I’m not sure which KDP issue you’re referring to… I heard of the whole problem they’ve caused with their return policy and due to how their royalties work, authors end up having to pay Amazon out of pocket when/if a customer returns their e-book. But if there’s something else that’s happened with KDP, I haven’t heard of it.
As for my reasoning in regards to e-book piracy, I agree with what some published authors like Brandon Sanderson have said on the topic. They’ve put it more succinctly than I ever can, so I won’t repeat what they have already said, but I’ll only add my perspective to it:
- There are, broadly speaking, three different types of people who download books for free: Those who can’t afford books, those who can but don’t want to “risk” buying books unless they know for sure they will enjoy it, and those who can but choose not to spend money on books.
The third category of people are irrelevant, because whether or not they pirate ebooks, the authors aren’t going to receive a single penny from them anyway.
But I see the first two categories as potential future sales. People who can’t afford books might someday actually have that buying power and purchase books from authors who they’ve previously read (for free!) and enjoyed. People who are risk-averse might read a few books for free, discover that they like the author, and then won’t be so risk-averse next time they see that author’s books in the stores.
- For indie or growing authors, I believe it will benefit them greatly if they have one or two books available for free, because people are even less likely to risk spending money on an author whose work they are entirely unfamiliar with. So having a free book or two will introduce people to your work, and if they like your style, they’d be more likely to buy more of your stuff.
- My third reasoning is probably the most important reason for me personally, and that is because I’m looking at it from a non-Western/“first-world” perspective. Books are (pardon my language) f***cking expensive. Public libraries are basically non-existent. School libraries are small and stock only educational material (hardly any fiction).
To put it into perspective, the average minimum wage per province is roughly US$200 per month. A HUGE percentage of the people barely make minimum wage. An e-book is still US$10-20 (for well-known authors). You could get KDP e-books for $3-5, but when you’ve got bills, housing, food, etc. to pay for … who is gonna risk even $1 on a random author who they’ve never heard of or read before?
Of course people can read “local” books (which are cheaper), but that’s incredibly limiting, and it shuts people off from the rest of the world. That’s how people are still stuck in the misogynistic, homophobic, racist mindsets of the 60s when the rest of the world are progressing.
I spent many, many years pirating e-books … and I would never have found my favourite authors if I hadn’t done so. But I graduated high school, university, I got a high-paying job from very early on because of my excellent English and work and personal ethics–all of which I’d never have developed had I not been exposed to them through (pirated!) international books. Basically, I got myself into a position where I actually have expendable income, and now my bookshelves are stocked with their books (even the ones I already read for free decades ago). And the authors who I never pirated? Well, I’m not buying their books today, either. And I know I’m far from the only one with this experience.
Of course there are people who are just entitled and will never contribute a dime to authors, but shutting off the whole topic of “ebook piracy” and making blanket moral statements regarding the issue at the expense of the rest of the world is like burning an entire city down just because thieves exist.