Rant. Hey, it's the end of the week, it's a good time to rant.

[Barbara]

May I have a rant? Yes? Thanks.

I follow the fabulous and super talented John Marrs on Facebook and other social media. He put up an offer for one of his audiobooks. Lots of fans, including me, posted comments, saying said book is brill. All good so far.

Now, someone (fan or troll, who knows) replied to every single comment (inc mine), posting a photo of a pile of John's books, simply saying: 'getting rid of these copies do you want them? DM me.' and nothing else.

Honestly. On John's post. *&&$*&*uht&-ing cheek.

I left a comment (oh, I was very controlled), saying 'thanks for the offer but', then went on to explaining about depriving an author of royalties.

I understand secondhand books, and that some can't folk afford new ... and yes, we've all lent a book to a friend .... etc etc ... There's always a library. But somehow this got my goat.

So there.

 

[JohnBertel]

Probably a troll. Could be more sinister. He may have found a picture of a stack of books, posting he wants to get rid of them. Some fan gets excited to get so many books for free - all they have to do is to go somewhere and pay the shipping cost with their credit card.

 

[Jonny]

The internet is a wash with all sorts of chancers and even worse. I just got an email from someone I don't know.

It looked plausible. Hi, it's Alan. Can we have a catch up when you get a minute? Then signed with a plausible name. Alan Someone or Other.

I don't know any one of that name and what's more his email address does not contain any parts of his Alan name. It's another plausible name, though.

Could've been a mistake by a genuine bloke sent to me in error, but on principle I ignore this kind of stuff and delete. If it's real they'll get back to me soon enough.

 

[Barbara]

Could've been a mistake by a genuine bloke sent to me in error,

Or it could be that publisher whom you submitted to 3 years ago and whose response you've been waiting for given up on.

 

[Jonny]

Or it could be that publisher whom you submitted to 3 years ago and whose response you've been waiting for given up on.

**Begins desperate hunt through every email ever sent to see if names match up**

 

[Bloo]

Or it could be that publisher whom you submitted to 3 years ago and whose response you've been waiting for given up on.

You're an evil one, Barbara

 

[Hannah F]

May I have a rant? Yes? Thanks.

I follow the fabulous and super talented John Marrs on Facebook and other social media. He put up an offer for one of his audiobooks. Lots of fans, including me, posted comments, saying said book is brill. All good so far.

Now, someone (fan or troll, who knows) replied to every single comment (inc mine), posting a photo of a pile of John's books, simply saying: 'getting rid of these copies do you want them? DM me.' and nothing else.

Honestly. On John's post. *&&$*&*uht&-ing cheek.

I left a comment (oh, I was very controlled), saying 'thanks for the offer but', then went on to explaining about depriving an author of royalties.

I understand secondhand books, and that some can't folk afford new ... and yes, we've all lent a book to a friend .... etc etc ... There's always a library. But somehow this got my goat.

So there.

In the UK and Ireland and other countries (not USA, I don't think), authors get paid for library loans if they've registered with PLR (public lending rights).

World of Books and Book Barn, two send hand retailers, have signed up to AuthorShare. They give sales information to ACLS so the author gets royalties.

Authors to earn royalties on secondhand books for first time

AuthorSHARE, a royalty fund set up by two used booksellers with support from industry bodies, is calling for more retailers to participate

www.theguardian.com

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Probably a troll. Could be more sinister. He may have found a picture of a stack of books, posting he wants to get rid of them. Some fan gets excited to get so many books for free - all they have to do is to go somewhere and pay the shipping cost with their credit card.

My thought, too. When I was working for a publisher that used POD, crooks would send me fake orders for thousands of book. The catch was, we had to use their preferred shipper. I did not fall for it, but some people did, and then ended up with a ton of unsaleable printed books and a huge charge for shipping.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

In the UK and Ireland and other countries (not USA, I don't think), authors get paid for library loans if they've registered with PLR (public lending rights).

World of Books and Book Barn, two send hand retailers, have signed up to AuthorShare. They give sales information to ACLS so the author gets royalties.

Authors to earn royalties on secondhand books for first time

AuthorSHARE, a royalty fund set up by two used booksellers with support from industry bodies, is calling for more retailers to participate

www.theguardian.com

That's correct. In the US, authors get nothing other than a royalty from the publisher. There's no per-reading payment. Of course, when the books wear out and are replaced, there's another royalty, but on the whole authors see library sales as ways for readers to discover their books and begin buying them.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

May I have a rant? Yes? Thanks.

I follow the fabulous and super talented John Marrs on Facebook and other social media. He put up an offer for one of his audiobooks. Lots of fans, including me, posted comments, saying said book is brill. All good so far.

Now, someone (fan or troll, who knows) replied to every single comment (inc mine), posting a photo of a pile of John's books, simply saying: 'getting rid of these copies do you want them? DM me.' and nothing else.

Honestly. On John's post. *&&$*&*uht&-ing cheek.

I left a comment (oh, I was very controlled), saying 'thanks for the offer but', then went on to explaining about depriving an author of royalties.

I understand secondhand books, and that some can't folk afford new ... and yes, we've all lent a book to a friend .... etc etc ... There's always a library. But somehow this got my goat.

So there.

I wrote a chapter about how authors could use Blockchain to assure they got payment for resale of their works. Part of a book for American Libraries Editions, but they still have not published it. Here's a link. Be glad to share the chapter with you.

Peyton Stafford (he/him/his) | Voice +1 503.720.7149 | www.peytonstafford.com | See my new book from ALA Editions: No Shelf Required 3: The New Era for E-Books and Digital Content.