales, etc, is quite small, you have to sell A LOT to actually get the benefits or have that sweet advance from a publishing company – or get a film deal, right? So for me, I think positive and kind reviews are HUGE.
Which is one of the big reasons why I won’t dump on another writer, even if I hate the story. I know, generally speaking, that they worked damn hard on the novel and if it is published traditionally, it most likely went through many many hands to make it to a bookshelf at a bookstore.
Your post reminds me of the music and film industry too – the problems with pirated music and movies, etc. Popularity vs profit. You could probably find arguments for both sides… and as far as I know, you can share an e-book like a print book. I don’t remember the details on how exactly, but I’m pretty sure you can.
Thanks for opening the controversial topic window!
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👍
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Pirated huh?
Well, it depends. I’ve been using Utorrent for a while which means that I’ve used a lot of pirated stuff.
My suggestion to everyone is that contribute & purchase the book of an author who is new in the market. It’ll help them.
But, if someone asks me to purchase the novel harry potter then nope. The author is already a billionaire.
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That is an interesting idea – makes sense too. I usually do a 2:1 thing where I read 2 pirated books and then buy 1 to make up for the guilt I feel. But I like your suggestion better.
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could you explain or link an article on why are e-readers consume a lot of energy?
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1. Manufacturing them and the components – the energy consumption is way more than for printing a book
2. If you don’t read a lot (every single day but read occasionally like on the weekends), mostly your kindle/e reader will be charged and that charging will be a waste during its idle time (something I feel for myself also even though I try to read every day – I use only 50-60% of charge on reading)
3. As your device gets older – its energy consumption will increase – as in the amount of reading time you get vs charging time – the efficiency will reduce
Can google – I had seen articles with stats and all too.
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😄 Can’t stop disguising into Jack Sparrow when it comes to books!
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Same 🙈 though I do feel guilty about it.
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Haha! The guilt part is relatable too. I just rub it off.
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Ha…ha…ha…
You can save money on some books. But to fully & effectively get ‘benefits’ from a book I recommend using the paid version.
Online safety is a critical issue.
Several ebook platforms provide you with a big world of books at a decent price.
P.S.: Your posts improved a lot in comparison with the past. I congratulate you for gaining relevancy and quality.
Happy blogging to Happy Panda.🤣🤣
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Thanks for writing this Moksha, it’s giving me lots to think about! 🤔
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I love the pirate references! Nothing wrong with being a pirate!
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Hahah I agree – until you read a book so amazing and then just feel guilty. 🙈
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Very true!
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My reading habits have changed a lot. I used to get books from the library or streetvendors, then started to buy them from the bookstore. Now it’s mostly Kindle ebooks, except for books that are important to me. Then I prefer a paperback version.
I like to buy legal books as it is someone else’s income. Never thought about this earlier when I bought from street vendors. But those days, I would have not been able to afford to buy books at all.
Yes ebooks should be priced lower.
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Pirate, pirate. I see what you did there! 😀 Clever reference 😜 I totally agree with everything you said, especially that book prices should be dynamic. I feel like I’m torturing my eyes by reading e-books 😅 I mean, as such, there’s so much undesired screen time.
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PS: E-books should DEFINITELY cost lower!
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