Help Author Diane Duane Recover Her Savings by Buying Her E-Books at a Discount

I’m really in two minds about this, and no doubt some will call me names for this – but why should I?

I mean… isn’t this sort of an abuse of an author’s ability to make sales? What about when the money is back? Is she going to donate whatever people stumped up to charity? It sucks her account was emptied, I won’t suggest otherwise, but I don’t entirely agree with this.

The author is offering discounts for purchased e-books. You’re not being asked to donate money, you’re being informed of a sale (for a cause). If she was outright asking for donations I would agree it would have no place here.

I agree. It’s digital panhandling.

I understand that, but it’s a personal cause. If it happened to any of us, we would reach out to our friends and families for a little help, and pay them back for it.

You’re getting something in return (a book or however many you buy), but I feel like… I don’t know, like it’s tapping a resource that shouldn’t be tapped. She’s using her situation to basically market her books, increase sales and make a quick buck. It’s not like she’s in a life-or-death situation (many companies who take service payments probably aren’t as cruel as they may seem once you’ve explained the situation to someone higher up the chain), or one where the money is going to a cause that’ll affect lives.

If she isn’t prepared for misfortunes like this – as we all should be, arguably – then why should her fans be – and I quote – “invited” to patch some holes?

Wow, haven’t you ever heard of helping out somebody who’s in a spot of trouble?  If all my friends (and even some folk I don’t know) hadn’t helped me out during my divorce 2 years ago, I would have been homeless.  Did I deserve it?  Oh, probably not.  But they did it out of COMPASSION, and GENEROSITY; ever hear of such terms?

There’s also a thing called paying it forward.  

Funnily enough, I have. But I am not Diane’s friend, I do not know her, and I don’t particularly see what gives her the right to “invite” (to use her words) me to buy her books in order to see her over what is a brief problem. I’m generous when I feel it’s justified (I donated money to RAINN despite being English as part of Jim C. Hines’ giveaway for a signed book), I can be compassionate (I was a shoulder for a friend of mine last night), but I’m also not there to be someone’s ATM.

I have sympathy for Diane’s problem, I haven’t said otherwise, but I feel turning to her fans (and non-fans) is not the right thing to do. She’s now across a number of high-hit sites due to this passed-around message, so hundreds, if not thousands, of people are now seeing her ask for money to pay her bills whilst her bank sorts something out. It is a problem between herself and her husband, it’s not ours. Whilst it’s likely not her main motive, do you not see what this is? People are buying her books, she’s making sales, getting new customers – it’s arguably a form of marketing.

Your divorce is another matter – they can be very dreadful things, and I’m sorry you went had a problematic one – but again, would you *really* turn to people on the internet for help?

You see, if she’d PATENTED the Bolonium Drive back in the day, she wouldn’t be in this mess.

Those are valid points and I don’t disagree, however I think it also depends on how you look at it. In my case I had forgotten about her books and was glad of a reminder and a chance to get some for cheap as well as knowing that it was good timing to help out; seems like a win-win situation, but I can also see how a ‘plea to the fans’ for help of any kind could be inappropriate.

I fail to see the problem in people helping others out of a tight spot. It’s as simple as that, she’s in trouble, she’s asked for help, people can choose to help if they want to or not, it’s hardly a moral dilemma. 

I see it more as she’s having a sale to drum up some cash. It’s not so much that her financials are totally runied or the money is gone, it’s more like all of her money is tied up in this fraud investigation. Hopefully it will all work out and she’ll get her money back, but right now she doesn’t have access to her money. But of course she can’t just have no money for a few weeks, she’s gotta eat and pay bills etc. So she really just needs some money to tide her over.

I’ve seen those crazy scams online where someone “has cancer” and needs money for treatment or will do commissions for money that never show up. At least here you’re getting the product instantly. I don’t think she’s trying to replace all of her money with this sale. If anything it’s more admirable than straight panhandling ’cause at least she’s trying to do business instead of begging. This sale is just like any other business’s sale, they’re doing it because people love a sale.

I really don’t see this as any different then a business being in the red and having a big sale to get in the black. It is a bit  . . in bad taste to make the theme of the sale “Help me! I was scammed” but I think she’s just being honest to explain the sale. I kinda like that she’s putting in on the table.

Eh, if it makes you feel better, think of it as a discount code announcement with a sales pitch. I bought the books in part because I like using my money to support people I feel like I know (rather than buying things from WalMart, for instance) AND because it’s a smoking deal.

And if she has some major bills coming up, then yeah. It’s an opportune time for her to make some money by offering a discount code. It’s not like she’s asking us to donate money for nothing that benefits us: she’s making money by selling her wares (books that she’s written).

Some folks have friends and families who can help. They’re lucky. The rest of us support ourselves and our families and sometimes our friends and have no safety net. 

Sometimes pride takes second place to marketing yourself however you can. I enjoy her books and think she’s a nice person, so I was delighted to buy some stuff and help her out. 

I look at it this way, personally: I enjoyed her books immensely as a kid (and now too), and I read everything that the library had, and I read it for free. I’ve never bought one of her books before, so as a repayment for all the FREE entertainment I received, now seems like a good time to buy something from her. If you’ve bought something before, then you should do what feels right for you, but I personally feel like it’s an opportunity to give back for all the times her books have been used as entertainment and escape from reality on my part. (And before you ask, yes, I have indeed donated/helped fund my library).