I found this article http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=3151 while looking for steps to take to get my works off of an illegal site. It explains in detail why it is illegal to share ebook files.
Some of you (who have dealt with this before) have probably already heard of them (the ones who are ripping me off). But I'm not listing the site. I'll be damned if I give the little bastards any free advertisement!
I just found that they are ripping off every single book in my series. Not only that, but it lists how many times the books have been downloaded. As it stands now, I've lost over $400 dollars.
That counts, trust me. I have lost two different day jobs because of budget cuts/bad economy. And some little snot is going to rip me off?!!
I am also not married to someone rich. So I need the money. Hell, that's a car payment they've cheated me out of!
It is because of crap like this that I question my sanity sometimes. Do these punks even realize how little writers get paid? Not that they would probably care. Most authors, even if they are well known, make less than $10,000 a year. That's below poverty level! And let me tell you I am in that lot. In my first full year of being published I was WELL below $10,000.
Making a name for yourself takes time and you guessed it, MONEY. Something these little pricks are screwing me out of at an alarming rate.
No, this may not be the most professional blog post, but it is honest. This is how I feel and I'm not going to apologize for that. I am FURIOUS that these people are stealing from me. And yes, I have taken steps to make them remove the content. My polite and professional emails have been responded to with a "it will be removed in 24 hours." Bullshit. It's still there days later.
BELOW THIS POINT IS DIRECTED TO ANYONE WHO IS RIPPING OFF MYSELF OR OTHER HARD WORKING AUTHORS.
Just in case someone who uploads books for free reads this and doesn't read the link I have given above, let me spell something out for you. Giving away an ebook is ILLEGAL.
It's not like purchasing a paperback. A paper copy is yours. It is a physical product you can pay for and hold in your hand. You can do with it what you like. With the exception of making copies and distributing them to others.
NEWSFLASH ASSHOLE!!!! If you send an ebook to someone else, you are making copies. It's the same as if you Xeroxed a print book and sent it to all of your friends. The author nor the publisher profits from that and most writers are like me, they need the money.
Every time you see a copyright notice (which is in the front of all print and ebooks) that means that the people listed there are the owners of that content. Unless you have their permission to distribute the book, you are breaking the law if you do so.
How would you feel if someone stole your purse and handed out all the contents to strangers? Or if someone stole your iPod and then sold it on ebay? It sucks, I know.
I'm not looking to scare anyone or to get involved in a lawsuit. I just want people to respect the right of myself and other authors to be able to profit from their hard work. No one would want to work for a month (or months) and then have their paycheck snatched out of their hand when they had bills to pay, now would they?
Some day these people will get what they deserve.
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