A.J. Maguire

Tag: indie authors

  • LibGen, Meta, & Me

    This week has been illuminating.

    We of the Indie Community read the recent Atlantic article and tested our names in the LibGen search bar and most of us are on there. For a quick run down, Meta used LibGen in order to download many, many, MANY books and feed those books into its AI system known as Llama. To train that AI on how to write in an engaging manner.

    Yes, it has the Nora Grayson series on there too. Not the third book, as it hasn’t reached shelves yet, but the first two are in there. I’d show you the screen shot but it’s not the best quality. You can test it out yourself at the link provided if you don’t believe me.

    So, what is LibGen?

    Library Genesis, or LibGen for short, calls itself a shadow library.

    In short, it is a pirate site. It takes data files (aka eBooks) and offers them out for free. I know a lot of people decried Amazon for taking away the ability to download eBooks onto their computers because they think they should own the book and be able to access it on any device they want but…

    BUT this is how pirate sites get our work. And no, letting someone borrow your personal copy, or even giving it away to whomever you want, isn’t the same for an eBook because an eBook file can be copied. It can be copied INFINITELY. So I support Amazon’s move here. Because it protects ME. And maybe my books wouldn’t be on these sites if those protections had been in place from the beginning.

    Why does this matter? Don’t I let real libraries have my books to loan out? Don’t I leave physical copies of my book in random places sometimes so that someone might pick it up?

    Well, it matters on two fronts.

    First and foremost, people who have my physical copies can’t download the content into an AI system so that it can learn how to write in an engaging manner. Yes, we know AI is here and it’s not going anywhere. The technology will continue to grow no matter how hard we kick and scream and scoff at it, but that does not mean we want to help it grow. And we most certainly do not want our work stolen in order to feed that machine.

    Second, pirated eBooks don’t just steal royalties from the author, they steal our ability to be seen in the marketplace. Algorithms work based on engagement. The more people click on my books, the more that algorithm shares those same books with new potential readers. The more people who SEE, the more likely it is for someone else to click on the book and investigate.

    So it does matter. Because it directly affects my ability to reach new readers.

    Before you ask, there are already lawsuits in progress regarding this. If you are an author and this is the first you’re hearing about this (unlikely, the rage is everywhere at this point) then you will want to take a look at the Author’s Guild. They have a lot of information and even a form letter you can sign if you find your books on the LibGen site.

    For those of you who read my Blog and are NOT authors, but you want to help support us, the easiest and best way to support your favorite authors has not changed.

    1. Buy their books – yes, even when on sale for free on Amazon, that algorithm helps boost us, so don’t be ashamed if you get the novels for free that way.
    2. Tell people about the books you love.
    3. Review the books on Goodreads and Amazon and Barnes & Noble, if you have the time. We all know that can be a hassle. Just clicking on the Star rating will do. I promise.
    4. Remember that you, as a Reader, are amazing. We love you. We are here directly BECAUSE of you, and your thoughts and support mean the world to us.

  • Boycotts, Kindle Unlimited, & Indie Authors

    Why yes, we have another controversy sweeping through the internet. It’s all over my social media feeds and still going strong. Because this actually does affect me as an Indie Author with titles on Kindle Unlimited, I’m going to go ahead and comment on it.

    Many of my dedicated readers are not writers and therefore do not have insider knowledge of how this all works. Sure, they hear snippets where they start to get outraged at how they perceive authors are treated on various platforms and, historically, things haven’t been great for us.

    However…

    For Kindle Unlimited in particular, I can tell you that I have made a decent percentage from having my titles on there. Enough of a percentage that it’s worth it to me to keep the titles on that platform – the current boycott against Amazon notwithstanding.

    I imagine once the boycott is over, we will see an uptick in people reading on KU again. Or at least I sincerely hope we do.

    The truth is, Authors have always had the short end of the stick in publishing. The BIG publishers in traditional publishing get the largest slice of the pie regardless of any advances they may hand out to their authors. It’s a business. You’re getting your name under their imprint, which they have worked hard to gatekeep in such a way that readers who frequent their titles trust that they are buying a quality product.

    That’s part of the incentive for going Traditional. You get the stamp of authority that says your work is of the quality that these professionals hold. Notice I say PART of the incentive. The marketing budget they can offer is another one, and if we’re really honest, the rise of Indie Publishing has made it so that most people know they don’t actually need that imprint’s stamp of approval to put out a quality book.

    Many Readers are catching onto this fact too.

    This is where Kindle Unlimited comes in. Readers are able to access millions of books for a set price every month, so they are more willing to give an unknown Indie Author a chance. Yes, sometimes they find a stinker that didn’t take the time to research properly, didn’t hire an editor, and (these days) maybe even used AI to help ‘craft’ the story.

    Brief Sidebar: Please don’t support AI created stories.

    For all its faults and business practices that make people cringe, at the end of the day KU has become a space where Readers can take a chance on an independent author that they otherwise would not have. For a lot of us, that chance is all we need. Die-Hard fans are made in the KU publishing space.

    Is the pricing fair to authors who publishers there?

    I mean… let’s point again at literally every other publishing outlet on the planet and recognize that the authors are almost always on the short end of the stick. With KU, at least we’re getting paid regularly for people flipping through the book. Even if a Reader puts the book down because they don’t like it, the chance was taken and we get a little money for creating something.

    Now we come to the argument of ‘going wide’ with publishing.

    This is where the author puts their books out through many sites and not just Amazon. Places like Smashwords, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble are all viable outlets for selling books and have their doors open to Independent Authors. You absolutely can ‘go wide’ and have your books available on Amazon Kindle at the same time, you just can’t have them in the KU pool.

    I have books that I published wide, and books that I published to Amazon KU. The bottom line is, I make more money focused on Amazon KU. Don’t ask me why. Don’t ask me how their algorithm works. Because I honestly don’t know. All I know is, KU works.

    Which brings me to the current boycott.

    I understand standing up for what you believe in. I’m an author. 90% of the stories we tell are all about struggling against the Giants of the world to demand the right to not only exist, but live happy and free.

    So, you do you.

    But please do it with your eyes open. If you’re doing it because you feel the authors aren’t being treated fairly, I’m afraid that’s just how the cookie crumbles in this business. Aside from buying the book directly from us, we’re always going to get the short end of the stick.

    If you’re doing it for all the other business practices you disagree with, then hey, my proverbial hat is off to you. The lack of sales for a week is a small sacrifice I can make toward your cause as well, and I’m happy to make it.

    I like to fight Giants too.