Thread by @JimZub

Remember six months ago when I mentioned that comic piracy numbers were easily 20x legitimate buyers and it was a real problem?

Sometime yesterday a bunch of other comic pros looked closer, saw the numbers and the cold chill of it really hit.

Yup.

In the early days of online piracy, media that went viral in those channels could benefit from the visibility boost.

Nowadays most of it is rapid consumption that never leads to support. Digital content is quick and disposable. On to the next show, game, comic. Rinse and repeat.

The piracy sites will ask for donations to "support" their efforts, they'll repackage content that's already available for free through legitimate means. It's a relentless stockpile of content they're leveraging to make money because they can.

Comics and RPGs are particularly vulnerable because the digital files are small compared to video and both industries tend to be on that sales bubble where a serious drop can lead to cancellation.

I know that bringing it up again will put me back on the merry-go-round of discussion that ranges from-

I only do it because [reason]
You can't stop it, so stop complaining.
They still makes comics?

No, I don't have some incredible foolproof solution.
Neither do the biggest media companies on the planet.

Raising awareness of it is a double-edged sword, but not saying anything feels like making it permissive.

I get it - in a world where corporate and political greed seems to be running rampant it feels like doing the right thing doesn't matter and isn't appreciated anyway.

If enough people do it, it's even easier to justify. You're not even a rebel, you're the mainstream

I don't want pirate readers to think it's no big deal or victimless. I want them to know they're hurting an industry they claim to be a fan of.

It doesn't matter if it's corporate comics, creator-owned, or manga.

Content worth reading is content worth supporting.

Let me try and finish this on a positive note-
If you buy my books, in any format, I deeply appreciate it.

If you buy my books for other people and get them on board my work, I'm thrilled.

It's noticed.
It matters.
Be good to each other.

Also, creators, one of the most common question you'll be asked is where readers can go to support your work.

Create a landing page with that info nicely organized and you'll save a lot of time and could help foster new readers.

Here's mine:
jimzub.com/buy/