Book Pirating and Internet Idiocy
Ok, I don’t normally rant too much about my books being pirated. One, because in today’s digital world, there’s pretty much nothing you can do about it and two, because there will always be people who don’t think they should have to pay for books–no matter what.
To those people, I offer you a heartfelt one finger salute. You are the bung holes of the internet.
But again, as an author there is a set of rules which I’m governed by. Ok, it’s less a matter of “rules” and more a matter of, when we speak out about things like this, rotten, unfair, awful things, we are often criticized and bullied by people who think we are being spoiled brats. So the “rule” really is, shut up and take it.
But today, a straw was broken for me. I set up a google alert for each of my book titles when they begin being promoted. This is mostly so, if a blogger picks it up as a WOW or for something, I can swing by and thank them for sharing. So today, I woke up to an alert in my inbox, and curious, followed it to a forum.
What I saw there stunned and angered me.
*you can see the entire thread here:
http://meditationincolorado.org/libri...
A woman, who swears she’d never do anything illegal in her life, was looking for advice in downloading one of my ebooks, well, two to be honest, Prodigal and Riven. She whines because, according to her, she purchased the print books, but now didn’t want to have to pay AGAIN for the ebooks.
Dude, I totally get that feel. Amazon has a great thing where if you buy a print book from them, you can download the ebook anytime free. I love that. But, not everyone has it, so if you bought your print edition elsewhere, you won’t get the same deal. BUT, and let me just toss this out there, if you ever buy a print edition of one of my books, and decide you want the ebook too, just email me. Contact me via my website. Because I get it and I will hook you up. Now, not authors will do this. I get that, but for me, I have no problems with this at all.
But I digress. She is then pointed to a service where they say she can get the books. That post is then followed by several people commenting that the book was too long and boring or not a good read at all, or disappointing.
Here’s the PROBLEM. The books haven’t even released yet. As in, they as still sitting on my desktop waiting to be sent to the printer. NO ONE HAS PRINT COPIES. They have never been on sale, though are on pre-order everywhere. So how has this person “already purchased the print copy?”
Answer, she hasn’t. She’s just a liar and a thief. Simple as that. And the others leaving their “reviews”? Also liars. They haven’t read the book. They are literally just talking shit about it for no reason or to sound smart. If you posted, asking about any specific scene, you’d get radio silence because there is no possible way for them to have laid eyes on it.
Now, I’m not going to go on this website and rant and call people out. But I’m also done keeping my mouth shut. This is total bullshit and people like this should be ashamed. So if you are a person who goes to forums like this looking for recommendations, beware. Whatever they are suggesting this lady go download, it’s not my book. And the “reviews” of the others? Well…
If you are ever curious, the best place to find honest reviews is Amazon, because you can at least look and see who actually purchased a copy. Even sites like Goodreads will let people leave reviews without ever actually having the book, much less reading it. Case in point, I have a book over there that releases in July, that is still sitting on my computer waiting for edits, that has been given a hand full of shitty reviews. Why do people even do this? Are you bored? Jealous? Do you just hate authors or love causing heartache?
I’m a firm believer that everyone is entitled to their opinions, and leaving a bad review is your right as a reader. But leaving reviews for books you’ve never even cracked open is just a shitty thing to do.
***END RANT***
