Science-fiction/fantasy author, Mike Stackpole (author of Once a Hero and the first books in the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series) talks about why piracy doesn't bother him. And also buys into the 'return of the serial' when ebooks get underway. (Stackpole has also been a big supporter of podcasting in the gaming world--he's a good guy who is generous with his time):

"People downloading my stories from the big torrent sites were never going to buy them anyway. It's no money out of my pocket." and "He even admitted to downloading some of his own books from bittorrent sites if he didn't already have a digital copy, saying it was far easier than scanning it in himself."

"....Stackpole believes digital formats will change the nature of the stories themselves. At the very least, authors should tailor their work to these new mediums. He cited what he referred to as "the commuter market," people who read two chapters per day on their half hour train ride to work. It's an ideal market for fiction broken into 2,500 word chapters, and could presage a resurgence of serial fiction. 'It's kind of like a return to the Penny Dreadfuls," he said. "But the readers today are more sophisticated, so we as writers need to put more work into it.'"