Pirating is a big, huge issue nowadays. In this age of electronic publishing, not just publishing of books, but publishing of Music, TV shows, magazines, photos and more, it’s part of the landscape.
It’s disgusting.
You are stealing.
Do you walk into a store and shove a CD or book in your pants and leave? If you are downloading a “free” book, that is what you are doing.
Authors put their life blood into their books. They make a few cents per copy, and you are taking it out of their pocket. The people getting even more hurt are the indie authors. It’s not like you are taking “from the man”, you are taking from a PERSON who just spent a year writing a book from the heart.
I post tons of FREE books every week. There is nobody that can read all the free books I, and other blogs, post. There are libraries everywhere, and you can now download e-books from your local library! If you can’t afford the book you want…WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN, or read something else!
I had a comment on last week’s Wicked Girls GNO stating that the young lady used to be part of a big BOOK BLOG that pirated books for giveaways. SERIOUSLY????? (I have no idea if this is true, or what blog she is referring to but this made me gag.)
That all being said, criminals will ALWAYS find a way to steal. In this day and age it’s a very unfortunate part of publishing. I personally think the uproar lately has alerted even more ‘not-so-nice’ people to the existence of these sites. Even network television shows are pirated. It’s a damn shame. It would be great to have some type of protected file that can’t be duplicated, but where there is a will, there is always a way.
Madeline Sheehan is taking a stand. She will no longer publish e-books because she refuses to see her work stolen. I think assholes will go nuts scanning the paperback and selling e-versions of it…they will make even more money because so many people will only read an e-book (myself included). To me, it’s a bit of that slogan “cutting off your nose to spite your face”.
“This will be my final post on book piracy.
Because I do not have a traditional publisher to help me with this increasing problem, I will no longer be offering my books as eBooks. I will soon be taking down my existing ones and only selling them as paperbacks. If you haven’t read my books and wish to do so, I suggest buying them within the next week.
My upcoming releases will also only be offered in paperback and if someone wants to take the time to type out my entire book and steal/sell/illegally upload and download, godspeed.”
If you only sell CDs, and you can’t download your music from iTunes, you will have so few people listen to your music…even the Beatles gave in.
I do 90% of my reading in bed at night. I have some joint issues, and holding a physical book with a light, plus my need for glasses because I can’t adjust the font size, AND my lack of space in my house makes me NEVER want to read a paperback again. I haven’t read one in 3 years. As much as I loved Undeniable, I’m not sure I am willing to pay 4x the price to read a paperback. But I still won’t read a stolen copy.
So grab Madeline Sheehan’s Books NOW in e-format while you can. They are worth the read, and after next week will only be available in paperback. Personally, this pisses me off. I like Madeline, I’m glad she is taking some sort of stand, but there as got to be another way. This, to me, is not hurting the pirates, it’s hurting the loyal readers.
That being said, Undeniable was one of my favorite books. Here is my review, you may want to grab it now!
Here is a bonus scene from Undeniable Madeline gave me for the blog.
PS. Over 13,000 of Madeline’s books were stolen from one site alone. That’s close to $40,000. CRAZY!!!
nicki says
🙁 well that blows! so the sequel will only be in paperback?! I wanted to wait for the sequels to come out before i read them, but I’m like you. I prefer by far ebook. I guess i won’t bother buying undeniable ebook, since the sequels will only be in paperback. I really hope nobody follows suite. I agree, it hurts the loyal readers and fans way more than those asshole stealers
Ana's Attic says
It was not a cliffhanger, so you can enjoy the first book if you get it now.
Alisa says
Just bought it. Thanks for the link and updates
Megan says
Thanks for this post Ana. There has been so much attention on this lately I hope it doesn’t just draw more attention to these sites. I love my ebooks and would be so sad to lose that as a reading option! All because some jackhole won’t spend $0.99-$9.99 for great entertainment that can be enjoyed over and over again. Ugh.
Ana's Attic says
I know, this is why I haven’t shared about pirating before. I didn’t realize it was even possible. All this publicity is just making the problem worse, but it needed to be addressed at this point.
Megan says
Agreed. Maybe it will make some realize the impact …especially on their favorite authors ….and they will do the right thing! I applaud all the authors who are taking a stand on their facebook pages …letting everyone know that this isn’t “sticking it to the man” but in reality a direct hit to an author’s livelihood!
Ps…just downloaded Undeniable 🙂
Bethany says
I will post here what I said on Facebook yesterday:
That is awful! It is like someone stole an entire years salary out from under her. I am bummed that this move with have other authors following suit and as someone who reads 90% on my e-reader it will curb my purchases if they are only available in paperback, but I totally understand where these authors are coming from. They put their heart and souls in to these stories for us. Why is it there are always JERKS to screw up a good thing?
Ana's Attic says
Well said!!!
Jennifer Johnson says
Wow, this is just terrible!! I’m so bummed she won’t be selling ebooks anymore. I really wanted to read Ripper’s story but probably won’t buy it on paperback. I love my Nook, too bad she can’t just sell her ebooks to valid sites where they can’t get pulled off like Amazon or B&N. But I can’t imagine loosing that kind of money!
Ana's Attic says
The assholes that steal probably would NEVER have bought the books at all if they didn’t get it free, so I can’t say that it ALL came out of her (and of course the booksellers) pockets.
June M. says
I have been seeing her book for a little while now but just bought it now before she pulls it. I don’t know how she will do selling only print books but I can understand her anger at pirates. I hate pirates! Like you said, there are so many ways to legally get free books that no one should steal them.
Ana's Attic says
She may re-think her stand. She is reacting in anger. Hopefully she will find a more effective way to fight the pirates.
Alisa says
I just bought mine yesterday also. I love reading on my Kindle too much to go back to paper.