Stephen King’s ‘Joyland’ pirated as e-book -- like all the rest

Pirated e-book versions of Stephen King’s “Joyland� have surfaced online. That’s notable because King, to support the print book being published by small indie Hard Case Crime, decided not to issue an e-book of this particular novel.

It’s not notable, however, in that just about every book Stephen King published is available as a pirated e-book.

On one pirate site, major bestselling novels by King available for illicit free download include “The Shining,� “The Stand,� “Pet Sematary,� “It,� “The Green Mile,� and “The Gunslinger� -- and that’s all just one bundled package. Newer novels “Under the Dome� and “11.22.63� are there too, as is “Joyland.�

“Joyland� publisher Charles Ardai was unruffled when he heard the news. The pirated e-book is “just one of the many punches you have to learn to roll with in the rough-and-tumble world of modern publishing,� he told AppNewser.

Ardai said, “In the end you have to rely on the good behavior of the vast majority of the audience -- I see no reason to think that pirates represent more than a small fraction of all consumers.�

King was speaking to those consumers in May when he told the Wall Street Journal, “I have no plans for a digital version.... Maybe at some point, but in the meantime, let people stir their sticks and go to an actual bookstore rather than a digital one.�

The problem is that to some people, a pirate site looks like a digital bookstore -- one where everything is free.

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