My thinking was, as much as I think my chap book Chow and book No Red Pen: Writers, Writing Groups & Critique are enjoyable (Chow) or useful as a resource (No Red Pen) these works are not well known. I’m a small fish in the ocean of publishing, traditional or otherwise. Who would pirate my books? So when I first saw Molly Greene had posted Has your eBook Been Pirated, I didn’t read it. Then when part two was posted and the topic came across my email for the second time, I thought I’d check it out.
Who would pirate my eBooks?
Well, I’ll tell you who – General eBooks. And the reality, they don’t care about my books or yours or anyones. They care about who would use General eBooks’ website to download books because when their site is accessed, reportedly what is also downloaded is malware. So, STAY AWAY FROM GENERAL eBOOKS! If not because you have integrity and won’t read a pirated copy of someone else’s hard work, then because you are smart enough to know that malware will attack your system, steal your passwords, and infiltrate your public and personal life and potentially your finances too.
Honestly, the cost of my eBooks is not all the much and there are quite a few coupons out in the wild for free downloads and really, if you are that financially strapped, I’ll spot you a coupon to download the book.
What have I learned from this – yes, even a small time, independent emerging author can find her works on a pirate’s website. What will I do from here on out? Formally register copyright on anything I independently publish.
And thanks to Molly Greene for hosting Kathryn Goldman’s posts about the piracy and to Kathryn Goldman for her assistance in getting my work off the pirate ship. Sign up for her free report for digital artist on how to protect their work and found out what you can do to protect your digital work. And if you still aren’t sure about registering YOUR copyright, read this post by Kathryn Goldman on Why and How to Copyright Your Self-Published Book.
Vicki Hudson 