Jennifer Spaid
asked
Christine Feehan:
Ms. Feehan, I belong to the Christine Feehan Books Club on Facebook and in the last week or so the main topic of discussion is the fear that you will stop writing certain series due to piracy issues. It has been brought up that we have almost 21,000 people in this group. Is there anything we can do to help? I know a lot of us pre-order your books from Amazon, etc. but is there something in particular that would help?
Christine Feehan
I am so very grateful to hear that people are discussing these issues. The fact people care so much really matters to me. Thank you.
I don't expect my readers to have to go out of their way to understand the ins and outs of publishing, release dates or any of that. I want readers to look forward to the books, enjoy the stories and love the characters.
Piracy is an industry-wide issue and until there's a faster, more efficient way to deal with this problem, it will continue to harm authors and publishers. And, to an extent, readers since some series get canceled or are not renewed by a publisher when it appears no one is reading it.
Readers do often send me links to piracy sites and I absolutely share that with my publishing house. I have someone on staff who deals with piracy on eBay. We have a bit more control there.
So really I think all we can do is be aware of it. Share the links if you see it happening, so I can send them on to the publisher. Even that is not the responsibility of the reader, but I do appreciate it.
As far as pre-orders go, it's very helpful when people pre-order, but it is just as helpful to buy during the first week of release. The good thing about pre-orders is that it helps the publisher know whether or not they need to do another print run. Buying the first week of release helps with the bestseller lists and I feel my readers are very aware of that and they go out right away if they haven't pre-ordered.
As I said, I love that people care so much. My readers are important to me and I don't want anyone to ever feel bogged down to know rules, or worry about anything other than getting a wonderful book. That you do care just shows how extraordinary you all are.
I don't expect my readers to have to go out of their way to understand the ins and outs of publishing, release dates or any of that. I want readers to look forward to the books, enjoy the stories and love the characters.
Piracy is an industry-wide issue and until there's a faster, more efficient way to deal with this problem, it will continue to harm authors and publishers. And, to an extent, readers since some series get canceled or are not renewed by a publisher when it appears no one is reading it.
Readers do often send me links to piracy sites and I absolutely share that with my publishing house. I have someone on staff who deals with piracy on eBay. We have a bit more control there.
So really I think all we can do is be aware of it. Share the links if you see it happening, so I can send them on to the publisher. Even that is not the responsibility of the reader, but I do appreciate it.
As far as pre-orders go, it's very helpful when people pre-order, but it is just as helpful to buy during the first week of release. The good thing about pre-orders is that it helps the publisher know whether or not they need to do another print run. Buying the first week of release helps with the bestseller lists and I feel my readers are very aware of that and they go out right away if they haven't pre-ordered.
As I said, I love that people care so much. My readers are important to me and I don't want anyone to ever feel bogged down to know rules, or worry about anything other than getting a wonderful book. That you do care just shows how extraordinary you all are.
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