#and to a comment upthread - ARCs are fun for collecting if you're into that sort of thing (I have several)

[perfectlyvalid49]

To be very clear about how this works (trad publishing only because that's what I'm familiar with), when an author signs a contract with an imprint to publish their book, the publisher will look at previous sales to determine how much to pay them.

So if 10,000 people read your book, and each buy a copy, then the publisher will say, "Oh, your last book sold 10,000 copies, we will assume your next book will do about the same, and we will pay you on the assumption that we will get 10,000 books worth of profit." And if 15,000 people buy a copy, then you get paid more. But if 15,000 people read it, but only 10,000 buy it, and the rest are pirated, then the author only gets paid like 10,000 copies sold.

And if 10,000 people read the book but only 5,000 copies are sold, and the rest are pirated, then the author might not be offered a deal for their next book.

Also, if I'm remembering contracts correctly (it's been like 15 years, so all of this information is dated at best, and it's possible I'm misremembering things at worst) royalties increase the more copies you sell. So your first 10,000 might be at 7%, but your next 10,000 might be at 10%, and if you sell enough it might even get up to 15%. Also, the initial payment for the book is an advance against royalties, which basically means that the publisher assumes you're going to sell X copies, calculates out what that would be in royalties, and then pays you that much. The author doesn't make any more money until they've earned that in royalties. So if your advance assumes you'll sell 10,000 books, then you don't start earning additional money beyond your advance until you've sold your 10,001st book.

Basically, every copy sold helps pay the author for the current book, either in paying down their advance, or in actual royalties, and it also helps them sell additional books, and get paid more for those additional books they sell.

we have GOT to abolish the paperback only being released a year later scheme brother i simply am not purchasing your $40 hardcover book