I’m getting a lot of searches from people looking to download Kithra and now Replicant free. I truly wish you could understand what this does to an author. I’ve worked years to publish and in the last few, my family has suffered in this economy. I love to write and yes, I do it for the love, but it has also become a way for me to support my family.
I have Google Alerts set up in the hopes of running across a good review or two and every morning, I’m waking up to sites that have put my book up for free. I’ve seen the arguments–that these people wouldn’t have bought the book anyway. That I should be happy people are interested in my work. Sure, I’m happy people want to read my book, but watching people steal takes away all that pleasure. And it is stealing. I’ve seen more free downloads on one site than books I’ve sold.
There is no justification for that–not when the book is available at such a low price and it’s available all over the world. I know this won’t help, that it falls on deaf ears. I’ve been told to just learn to deal with this and I’m sure I will. But the “in your face” disregard for my hard work is just a little painful right now as I watch so many have so little respect for the work it takes to write.
Sadie Hart
November 28, 2011
That’s a shame. It amazes me how fast pirates rip authors off, and how willing people are to snatch it up where they can get it. Ebooks are downright cheap and yet people still want them for nothing. I don’t think people realize (or more likely, the don’t care), just how much work goes into writing a book, finishing it, *selling* it, editing it… and the whole deal before it finally hits the shelves – digital or not.
I’m sorry.
daniworth
November 28, 2011
Most don’t. And some don’t realize it is stealing. They compare it to checking out books at a library. But a library buys a few copies and they get passed around. Internet share sites send out thousands of copies–copies that will never be purchased. A very good friend of mine watched over 10k copies of her books being downloaded on one site. Those sales never make it to the publisher’s eyes, so they certainly don’t help her get another contract. That’s the part I truly don’t get. If you love an author, support the work so she gets more contracts. Otherwise, you may not get more books from her/him.