Even the pirated Necronomicon sells well

Last night, I was doing some research for one of my little projects---a Mythos Gang story---Bast and the Mittens of Destruction (this is a working title; it might be changed by the time I finish the story).

[For those who are curious, the Mythos Gang is a series of "adult children stories" that I started writing a couple of years ago before the "great depression of 2014---damn, those fucked up meds." I have never actually completed writing one yet. Besides I am writing them to amuse myself, so it does not matter if none of them ever get finished. Anyways...]

Last night, while searching "Necronomicon" on Amazon, I stumbled across this ebook listing.

Someone is selling a pirated copy of the Necronomicon.

Yes, that is right; someone is selling ebook copies of a scan of the Simon (Avon) Necronomicon. And when I say "scan," I mean "pretty lousy scan from an yellowed copy of this fraudulent grimoire."

See--it is just a bloody scan!

Now, this type of crap happens all the time. One of the arguments that pro-book-pirates make is that no one is making a profit from their piracy. Unfortunately, that is not universally true. And this is a perfect example of someone making a profit off a ripped copy of someone else's work.

Oh dear, someone is making money off of this. 

"How much profit?" you ask. Well, if we take the indie writer sales estimation formula (designed by indies for those snoopy indies who are curious about other people's sales)---one hundred thousand divided by the sales rank (100000/140538) equals daily sales (.71)....or 21 sales a month. Without knowing what percentage Amazon is giving them, and where their sales are coming from---let's just call that 21 dollars a month in royalities for a pirated book.

And this listing has been up since December 2013! So assuming sales have been constant from the beginning---this pirate has made four hundred dollars off of this pirated book.

I am not sure about anyone else, but I kinda feel like I am in the wrong profession. Why create new stuff when you can just rip off other people?

Actual customer reviews of the pirated version. 

And his? her? zisr? customers seem oblivious to the fact that it is a ripped copy. Now, I do not expect much from people who buy the Simon (Avon) Necronomicon---which may have been created as a practical joke---but really? I particularly like the one that says, "Excellent book. Presents actual text that John [Dee] worked with so draws the reader directly into the essence of ancient wisdom & magic."

(In all fairness, all occultists, witches, and magicians are assumed to have a copy of this book. I own a copy myself---a copy that I brought at an used book store.)

There seems to be no ebook edition of the Necronomicon.

Now, I firmly suspect that the reason that people are buying this badly scanned ebook is simply because there seems to be no official ebook edition of the Simon (Avon) Necromonicon. I do wonder why that is....though given that the book has never been out of print since its initial publication and seems to sell well, I am sure that the publisher sees absolutely no reason to issue an ebook copy.

Fuck! This is a damn good sales rank for a "fake" book.

Just how well does it sell? Well, if the wonky formula is to be believed; it sells five copies a day. That is a whooping 1825 copies a year. And even if the formula is giving us the wrong number, consider the fact that this book is number nine in the category of occultism---I know that there are some occult writers who would consider murdering someone to get that rank in the occultism category. In my case, I would consider murdering the pirate selling the bad scan for profit; my defense would be that piracy is a victimless crime. (What?! Am I stretching that defense out more than the people who argue that in book piracy justifications? I think not.)

Anyways, so this has been a rant; therefore, it must be Wednesday in Mad Uncle Morgan's world. Have a good evening.