What are Pirated Books?

"In case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you"

What an irony, you must think, right?
Books are available everywhere now, like free gold; only for some to know its worth. By books we refer to fictional and non-fictional non-academic books. They are available online, maybe at your favorite bookstore or even roadside vendors. But what actually makes the difference? The same book at all these places should be the same, yet they bear differences. Differences in terms of cost, in terms of quality, and in terms of authenticity.
Often you must have heard one of your friends pointing out at a book, saying, 'Hey dude, don't buy it here, I can get you the same book at half price online!' Did it make you compelled to think why is there such a huge difference between the prices of the same book at two different places? Although it might have crossed your mind, profit is not actually the thing that's gained.
The reason is quite obvious: 'Not everything you see is original.' The original book is the one that's expensive, and the other one is 'almost copied version of the original book' that we call the 'Pirated Book'. Now, what exactly is a pirated book and how is it different from an original book?
Basically, an author writes a book and gets it published by a publishing house. The publisher bears different types of costs for each book - which includes cover design, printing, proofreading, distribution, marketing, royalties, quality check, etc. Publishers play a crucial role; they have to be very keen on details. Even one small mistake can lead them to be sued.
So all of these add up to a big cost, making the original copy of the book expensive and exclusive. On the counterpart, as soon as the book hits the list and gets famous among readers, it's a jackpot for the local printing people, who print and distribute it illegally into the market through various channels targeting readers like you.
Often called "1st copies", similar to a 'Rolex' watch whose original version costs you lakhs but anyone can buy a cheaper version/1st copy at much lower prices.
The issue with pirated copies is that it not only steals the work of the authors without paying them for their hard-earned content but also causes trouble to readers by compromising quality of the books. It's very common among pirated books to be compromised on the quality, either half-printed or misaligned pages where text is outside the pages; it's not a big deal, if you don't find 10-15 pages in those copies, now imagine if those pages actually bear the climax of the whole book, will it be worth it to read all of it but not this?
Often beginner readers think they are clever enough to get such a steal deal on Amazon, Flipkart, and other such online marketplaces, only to realize that they have been fooled or felt to feel compromised with their money. That's why sometimes it is clever to spend more.
Books are not just printed letters on the page, they hold the passion and experiences of the writers, their thoughts, and the collection of their knowledge. The writers would have spent hours and years accumulating and binding it with meaning and authenticity. Through books, you can sail in the same ship of their views and ideologies and understand their meaning without compromise. Those letters are strong enough to change someone's life or even motivate them with hope. Isn't it amazing to gain all this knowledge and understanding in such a short time? So why settle for less and not dive all in the 'ocean of erudition'?
There is always a solution to a problem. Can't afford original copies? Go for hand-me-downs for less than half the price. Why settle for useless copied versions when you can have the best one?
Lastly would like you to know little about our purpose "We - Unity Books" for the first time in the industry provide a platform for readers across the country to connect and talk books full-fledged. Helping people to get authentic books at affordable and accurate personalized recommendations. I hope this blog helped you understand the differences between an original v/s pirated book.