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Beware if You Are Self-Publishing Your Own Ebooks
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I hope the original writers are getting their work copyright. They need a way to prove that the work is theirs. I hope they are also doing their work in word or another program that will verify when they have started their work.
They better go the printed route. It seems safer than the ebook route.
I agree, Arch. This is one reason why I am glad I have a publisher. At least if something happens to my work, I have some type of protection. I do hope Amazon does something about this. I told my friend to fight and not give up. You gotta make a stink with stuff like this to make Amazon pay attention.Best Wishes!
I thought all of it was copy righted? Even the E books. Cause a lot of the Publishing houses are going E.
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Hi Ebony,Some self-published authors don't copyright their work and some do. Right now this is mainly happening to self-published authors because people are stealing 99 cent books and free ones. The thing with Amazon is that even if the book is copyrighted, it can be stolen. I have heard that when you upload a book to Kindle, the only thing Amazon asks is if it's your work or if you have the copyright. But if folks lie and put up other people's work as theirs, Amazon doesn't even know unless someone brings it to their attention. They do no extra checking. They just go on the word of the person who uploads. So basically anyone can steal anyone's book and put it up there, lie and unless someone finds out and tells Amazon, they don't know.
Let's not get into how hard it is to track down the thieves. I wonder if anyone has been able to find the identity of anyone doing this. I'd think it would be very hard. Oh and I forgot this. My friend told me that she spoke to another author. Her book was stolen last year and she told Amazon. They did something to the thief, but the thief just made ANOTHER account and put the woman's book up and sold it AGAIN! So Amazon didn't seem to care or think it was suspicious that someone loaded this woman's book up there again even though they knew it was stolen. It is so easy (TOO easy) for anyone to make an account at Amazon and do whatever they want.
I don't know how it works with Smashwords but books have been stolen from there too. So far, haven't heard of this happening on Amazon to authors with publishers.
The horrible thing is that your work can be stolen and sold and you might not ever know it. One of my friends found out when someone else told her. Someone bought a book and it had the content of my friend's book. The book had a different title and author, everything. But my friend from yesterday found hers because the person stealing her books is using her name.
It's something else! If Amazon cared, they would've had something in place already to prevent this and to protect authors. But they're just happy racking up their cut of the sales.
You guys remember last year when I posted that topic about why people hated Amazon and I didn't understand why? Now I see why. They might be great for customers but when you are on the other side of the table, you see a different thing. I hear of too many authors who are complaining about Amazon's practices. If they don't do something about what's going on they are gonna lose the respect of readers, not to mention authors. Authors don't want their work stolen and resold right under their noses and readers don't want to buy books and realize they are stolen.
I definitely think Amazon should investigate if someone complains, but what can they do if someone uploads a stolen book? Is there some software available that they can use, similar to the one available for online content? If you think about it, this isn't a problem that is unique to Amazon. This could potentially become an embarrassment to publishers, too. Phony "authors" could just as easily steal someone's work and send it to a publisher and say it's their work. The publisher sells it, but then they may find out later that the "author" didn't really write it.
Theft of authors' work is unsettling. It's happening so frequently. And let's not even get started on the pirate sites.
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I feel that the original authors needs to go to Amazon and the other place and let it be known that their book has been stolen.
They should go to a lot of other places that sells ebooks and let it be known as well that their book has been stolen. They should make it known on their webpages.
Hi Delaney,You are right. This has been going on on sites for years and to all kinds of authors. But the thing is, it's really becoming rapid on Amazon and a lot of the authors think they are not getting help because they are self-published and feel overlooked. At least that's what some are saying. Others are saying that they complain and either Amazon says they can't do anything or either they take their sweet time taking these books down.
I have no idea what they could do to stop this. I'd imagine some kind of software but folks are saying Amazon should start charging to upload books. That might help and dissuade thieves and spammers. Maybe if they had to pay a fee then they wouldn't take the trouble to put up stolen books. I think Amazon should start requesting some proof of copyright. I know that might seem extreme, but hey, maybe it's necessary. Maybe before they agree to let you publish on Kindle, they tell you to send them a copy of your copyright information. I don't know, but they need to do something. This goes back to them not seeming to care anyway. Smashwords seems to try to help authors immediately when this happens but Amazon takes their sweet time. One author said she feels they don't care because they know no matter what happens, they'll always have a bunch of authors wanting to publish with them. But they need to do something.
Best Wishes!
Hi Arch,I agree and you know what I found out? When I was explaining what happened to my friend to my crime writers group, a guy busts out and says his books have been pirated on Amazon too and he's losing sales! But he seems to be the kind that won't fight. That's the problem. A lot of authors will just sit there or turn the other cheek and not make a stink. You gotta pass the word around, anywhere you can. I'd put the info everywhere it if was me. I'd go to every book news site I could find. I'd contact literary watchdogs, badmouth Amazon, whatever. You have to fight for your work because no one else will. That's the only way things get done is if you fight. But if you let Amazon or anyone push you around, they will keep doing it. Maybe they don't take a lot of these complaints seriously because the authors just let it go after a while. I'd be hounding Amazon every single minute if it was my work stolen.
Best Wishes!
Good to hear Smashwords is on it. I hope Amazon takes a clue from them. I hate to think authors will be penalized by having to pay to upload their books. I hope it doesn't come to that. Maybe someone can create a software that can catch that kind of thing and the big companies (Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, etc.) will use it to help protect authors.
A lot of the authors are saying they wouldn't mind paying if it means protection. But I understand what you say too. I think that if people have to pay fees to upload a Kindle book, many probably won't want to. It also depends on the fees. If Amazon and Smashwords ever resorts to this, you gotta wonder how much they would charge. Would it be a small fee or one more like what some self-publishing companies who offer packages offer? It's something else. They're gonna have to do something. I don't think Amazon would wanna make folks pay because they wanna get as many folks publishing through them as possible so they can get that money. I really think if people had to pay they wouldn't wanna publish there. My friend heard from Amazon. They said they would take down the stolen books. That's it. That IS it. Taking down books doesn't resolve this problem and not to mention the fact that I don't think they've taken them down yet. Least they hadn't yesterday when they said they would. Maybe they will by now. She still doesn't feel that helps because folks can still just throw up books because there's no way to stop them.
On top of that she just found someone had stolen one of her short stories and put it on Smashwords. (sigh) but she got help with that quick. Mark Coker jumped right on it and even offered to help her with the Amazon problem. That's why I have respect for SW. They seem to care about the authors and protecting them. Amazon acts like they couldn't give a hoot.
She checked Barnes and Nobles/Nook and she hasn't seen anything suspicious there but she's keeping an eye out. The thing is, thieves don't just go away. They will slink back in and either steal more books from her or just move onto someone else. There needs to be something permanently done if possible. At least an effort from Amazon that they plan to do something in the long run.
Best Wishes!
Hi B.J.,It's frightening if you look at the long term. I was thinking of putting up some shorts on Amazon on the side myself but after this, no way. I don't even wanna put the shorts on my web site now because I'm afraid someone will snatch them up and put them on Kindle.
About the fee, some people were just speculating and said this might help because it might deter spammers. They figure spammers and thieves won't go through the trouble of paying a fee if they have to upload. Some think there should be some kind of restriction because now anyone can upload a book, lie and say it's theirs and call it a day.
The thing about Amazon checking the publication date, they don't care to check up on anything. They aren't concerned with doing any checking. They just trust the person who uploads the book and that's it. They just ask you if you own the copyright or something, and you can say yes and Amazon doesn't do anything beyond that.
They say now there's so many thousands of authors Kindle publishing a year and with Amazon taking no precautions, this can become a mess. I don't see the thieves stopping anytime soon so all we can do is spread the word and at least writers will be aware of what can happen.
Best Wishes!
Sounds like class action lawsuit time. Maybe it will force Amazon to come up with some rules to ensure that they put up some verification process to make sure that person is who they say they are. I don't know since many people write under an alias. Perhaps people could copyright their work and then Amazon can ensure that the money goes into the account with the name of the person whose name is on the copyright. This is just an example of some precautions.Chaeya
Wow, this is definitely cause for concern. Thanks for bringing this to light. So far, I have two books on Kindle and would be beyond pissed if I found out someone was stealing my work. I've had this done before and it ain't cool at all. Enough for a writer to wanna get violent!
Breaking news, you guys. Turns out my friend has found yet another one of her books stolen. Amazon has yet to take action. She's been working with a copyright lawyer and other things. I told her to keep it public and maybe this will help. Amazon is pitiful. I think SP authors should boycott Amazon until they do right by them.
Thanks Stacy!! Not sure about Boycotting Amazon, as a self-pub author the benefits from Amazon including 70% royalties have outweighed any pain I've might experienced. That being said, I do believe collectively we need to bring this to the attention of the reading public, and hiring a copyright attorney was a good move on her part. Makes me sick to think that these theives are doing this to authors.
I agree with Sienna. I don't see authors abandoning Amazon at all. Amazon has done more for indie authors than any other company with the 70% royalties and Kindle. Bringing it to the public's attention is definitely best, IMO. We can make noise!
I am not sure if you guys have heard, but self-published authors are having their ebooks stolen on Amazon. Two friends of mine have been victims in the last few months. One of my friends found out her books were being stolen yesterday and sold under her OWN name! That's right. Someone stole the content of a book she was offering for free and is selling it under her name and getting the money. She's contacted Amazon, has yet to hear back and doesn't have faith they'll do anything. That's understandable seeing how this is happening to many SP authors on Kindle and Smashwords and I don't know about SW but authors have said Amazon seems less than concerned. We all know Amazon is a business and the bottom line for them is money. So you gotta protect yourself and if your work gets stolen, fight for your rights.
I have heard a lot about this lately in the industry from other authors. There are spammers who are getting books and reselling them as well as people who take free books or 99 cent books, change the title, cover and sell them as their own.
I am not self-published but I am a still an author and we should all stick together when stuff like this happens. Stealing is stealing and it's very sad that people are doing this. I can't say I am surprised. I figured that the more and more people jumped to self-publish their own books, something would start to happen since Amazon does no screening of anyone whatsoever.
So watch your back! If you are self-publishing on Kindle and Smashwords I suggest you do regular checks of your work to see if there are any stolen books floating around. My friend found out when she did a search on her book on Amazon yesterday and the pirated book showed up with HER name right there with the others. Who knows what Amazon is gonna do but she's getting a lawyer.
Here is a blog post from a few months ago that explains things that are happening: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/...
There are many new articles coming out about this everyday. There is a big thing now with spammers taking sections of all kinds of books and reselling them. People want Amazon to change how Kindle publishing is done. Some have even suggested that they start charging authors to upload a book. If they change something in the future, I guess we'll know soon enough.
Best Wishes!
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