That’s the title of an article in Futurebook by Timo Boezeman. Here’s a snippet:
Once you are able to see piracy not only as a threat, you can start to see the positive effects. Positive? Yes. Think about why people pirate your books. Why would they do that? Think negative and you might say: they don’t want to pay for it. Could be (see the text under the next heading how to tackle that). But the main reason is: they want your book! And that is a good thing, right? So if you want to use that in your own advantage, you could see piracy (in other words: downloading for free) as sampling. Hey, an opportunity! Take over control and spread the work for free yourself. Not just the complete work with no further actions attached. But for instance a management summary of your (non-fiction) work. Or a version with ads (additional income!). Or a version with social media buttons included to let the readers spread the word (so they become ambassadors of your work, free marketing!). Of course with links included that can help people to buy the original work if they like it (and I know from experience that people do this) in a format they choose (e-book, hardcover, etc.). If you take this even one step further, you can also see that this could help the author spread his name (and expertise), which could lead to extra lectures, workshops or seminars. And if you offer the author a complete package (including arranging his presentations), this could become an alternative source of income for you as a publisher. I know this is not a simple thing to implement, and might even mean you have to change your business a bit, but it is a way to take the initiative on it and to make good use of the opportunity.
“But the main reason is: they want your book! And that is a good thing, right?”
Not if they’re not willing to pay for it like any other sod. And it’s been my experience that once someone has an ebook, they are much less likely to buy the same ebook for free, and are more likely to try to find your other material through the same pirate sites.
I suppose that anyone who might want to make a living traveling around and doing lectures and seminars might benefit from creating an ebook about whatever and give it away for free. For an author wanting to make money off of his writing? Not so much.
Like it or not, money is the gas that keeps the publishing engine running. Even if the nonfiction author makes most of his income from being an “expert” and giving talks, the publisher and its employees don’t so they are screwed. If the publisher loses too much money, he stops publishing the author, that type of book, and may go out of business which is bad news for everyone.
Most fiction writers aren’t paid beyond those who buy the book so they are screwed in any event, and the less money is poured into the system, the fewer writers, publishers, and others along the publishing food chain stay in the system.
Since the self-published take all the financial risks, they are even more prone to running out of the financial gas that keeps them producing.