Read Me!

One of the greatest things for a writer is to be read. Writers put pen to paper to share the words. It might be in a digital sense these days. While there are a few out there who write things to burn them out of their heads, the majority of us have something to say, and we want those words out there.

DRM (Digital Rights Management) is one of those things that is supposed to be helpful to a writer. In a perfect world we wouldn't need it, because everyone who wanted to read the book would support the author. However, we don't live in a perfect world. Pirating exists, and DRM was designed to limit that.

The problem is most of us don't appreciate our digital rights to be managed. One thing I hate about it is that I don't stick on just one platform. I have had iPads, pcs, and android phones mixed up together in the same room. While some of the reading software has applications to allow a reader to switch between all of these, it can be cumbersome.

DRM limits or forbids me from sharing my reading material with others, too. One thing I loved about paper is I can drag something out and hand it to my friend and let them read it. If he loved it enough, he would buy it, too. Or the next book that came out. That was our author support.

For digital content, authors often get a larger share, but only if the item is paid for. Yet sometimes I feel it would be nicer to allow that book to be shared freely and have a tag at the end state: "If you like this book, support the author here."

So if you saw a tag like that, what would you do?