Monday, July 23, 2012

PIRACY-downloading free books hurts Authors

I'm starting Monday with a bang! Saturday night put me at 59,000words, so I'm happy.  Using the old desktop while waiting for Dell people still sucks big time. Miss my baby *clears throat*...laptop.


Meanwhile I'm trying not to think about a new book the characters are begging me to write. Don't you hate it when characters won't leave you alone when you can't afford to be distracted. Hate it!!

I'm writing the ideas for scenes down though.

Now on to my pet-peeve:

Websites that give away copies of books without an author's permission. I am a stay-at-home mother of five and writing is how I make a living. Now when my editor contacts me and tells me look what he's found, it drives me crazy.

Do you know how often we stay up late and agonize over our characters, stress over making the stories come alive for YOU, readers? A lot. Sometimes our homes don't get cleaned, our laundry goes unfolded and we live on takeouts...translate that to neglecting our families, just so we make deadlines, or because the muses are hounding us.  And how do some readers pay us, they DOWNLOAD our books for free.

FYI, these websites don't pay us a dime for these books. They haven't bought the books or a right to give them away for free or even distribute them. They may not charge you, but the more traffic generated to their websites means more companies will PAY THEM to place ads on their websites. In other words, they are making money off our sweat and readers make this possible. You ENABLE them by downloading our books for free.

Funny, if some of you e-mailed me and asked for an e-copy of my book in exchange for a review, I would send it to you. What's even worse, most of these books are only a few dollars. Some authors even sell theirs for $0.99, yet readers would rather download them for free.

Please, if you see any website selling any of my books, both adults and YA, drop me a line on FB or e-mail me. This way, my publisher can send them a warning letter to cease and desist.

For now, here is one one website... either boycot it or tell the moderators what they are doing is illegal.  FINDFREEMEDIAONLINE.COM


Thank you.
Keep Reading
 I'm off my soap-box.


24 comments:

  1. Ednah, my laptop won't even allow me to go to either of those links because of malicious virus threats! I agree with you. Piracy is stealing, plain and simple. There should be a law to punish the sites that offer books up for free so they stop!

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    1. I agree. There's an ass hat insisting my publisher PROVE she had rights to the books before they can pull down their books. WTF. People are such leeches!!!

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  2. I'm with you. I don't have anything published for sale yet, but I can imagine the frustration of seeing someone stealing my work and giving it away.

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    1. It is painful. Another site boldly has skull and bones on their page and are so arrogant in their refusal to stop posting books.

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  3. I'm not sure why people think it's okay to pirate books. If you love books, support the industry and buy them. Please. If you don't want to pay for the books, go to the library.

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    1. I agree. Some people just don't get it. I know the economy sucks, but why hurt the very author that write the books. Pple just don't think....grrr

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  4. Oh wow, I hope this doesn't apply to Amazon. I go there for free books. I'm in the assumption that authors authorized it to go for free as a promo ..and it does work because if I like the book I look into their other books.

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    1. followed this through twitter. and thank you!

      Jinky--amazon is okay for free books! if they're free there, the publishers or authors made them free. and authors want you to download those books :) B&N and other legal bookstores are fine to get books from that are listed for free. please continue to get free books that way. We want you to get those free books because it pushes us up in the rankings.

      it's the pirate sites that try saying "we're like a library!" as justification for allowing members to upload books and for others to download them. Or to buy the ecopies and then upload them on a site and sale them by members paying a monthly fee or some such.

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    2. Keri is right. The free copies on Amazon and other online stores are promo copies. The other sites are the ones stepping on our necks to make a buck. So unfair

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  5. What I don't understand is this: if you walk into a book store and take a book without paying for it, you will be charge with theft. Why is no one held accountable for ebook piracy? I don't understand it! An author deserves SO MUCH MORE than what they get for the blood, sweat and tears (translation: sacrifice) they put into the books we love and covet so much! ANYONE that downloads a book for free from any of those sites should be charged and fined! HONESTLY! What is this world coming to? Does NO ONE teach their children anymore honesty and what hard work actually is? It makes me SICK to see this happen. Please rest assured that if I ever find any of your books being given away for free, I will contact you ASAP as I do any author I come across that this is happening to. THANK YOU for writing for us Ednah! We appreciate you so much!!

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    1. I know, Mindy. It is sad. This particular site, I've send them e-mails and still, my books are up. I don't know what to do anymore.

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  6. Thanks for posting this Ednah. People need to be aware of what this does not only to the authors, but to the industry as well.

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    1. Lisa, everyone loses here...the author, the publisher except these nitwits freeloaders.

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  7. This must be terrible for authors and I feel really bad for all of you! I don't write all that much, but when I write essays for school and book reviews for my blog, I put a lot of work into it, and I can't imagine pouring my heart and soul into a 300-page novel just to have someone steal it. People need to realize that this is not a victimless crime.

    If you really can't afford a book, chances are your public library has it. I go to mine all the time; they are good perfectly honest ways to get your hands on a copy of a book without any charge to you.

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    1. Thank you, Emily. LIBRARY!!!!! the answer to anyone who says they are too broke to afford a book. I went there today for my kids to pick up a few books and discovered a new author.

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  8. This makes me so mad! Books aren't free and readers should pay for them. It's stealing plain and simple!!! AND Wrong!!!

    Valerie
    StuckInBooks.com

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    1. Soo true Valerie. Too bad some people just don't get it, so keep soready the word.

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  9. I hate when people STEAL these books from authors. There are ways to get books for free (contests, sites such as Amazon/B&N have freebies, and libraries, just to name a few ways). I am so thankful for the authors who work so hard and share their stories with us. I wish that you authors did not have to deal with these theives.
    June

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    1. June, there's a huge discussion about a pirate site on FB and the owners are so defiant. They actaullay feel justified in what they are doing.

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  10. I agree! When an author is offering work for a dollar or two, and you can access it at the local library, it seems crazy to just rip a copy. I hope you're able to get your work off of that website. If contacting the website owners isn't working, I'd suggest you contact the site's hosting company (I used to work in support at a hosting company, and most are pretty good about shutting down sites that are breaking copyright laws). It looks like the site is currently blocked, so hopefully this works out in your favor.

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    1. I'm going to see who is hosting them. Now this one is on FB and Fb won't shut them down.tuebl-the ultimate e-book library.

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  11. I just want to point out that the editor of a well known e-publisher of romance spoke at a local RWA conference last year and said that she doesn't think piracy hurts authors as much as we think it does because of discoverability. She also said that a lot of piracy occurs in other countries where the book is not yet available and may not become available, so it's unclear as to whether the author lost an actual sale. (With the book not being available that person couldn't have bought). I want to make it clear I am not a pirate! I AM NOT DEFENDING PIRACY, but I do think we should consider everything when talking about it.

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  12. I visit this site and acquainted with this.This site publish most useful and valuable article.I read this post and find lot of things.I am really happy for reading and knowing this post.

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  13. I'm glad to see the piracy site is gone, Ednah. I love your books, the Runes series is one of my favorite stories to daydream about :) Torin and Echo are just yummy, not to mention infuriating! I was really impressed with Eirik's twist in the end of Seress. I'm usually pretty good at guessing where a writer is going with a story, but you threw me for a loop there! So kudos! I can't wait to read other books of yours. I wish you and your family lots of success and love... Keep 'em comin'!!
    -KatMarie

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