Bootleg classics

Traditional publishers and authors might rail against this open violation of intellectual property rights, but many authors appreciate the compliment embedded in piracy

How do you know if a book is selling well? The bestselling lists and reviews are two indices but we know how those can be suborned. One unexpectedly reliable and underestimated indicator: the market for pirated books.
 
“Serious” readers dismiss these roadside booksellers as purveyors of the superficial, and publishers rarely take much notice because the level of piracy is reasonably small. Popular novels, romances and self-help books certainly bulk up their offerings. Sidney Sheldon and his successors are permanent fixtures as are Rhonda Byrnes, Nicholas Sparks and Ravinder Singh. All Paulo Coelho and Chetan Bhagat books find their