One of the more aggravating parts of my job includes tracking down pirated copies of my book listed on the Internet without my consent. These books are not authorized by me and I receive no compensation whatsoever whenever they are downloaded or read. Often I have no clue that they are posted and available until I take valuable time out of my schedule (that I could spend writing new books) to track them down. Once I am made aware, I will send these file hosts a cease and desist notice so that my work will be removed from their site, a process that varies from site to site and is a ginormous pain in my ass. They're the ones stealing my work, but yet I have to go through their hoops to have it removed. Welcome to the 21st Century.
This is especially upsetting considering I deliberately price my content so that it fits almost any budget, and I give away quite a bit of my work for free. I even allow lending on all my books, which you can locate courtesy of book-lending websites. In other words, there is no need for pirating any one of my books, or listing any of my books on these pirating websites for others to read "for free." Doing so takes away *my* option for distribution, and as the one who created this content, this is a direct violation of my rights. I am the sole owner of the copyright on each and every book, and as such I should be compensated whenever a site makes my book available for a reader. Given that some of these piracy sites are classified as "sponsored" and likely have ad revenue going directly to those who run the sites, that means someone is getting paid for this service and it isn't the creators responsible for the content driving visitors to their site in the first place. Our sales undeniably take a hit when the content is available for free elsewhere, even resulting in returns of legitimately purchased material. This drives up the price for all the people who actually value the written word enough to pay those who worked so hard to create it.
In short, piracy is no bueno for anyone but the thieves.
To say it's a sore spot is an understatement. I put all the work into my book and as such deserve the compensation it garners. Anyone who thinks writing a book isn't a "real job" clearly has never put the time in to actually write a book start to finish, much less do the work to perfect it for a sale. I'm not a typist, I'm a writer. It takes time and effort to take a blank page and create a whole new world. No third party deserves to get paid for a book's unauthorized availability, because no one else put in the months of hard work (unpaid) to create/edit/format/market the material in hopes that it will eventually recoup the cost. Which, btw, it takes thousands of copies sold to recoup months of work just at a minimum wage level. Only four of my 15 published books are currently "in the black," earning profit... mostly because I low-ball my own prices just to reach a wider audience.
Which brings me to a very upsetting recent discovery: people are now selling pirated copies of my book through illegitimate sites created to undercut authorized dealers.
It came to our indie community's collective notice that these new websites were selling our content without our consent, which was upsetting to say the least. Our content was virtually stolen so that others could pocket the profit rightfully owed to us. An argument could be made that a person who pirates a "free" book wouldn't pay for the book anyway, as they see no value in the finished product enough to pay the creator for their hard work. These new websites, however, are targeting honest buyers who still want to buy the books, but want to get it at the best possible price they can. Some authors have noticed that their return rate at authorized distributors like Amazon have gone up curiously after these new counterfeit sites started popping up. Some of us have seen our sales plummet despite the busy holiday shopping season as well, which isn't making for a very merry Christmas.
Many of these sites are taken down immediately after they are created because our indie author community is on top of it just as much as any attorney hired to protect traditional publishers... and both types of authors are being targeted. Unfortunately they pop back up under a new heading the very next day, which means you could stumble across a site that hasn't yet been flagged. Should you run across one of these sites, here are a few pointers that you are not dealing with an authorized dealer:
1.) The books offered are priced very different from more recognized dealers. Unlike sales your authors and their publishers are likely to alert you to, the sale prices on these new websites will often significantly undercut the published price at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, the two major ebook dealers most of us opt to sell our books through because they reach the widest readership. It is important to note that Amazon price-matches other authorized dealers even if the author sets different prices through different storefronts. If you find a brand new website that offers books at prices that don't match the two major ebook titans, buyer beware.
2.) Contact information is often not provided through these new websites. The contact form simply does not work, or has a generic "free" email from sites like gmail. These dump-and-go email addresses allude to "fly-by-night" business practices. A site big enough to offer thousands and thousands of books from authors big and small should have enough capital to invest in a legitimate website with its own email server, because it should be building a business for the long term and credibility is key.
3.) It is a "new" e-bookstore that you've never heard of before, but it has all the books available that a big dealer would. Some will even try to make their website *look* like the legitimate sellers, which is another major giveaway of dirty dealing.
4.) They will often charge a set rate for all books regardless of author or book, another big tell. I don't have to include big publishers/agents/publicists/attorneys in my purchase price like Stephen King would, so his cost is generally going to be higher. If his book, listed on Amazon for $9.99 for a Kindle copy, is $1.90 (same as mine) on a no-name site, you can safely assume those copies have been pirated and the people who should be getting paid to cover the purchase price are getting screwed. Also, while I can sell a single book for $0.99, bundled books do and should cost more. If you find book bundles of mine for considerably less than the already discounted price on Amazon or B&N, it is being sold without my consent and I am not getting paid... i.e., it's stolen.
For the record, here are the authorized dealers for my e-books:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Apple/iTunes
Kobo
Sony
Diesel eBooks
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
When you buy from these authorized dealers, you pay the price that I have set and I get properly compensated as the sole copyright owner of the content. Any other price set by a no-name dealer means they have obtained a copy of my books and are offering it for sale without my knowledge. This is theft, plain and simple. Please don't support it by giving them your hard-earned money, especially since many of my prices are nearly half of what they are charging for stand-alone books anyway.
If you happen to see my content on an ebook website not listed above (aside from Google/Goodreads,) please let me know.
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