On Book Piracy and the Perks of being a Book Reviewer

Kyler B. Warhol April 23, 2021 Books, Ethics, Paganism, Real Life, Reviews, Social Media, Spirituality, Witchcraft

Hi pornies! I hope you've been well. These days far from the PC have been horrible! Things I need to take care of right away keep coming, over and over again. Seems like I barely have enough time to read and write, and when I have it, I need a catharsis, even if it is a short one. I recently had the chance to read Jason Mankey's post about book piracy, and there are a few things I would like to say about the matter.

Photo by Victor from Pexels.

I am the first to admit that I used to be part of this problem. It's been a while since I could buy books without remorse, years, if I need to be honest. Only when I was in high school I could get as many novels as I wanted. I just picked, and picked, and picked, and I was never afraid of money. When adulthood hit, it became harder, until it became impossible.

Life hasn't been gentle on me, as a few of you know, and reading was my only escape, my only therapy, but then I couldn't even afford that, and many of the books I wanted weren't in the bookstores or weren't even translated into Spanish (you know already I'm not a native English speaker; I try to improve everyday, though!) So I started reading on the web, whatever I could find. Until I became a book reviewer, and vowed not to do it again. I can understand people do it for different reasons, I was part of the problem, but I worked to find a way to change this, and this was the best option ever.

A few months ago, when asking an author for a review copy for a book I REALLY wanted to read, he gave me several options. However, I was surprised when I read "ALSO, I'm sure bootleg PDFs are floating around online somewhere if you look hard enough (laughs)". I can only think he knows people have pirated his work, and has kind of accepted it as a fact and something that people will do for a long while. It tempted me, a lot, to consider that option again, but I came back to my senses and decided to wait.

So, when I became a book reviewer, what was it that made me change my mind so radically?

Free books! I mean, what else did you expect me to put as the first one? Free. Books. Sometimes you can even read them before they are officially published, which is already awesome enough, but getting it for free still makes everyday feel like it's a holiday! And who am I kidding? I love to brag about it! I wouldn't be writing this entry if I wasn't.
Support authors and publishers. Instead of stealing so many people's work, you are actually being part of them by reviewing the book. Now you are part of the situation, a sort of publicist agent, if you like. You're sharing their work, you're part of their team.
Build up your resume. Let me be honest and modesty-free. I have one hell of a resume. I'm proud of it, and it keeps getting better. I've worked hard on it, done my best as often as possible, and a big chunk of it is because of my work as a book reviewer. You learn how to write, edit, advertise, organize your ideas, meet deadlines... All this will open professional doors in the future if so you want.
Networking! This is close to the previous perk. You get to know people on your niche. I always saw authors as distant, famous people, and I even doubted they would ever message me. I laugh a little when I remember that I sent Storm Faerywolf a Twitter PM, deleted it afterwards because "he has more important things to do", and then hyped when I saw his response. You will meet your idols, and some of them will become your friends.
Become an author yourself (in the long term). I mean, come on, do you seriously expect to read so much and not want to write a single word? Like, really? Nope, not gonna happen. You will get ideas, you'll start creating your own content one way or the other, and the good news is that you will get a clear idea of what you're doing. Becoming Kyler was just an excuse to review gay books for HORNS Magazine, but now I'm writing fiction, non-fiction, and even poetry! One day, those babies will see the light, just not today.