On Friday, September 9th I uploaded my eBook to Amazon.com, iBooks, and Barnes & Noble for $2.99

A week later, I uploaded it to The Pirate Bay for free.

I know what you’re probably thinking.  “Well, that was stupid.”  That’s exactly what my girlfriend, a few of my friends, and the voice in my head all said.

It took me two stiff drinks to work up the courage to prep the file.  I wrote up a half page letter to the reader.  This has been uploaded by the author.  It took ten years and countless hours to create this book.  If you like it, consider buying a digital copy for a friend, blah blah blah.  I added links to Amazon, I inserted this into the book.  I labeled the file: Pirate Edition.  I hit upload.

Then I went to bed.

My first experience torrenting from the other side.

I woke up wondering if I didn’t dream the whole idea.  When I checked my computer the torrent file now had 12 seeders and 5 leachers.  Other torrent sites had it.  As of writing this, if you Google my name plus the book title, a torrent is the top hit.

Oops.

So why did I do what some might call the stupidest thing an artist could do?

Because I used to pirate as well.

Like many, all through college I struggled financially.  I found a hundred ways to survive off ramen.  I learned to eat at Trader Joe’s for exactly three bucks.  I dodged my landlord on rent days until my miserable paycheck had cleared.  During the really bad times I borrowed my friend’s Costco card and went there for the free samples and cheap pizza.  Somewhere in Los Angeles there’s an Arby’s that recognizes me on sight.

If I had to buy software for a class, I went to the internet.  If a friend suggested a musician, I did the same thing.  The cycle persisted well after graduation and into my twenties.

(I feel like I’m confessing to murder here.)

And then something happened.  As I started getting more and more financial stability, I stopped pirating as much.  I started buying.  iTunes replaced Limewire, DVD’s replaced .avi files.  I went back and bought the albums and movies I loved, many of which I discovered back before I paid for them.

If you look on my movie shelf you’ll see hundreds of movies I bought at retail, half of which I probably downloaded at one point or another.  Most of my music now is linked to an Amazon or iTunes account.  My Xbox is unhacked.  I pay for my apps.  I make a teacher’s salary.  It’s not much, but it’s enough.  If I save I can get a few toys.

I bought an iPad the day it came out.  I couldn’t wait to read on it.  A friend emailed me Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  He said I’d love it.  I did.  But about halfway through one thing bothered me.  I hadn’t paid for it.  So I went to iBooks and paid the $9.99.  Probably too much, but I know the author didn’t set the price, so whatever.

Same with Shit My Dad Says.  Same with Game of Thrones.

I did this because I no longer eat ramen or have a sample buffet at Costco and can afford a few things.  Do I buy indiscriminately?  Absolutely not.  I can’t afford to.

But I feel I owe it to those who wrote the stories I like.

So why did I upload something for free that I spent roughly ten years writing?

Because I believe you can’t turn readers into pirates, but you can turn pirates into readers.

Because I believe some people will pay for quality writing, they may just not pay right then.

Because I don’t think of each copy downloaded as a purchase lost, but a potential reader gained.

Because I believe most people don’t find their favorite author or musician on a bookstore shelf or on a CD they paid for.  They find them by borrowing a friend’s copy or hearing a song on the radio.

And mostly, because I believe I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t.

Maybe it sounds like socialism, maybe it’s disruptive, I don’t know.  What I do know is that ten years ago I set out to write a book that scared me, hoping someday readers might enjoy it.  That hasn’t changed.

It's out of my hands now. Couldn't hit UNDO if I wanted to.

And really, what’s the worst that could happen?  People don’t buy it?  I’m hardly Stephen King so that’s not a problem.

So I’ll see how this experiment pans out.  Did I nuke my writing career before it even started?  Perhaps.  I can’t imagine a single publisher would ever be interested in working with an author who uploaded his book for free.  Did I do the wrong thing?  I don’t know.  If anything, it feels kind of right.

But then again, ten years ago I never thought I’d pay $9.99 for a bunch of ones and zeroes that I could download for free, so who knows?


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