
When a human kills an alien during diplomatic negotations, the fallout is astronomical. To prevent interstellar war, humanity must deliver an extremely rare sheep for the alien's coronation ceremony - or face enslavement. So Earth's government turns to Harry Creek: ex-cop, war hero and hacker extraordinaire. It should be a straightforward mission, but there are others who covet the priceless animal. Ruthless mercenaries, a religious cult and alien races eager to spark revolution. Harry's mission will take him across the galaxy as he tries to pull off the grand diplomatic coup of the century. There'll only be one chance to save the life of the sheep - and ensure the future of humanity.
To be sure, there is a relationship, but it’s not at all obvious what the sign of the relationship is.
John Scalzi noted that physical sales of his books shot up after he released free ebook versions (33%, 20%, and 9% for The Ghost Brigades, Old Man's War, and The Android's Dream, respectively).
I'm not arguing that pirating ebooks isn't wrong -- I think the author should have the choice of whether or not her own works are available for free. Just sayin', your "You have two groups of people, one buying, one pirating, and they share the common goal of obtaining x." model oversimplifies things.
