Books are Expensive, Don't Pretend They're Not

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This is a post that has near 3,500 notes, I've seen on my dash a few times, and rubbed me the wrong way every single time. I do not condone piracy of ebooks, but I find this post to be condescending and guilt-tripping. 

"Books are, in fact, the most cost effective form of entertainment we have today."

No, not really. 

Here's the thing: "we" can't all afford to drop $100+ on things like concerts "without a thought," and some of us don't even have the money to spend on concerts and broadway shows.  

And even if we did, concerts and broadway shows are those things we go to once a year as a treat. Not things we can breeze through during any day of our choosing. 

Books are expensive.

A typical YA book takes me anywhere from 2-4 hours to read, which means that I can read more than one in a day. My reading habits on very on and off, but I've read 9 books this month. Let's say that I bought them in paperback for $15 each. That's $135. Times that by 12 for the early cost? $1620.

With $1620 I could:

• Go to at least 13 concerts 
• See 162 movies in standard 2D
• Buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks every morning before class

Yeah, I know. That's terrible math and estimate, and I don't even drink coffee or go to Starbucks anymore. But the point stands, people who enjoy reading will be reading a lot more than they go to concerts. 

I remember all to well the days I was in high school. I didn't work much, and made about $30 a week. In bookstores here, a paperback would cost anything from $20 to $28 (I buy paperbacks off Book Depository now, so it's much cheaper). I didn't get allowance from my parents, and neither did they buy me things I didn't "need." I could make enough to buy a book maybe once a month, but there are people, especially young people out there who have no room in their budget for books. 

Now luckily, there's a local library about 15mins walk away from my house and I could request books from other libraries in the city if they didn't have the books I was after. While not everyone has access to a library and not every library the books that a person wants, they are a wonderful alternative for those who can't afford to buy their own books. Why doesn't the post say "buy or borrow your books"?

You know what, I'm not saying that people should be excused for pirating books. I'm saying that instead of coming from a place of privilege and attacking people (especially young teens) for not buying their books, understand that people come from different backgrounds and discourage book piracy by promoting libraries, recommending free stories online, promoting sales and giveaways. 

Instead of saying "you're a terrible person if you don't buy your books," say "book piracy hurts the authors you love and heres why. These are some alternatives that don't."