Saturday, October 10, 2009

Karmic Kraziness

If you're a tweeter (aka member of Twitter), you probably follow group chats. I usually lurk on #KidLitChat and #YALitChat. Mostly I just take it all in and keep my opinions to myself, but this past week I read something that sent my karma radar beeping off the charts.

The discussion of the evening was EBooks. That is one giant soapbox that I won't scrub or dub around in right now. However, an agent said this...
e reader ARC hopefully would mean they wouldn't end up on ebay any more #kidlitchat

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

First off, just in case anyone doesn't know, an ARC is an Advanced Reader Copy of a book. Meaning someone was lucky enough to get a copy before it was released to the public. Meaning said lucky person got it for free. Usually as part of it's promotional campaign. As in, please read this and if you like it, help promote the book and the author. NOT and I repeat, NOT SELL IT ON EBAY.

I mean, seriously. What kind of person does this? I was so grateful when I received my first ARC. I am always grateful when I win a book in a contest or giveaway. My way to show my gratitude is to help spread the word so the author, agent, publisher, etc. can continue earning a living by legitimately selling copies of their books. As if the business isn't tough enough these days, now we've got people taking advantage of the ARC system?

The karma gods will be laying a major smackdown on the people who are selling or have sold ARCs on Ebay. I know it. Karma gods are always watching, and they take their jobs very seriously. If any of you readers have committed this greedy crime, feel free to remove yourself as one of my blog supporters. I don't want any bad karma due to the guilty by association rule.

For the rest of you, who are like me, and assume people have more common sense and morals than to do such a thing, can I get a "WTH?"

13 comments:

  1. Unbelievable! That makes me sick. What kind of a person would do that?

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  2. I think it's more common than we'd like to think. I look at my ARC as a gift and wouldn't trade it for anything.

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  3. I either keep my ARCs or give them away in order to share the joy of reading them! It seems strange to read about people selling them on eBay.

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  4. If I got an ARC I would pet it and love it and give it a special home. And if it was actually a good read, I'd tell everyone I know to go buy it. It wouldn't even occur to me to sell it.

    I don't know why it surprises me that people would do that. If there are people willing to sell (and buy!) a grilled cheese sandwich with a very vague likeness to the image of the virgin Mary, I suppose there are people willing to make a few bucks on anything they get their hands on.

    Silliness! *shakes head*

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  5. Hi Karen, I just stopped in to say thanks for following my blog... and now that I've had a peek at yours and I'm enjoying it. I see we have at least non-vampire fantasy and Disney in common :)

    And for the record, I think selling ARCs is terrible. Great post.

    Diana

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  6. Yes, yes, yes! Great post, Karen. That's why they call them ARCs, Advanced READING Copies, and not Advanced Make a Quick Buck at Somebody Else's Expense Copies.

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  7. You're absolutely right. I don't know how some people can live with themselves, trying to make a buck off of someone else's hard work.

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  8. Happens all the time. My mom used to work for an entertainment publisher who got advanced copies of DVDs. She'd give them to us with the express instruction NOT to resale it because she could lose her job. In the case of DVDs, no one really wants the advanced copies because something scrolls across the screen every so many minutes saying it's a screener...and it goes black and white sometimes too. But in a book, I'm assuming there's just a notice on the first page or something?

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  9. Oh wow, this is all new to me. I've got so much to learn about ARC's and e-books and all of the fraud. It's really sad that it happens. If only the thief knew how much work, sweat, and love we put into each of our books!

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  10. Wow, they are headed right to Santa's naughty list. That's freaking insane.

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  11. I see your "WTH?" and raise you a "WTF?" I was really lucky to win an ARC in a twitter contest, and I can't believe that people are doing that kind of crap! Ugh. Freaking unbelievable.

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