Tuesday, December 16, 2008

A Word About Piracy

"The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child." ~Joe Houldsworth

For all authors: unfortunately, piracy sites abound, and they'll offer up free downloads of your book for anyone who stumbles across their site. Here's one you should check out: Esnips. Some of the books being "shared" here have been downloaded (illegally) hundreds of times. I also found one of my books on another site, so Google your book titles every so often to make sure they're not hanging out where they shouldn't be! If you find your book, click to download it and then "Report Abuse." You as an author must be vigilant at reporting copyright violation.

For all readers: please remember that accessing these kinds of free book downloads is illegal and hurts authors. When one book is copied and passed around to 10 or 100 friends and neighbors, we still only get royalties on that one initial book. Sharing is fine, and we understand that, but limit it to one or two friends, OK? Then, tell the rest of your friends and neighbors about how great our books are, so that they buy them too!

2 comments:

Liz said...

How does an author feel about books being donated and the money being used for a good cause like literacy?

mslizalou said...

I've seen 2 stories just today about books being listed on free sites without the author's knowledge. I always make sure an author has sent me to a site before I'll download a free book.

I do donate many of my books to my local library each year. I know the library sells some for library fundraisers and put some books on the shelves.