Hi Everyone,
Today, I’m going to talk to you a bit about piracy. For those of you who think piracy only affect e-books you are mistaken. There are people out there who get hold of print books, scan them and turn them into e-books without the permission of the author. This is theft plain and simple.
Have you ever gone to a garage sale and bought a paperback book without its book cover. I did before I became a writer. After starting my career as a writer, I learned those books were being shipped back to the publisher or their warehouse to be disposed of because they hadn’t sold at the bookstore.
Now, I’m hearing you say what’s wrong with taking a few of those books and reading them or selling them. Okay, let’s say you read the book and you like what you read so you buy the next book by that author. There’s nothing wrong with that is there? Most authors have contests when they have a new release and they give away a book as a prize so why not pick up a few throwaways.
There’s a huge difference in those two scenarios. The first one, they’re not only reading the book but making money from the book they stole, which means the author makes nothing. Now, you’re saying to yourself: What is the difference of taking a book to the used bookstore and selling it after I bought it and read it. The difference is you paid for it and can do anything you want with it as long as you don’t make copies and sell them. The second one, the author herself/himself is giving the book away to promote her story.
To take a book without permission from the author violates copyright law and if caught there are consequences.
Some of the worse piracy sites are Astatalk, Demonoid, Plunder, Underground and tehparadise. Some sites are overseas and that makes it even more difficult to stop the underground traffic. The sad thing is that many of the people who buy their books at these sites believe that all authors are rich, and this just isn’t so. Most authors work for years to get published and when they do they still have to work full-time or part-time to support themselves before they start making decent money.
Being an author is a full-time job and we work hard. Writing is not a hobby for those who are serious about getting published, and it’s not an eight hour job. It’s more like a ten to fourteen hour job when you consider the writing of the book, all the promotion, website design, and blogging.
There are ways for authors to protect themselves, but it can turn into a full-time job. Here is a site to visit to learn ways to protect your work. http://www.wikihow.com/Combat-Book-Piracy
Thank you for listening to my rant. Have a great week everyone.
Sandy AKA Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.eirelander-publishing.com
http://www.skaymarshall.com