Puzzlement; What is the relationship between popular books and purloined books?

 



Our most purloined book is How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman. I find it on various sites, completely stolen in spite of \evident copyright (and often no way to contact the thief to send a cease-and-desist letter -- hopefully, some of the publisher associations working on this issue that plaques all authors and publishers will find some effective solutions). Usually a bad copy, i.e. heard to read.

Our most popular book is How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately, outselling some of our books 9:1 and our next bestselling book 2:1. Are these sales numbers in spite of the purloining or, ironically, thanks to the purloining (e.g., purchasers wanted an easier-to-read copy, the purloiners brought the book to the attention of potential readers who would not otherwise have known about it)?

I suppose we will never know the answer as to whether the book benefitted from or was harmed by the thefts. It will be so helpful for professional organizations to be able to take on these bad boys. Small publishers rarely have the resources to do so. Neither do authors. In the interim, we will take a positive spin (not having much an alternative) and assume that at least sometimes the purloining produced sales that we would not otherwise have had.

To read more about Boris Shekhtman and his books, including excerpts, click HERE.



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