5 ms·

> I am loosing $Xk worth of sales every month. How do you know how much you're losing? From [0]: > The average U.S. book is now selling less than 200 copies

by senko 4y ago

> I am loosing $Xk worth of sales every month. How do you know how much you're losing? From [0]: > The average U.S. book is now selling less than 200 copies per year and less than 1,000 copies over its lifetime. It's easy to attribute low sales to piracy, when in fact people do not buy books, period. 0: https://ideas.bkconnection.com/10-awful-truths-about-publishing https://ideas.bkconnection.com/10-awful-truths-about-publish...

asutekku 4y ago
It’s pretty easy to attribute the drop if the sales dropped at the same as the pirated version was released
- akaij 4y ago
  Ah, yes. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
  - asutekku 4y ago
    Yes, there might be other variables affecting it too, but a blanket statement of "Piracy doesn't reduce sales" when it's primarily studied in the higher volume form of video game sales which are often pirated immediately after release and thus the effect is not clearly visible is not a good argument either.
    - emkoemko 4y ago
      those people would not have bought the game period... so its not a loss
    - akaij 4y ago
      I feel blanket statements are generally not a good fit for serious discussions. We have to keep asking the questions that will guide us closer to better data. I can't imagine the only good studies being on games. I'm sure similar studies for other forms of entertainment/art exist too. Games are also harder to pirate, and has its own problems that are virtually non-existent for books. And if we were to go down that route, we can further divide the affected people into publishers, authors, book stores etc. and only then can we figure out how the moral compass of each of us is really adjusted :) Big movie studios/publishers making billions of dollars? Hard to feel sorry for them. Indie authors/studios? I definitely have a soft spot for them.
- tshaddox 4y ago
  Not necessarily. Wouldn’t most book sales (especially in small niche interest groups, which is what this sounds like) be expected to come very quickly after the release date and then drop off very quickly?
- yencabulator 4y ago
  You might also have hit a cliff in sales as a function of time after publishing. You can't really extrapolate from your sample size of 1. Most book authors simply don't make money from books. Especially if it's a technical book.
RomanPushkin 4y ago
> How do you know how much you're losing? I have screenshots from the billing system, and I can easily prove that. > It's easy to attribute low sales to piracy, when in fact people do not buy books, period. The fact you're saying "period" means you're not ready to listen, but like to stick to your point of view. This will only affect your ability to see the truth.
- akaij 4y ago
  > I have screenshots from the billing system, and I can easily prove that. Unless the billing system tells you explicitly "you see the lack of people here compared to last month/year/some other time period? well, we actually possess the technology to find out who these potential people would have been, so we reached out to them and asked if they were going to buy your book. they all said 'yes, but not anymore, since I can now pirate it' and that's why your book stopped selling as well as before", how can you be sure you were going to make that money?
- Biganon 4y ago
  You misunderstood them. "Period" does not refer to the entire argument, as in "no one can change my mind", but to the sentence "people do not buy books", as opposed to "people do no bus books because they [...]"
jbverschoor 4y ago
My products also were affected by the pirating of your books.. Revenue dropped 80% for one of the saas products
antiterra 4y ago
Bookscan numbers are highly inaccurate and represent a floor. https://www.comicsbeat.com/just-how-accurate-is-bookscan-anyway/?amp https://www.comicsbeat.com/just-how-accurate-is-bookscan-any... https://countercraft.substack.com/p/no-most-books-dont-sell-only-a-dozen https://countercraft.substack.com/p/no-most-books-dont-sell-...

by senko 4y ago

asutekku 4y ago

It’s pretty easy to attribute the drop if the sales dropped at the same as the pirated version was released

akaij 4y ago
Ah, yes. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
- asutekku 4y ago
  Yes, there might be other variables affecting it too, but a blanket statement of "Piracy doesn't reduce sales" when it's primarily studied in the higher volume form of video game sales which are often pirated immediately after release and thus the effect is not clearly visible is not a good argument either.
  - emkoemko 4y ago
    those people would not have bought the game period... so its not a loss
  - akaij 4y ago
    I feel blanket statements are generally not a good fit for serious discussions. We have to keep asking the questions that will guide us closer to better data. I can't imagine the only good studies being on games. I'm sure similar studies for other forms of entertainment/art exist too. Games are also harder to pirate, and has its own problems that are virtually non-existent for books. And if we were to go down that route, we can further divide the affected people into publishers, authors, book stores etc. and only then can we figure out how the moral compass of each of us is really adjusted :) Big movie studios/publishers making billions of dollars? Hard to feel sorry for them. Indie authors/studios? I definitely have a soft spot for them.
tshaddox 4y ago
Not necessarily. Wouldn’t most book sales (especially in small niche interest groups, which is what this sounds like) be expected to come very quickly after the release date and then drop off very quickly?
yencabulator 4y ago
You might also have hit a cliff in sales as a function of time after publishing. You can't really extrapolate from your sample size of 1. Most book authors simply don't make money from books. Especially if it's a technical book.

RomanPushkin 4y ago

> How do you know how much you're losing? I have screenshots from the billing system, and I can easily prove that. > It's easy to attribute low sales to piracy, when in fact people do not buy books, period. The fact you're saying "period" means you're not ready to listen, but like to stick to your point of view. This will only affect your ability to see the truth.

akaij 4y ago
> I have screenshots from the billing system, and I can easily prove that. Unless the billing system tells you explicitly "you see the lack of people here compared to last month/year/some other time period? well, we actually possess the technology to find out who these potential people would have been, so we reached out to them and asked if they were going to buy your book. they all said 'yes, but not anymore, since I can now pirate it' and that's why your book stopped selling as well as before", how can you be sure you were going to make that money?
Biganon 4y ago
You misunderstood them. "Period" does not refer to the entire argument, as in "no one can change my mind", but to the sentence "people do not buy books", as opposed to "people do no bus books because they [...]"

jbverschoor 4y ago

My products also were affected by the pirating of your books.. Revenue dropped 80% for one of the saas products

antiterra 4y ago

Bookscan numbers are highly inaccurate and represent a floor. https://www.comicsbeat.com/just-how-accurate-is-bookscan-anyway/?amp https://www.comicsbeat.com/just-how-accurate-is-bookscan-any... https://countercraft.substack.com/p/no-most-books-dont-sell-only-a-dozen https://countercraft.substack.com/p/no-most-books-dont-sell-...