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HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220

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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by SWM   » Sun Jul 26, 2015 7:06 pm

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Print Advance Reader Copies are clearly marked NOT FOR RESALE.
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by merant101   » Sun Jul 26, 2015 7:25 pm

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US $440.00 now
why cant david ? or tor sell 10 arc signed copys for charty this way.
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by DirkF   » Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:30 am

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There is another one, still zero bids:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/David-Weber-HEL ... 1210323975
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by Denpalar   » Mon Jul 27, 2015 6:21 am

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Oh, it'll get bids alright. ​ If it doesn't get driven to similarly
high prices, then I'll create an account specifically to bid on it.
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by Eagleeye   » Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:37 am

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Denpalar wrote:Oh, it'll get bids alright. ​ If it doesn't get driven to similarly
high prices, then I'll create an account specifically to bid on it.


I've just put it on my watch list ... I had luck with former auctions; maybe I've luck with this, too ;)
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by ZVar   » Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:51 pm

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Print Advance Reader Copies are clearly marked NOT FOR RESALE

Just so you know, they can print anything on them they want. But it is legal to re-sell a physical item because of the First Sale Doctrine. Now if it was an e-arc, or reviewers copy that they are under contract that is one thing, but to sell a book is perfectly fine.
If you want to read a bit here is a good place to start: http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2011/01/07/132744291/for-promotional-use-only-not-for-resale-oh-yes-it-is
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by lyonheart   » Tue Jul 28, 2015 3:54 am

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Hi SWM,

Right you are!

When this has come up before I believe any posts here based on such pirated books are deleted by the administrators or proctors rather quickly.

Sooner or later dishonesty doesn't prosper.

L


SWM wrote:Print Advance Reader Copies are clearly marked NOT FOR RESALE.
Any snippet or post from RFC is good if not great!
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by SWM   » Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:05 am

SWM
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ZVar wrote:
Print Advance Reader Copies are clearly marked NOT FOR RESALE

Just so you know, they can print anything on them they want. But it is legal to re-sell a physical item because of the First Sale Doctrine. Now if it was an e-arc, or reviewers copy that they are under contract that is one thing, but to sell a book is perfectly fine.
If you want to read a bit here is a good place to start: http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2011/01/07/132744291/for-promotional-use-only-not-for-resale-oh-yes-it-is

I didn't say that it was illegal. I said that the publishers distribute them with the intent that they not be resold. I was merely making clear what the publishers and authors wanted. I am a librarian; I am well aware of the legal issues. And as a librarian, I am not going to give legal advice on whether to violate the publisher's wishes.
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by McGuiness   » Wed Jul 29, 2015 7:37 pm

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SWM wrote:Print Advance Reader Copies are clearly marked NOT FOR RESALE.
Sorry, I can't seem to manage to write a short post not matter how I try. I just hope I manage to keep it interesting! :lol:

If these ARCs are indeed labelled "Not for Resale," the people who are auctioning the ARCs on Ebay are actually in violation of the law and Ebay's rules, could be sued, and depending on how high the auction price goes, would be guilty of a felony or three! (I'm sure any lawyers involved could find a few, I can think of several myself!) Of course a simple "Cease and desist" letter to Ebay would put an end to this - and and quite possibly also cause the cancellation of both seller's accounts on Ebay, which would also destroy their seller ratings. That's a tough price to pay if you've worked for years to generate a positive rating.

Ebay didn't exist years ago, and some publishers (who shall remain nameless but their name rhymes with "door") seem to be a wee bit behind the times when it comes to the possibilities of making or losing money on the internet, or at the very least, protecting their intellectual property. If Tor was aware that the ARCs that they sent in the hopes of a positive review are now being auctioned for $400, even though they have a "Not for resale" warning printed on them, then Tor's prolific lawyers ought to come down on the person selling the book like the Hammer of Thor! After all, whoever buys the book most likely represents a lost hardback sale for RFC at those prices, although it has been noted that at $90 one of our fellow contributers bought the hardback as well. That ain't gonna happen if you spend $400 for the ARC! Hence my suggestion that the lawyers sue the sellers to destruction and demand that Ebay stop the auctions. (And I HATE lawyers, so you can pretty much see how much this subject upsets me!) :evil:

Since sending a "Cease and desist" letter from Tor to Ebay indicating that their ARCs are being sold illegally would immediately get both auctions banned, so this isn't exactly rocket science. So I suppose Tor just doesn't care, and they won't until one of the enterprising people who buys Tor's ARCs scans one and posts it on the internet! That actually happened with the final Harry Potter book. I was up all night reading the illegal version, and had actually finished it when the UPS guy arrived with my hardback version that afternoon. (So sorry, they can't really sue me!)

As for the ARCs on sale on Ebay, they were undoubtedly sent to specific people so they could write a review about what they thought of the book - and I suspect those ARCs pretty much go to the same reviewers every time - after all, they need to have read the entire series to understand the book in context - although I've read more than one review that didn't seem to have a clue.

Put a serial number on every page of the ARC so you know who to sue if it's sold on Ebay, and tell Ebay that it's auctioning propriety merchandise protected by a "Not for resale" clause. Ebay will cancel the auction and blacklist the seller so quick that their head will swim! Plus RFC will get paid when the would-be buyer actually buys the hardback! ;)

RFC is probably laughing his head off at this entire thread, because when you sell tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands or a million copies of a book (whatever his number is) the sale of an ARC on Ebay isn't going to hurt him - until the day it's scanned and posted on the net weeks or months before publication. J.K. Rowling lucked out that the scanned copy of "The Deathly Hallows" hit the net only two or three days before the published book. She could have lost thousands of sales at a minimum if it had happened earlier - although it's quite possible that a large percentage of those who downloaded the book and read it "early" had already ordered the hardback, or bought it later to complete their collection of the entire series. Few authors are so lucky...

How likely would those readers have been to trumpet spoilers? And of course, with the final book of the most successful series in modern history, the media would have published those spoilers, which would have ruined the book for a lot of people.

BTW, I'm still ticked off that JK Rowling had Hermione and Ron get married, since she's now admitted that was a mistake, and Hermione should have ended up with HARRY!!! :(

So if you're a mega-author and somebody scans your book, you'd better hope it happens only a few days before it goes on sale. Sadly, not every author is that lucky.

On the other hand, go to Eric Flint's site and read what he thinks of piracy, and you'll get a rather unexpected viewpoint - he's all for it and believes it helps his book sales, since it makes him better known as an author by people who otherwise might never read his books. His book 1632 is part of Baen's free library, yet it still manages to generate a respectable number of sales! (Or at least it did when he wrote his essay on piracy, and 1632 was still in print at the time, which it may no longer be.) That doesn't mean 1633 or 1634: The Baltic War aren't still selling. He explains the biggest challenge an author faces is breaking through the crowd of other obscure authors and developing a regular readership. Piracy helps that. I am not advocating piracy - this is Eric Flint's opinion, and as successful as he's been, RFC is quite a bit more successful and would have more to lose if his latest book were to be put on the internet for free before its publication date!

But even RFC believes in giving his older books away for free to generate new readers. I about fainted when I opened the back cover of MoH (or whichever of the Honor Harrington novels it was) and found a CD with dozens of RFC's books. Needless to say, I didn't come up for air for months... That's how I discovered Bahzell, Dahak, the Starfire series (Seriously, if you haven't read "In Death Ground " and "The Shiva Option" you have seriously missed out!) I tried to get my library to buy them and although they bought several of the mainstream HH novels at my request, they wouldn't buy the Starfire series. So I was in HEAVEN when the whole thing was just waiting for me on that library shelf, tucked inside the back cover of a HH novel...

So Tor, shut down the auctions, or don't, but understand the risk you're taking. (Although those certainly aren't the only ARCs out there, and I hope there's a serial number printed on each page of every one! I'd hate to see RFC miss out on a bunch of well deserved sales because his book was scanned and posted long before its publication date. He's actually lectured me on the subject, and thinks my estimates of lost sales are too high, He would know better than I would, but still...) :?

"Oh bother", said Pooh as he glanced through the airlock window at the helmet he'd forgotten to wear.
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Re: HFQ ARC dead tree on ebay over $220
Post by Reader   » Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:53 pm

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Hi long time lurker

http://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765321879
What is this link in the auction, can you now buy a book arc version?
How accurate doe you think it will be?

Can't wait, with only the snippets!!
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