Authors get paid once for a library book and for any other new book. We don’t get paid for multiple readers or for used copies. I rarely will buy a new book at retail of an author I don’t know. But once I’m hooked, I will buy the next book right away, and also buy more for friends as gifts.

A children’s author may feel differently, as a copy of a book in a grade school library will be read by hundreds of children. I’m sure he’s looking at his royalty statement and multiplying it by 100.

It’s all part of the game. The used book section on Amazon usually has to empty out before someone buys one of my books retail. How many readers do I actually have? I’ll never know.