Ok it's time to take a stand. I've had enough and I know I'm not the only one. Piracy is a crime, no matter how you try to justify it. Whether it's music, a movie or an ebook it doesn't matter.
Being a blogger I get the chance to talk and interact with many authors. I have been there from the beginning for some and found others after they have released their book. I have read every book an author has written and I've added many books to my TBR list. One day I'll get around to them all. I am gifted review copies, I have done beta reads, I have brought the book. I have never downloaded a pirated copy. I have won competitions and received ebooks as the prize if at a stage I thought something wasn't right I'd stand up but I'm very lucky to say that I have always received proper copies either from the author or Amazon.
This appeared on my facebook home page this morning and since then I have also seen it on twitter as well.
Now I'm making this post for several reasons.
1) I want all my author friends (yes I consider many of them my friends) and even the authors I don't know to be aware of this.
2) I want the fans of blogs to know the difference between a good and bad copy of a book so we can help to stop this from happening.
3) I don't want all bloggers to be thought of in this way.
I have been blogging for almost a year and even today I was doing a happy dance because someone asked me if I would review their book. I always find it an honour to receive a free copy of the book to review it. I share my kindle account with my sister as she's down on her luck at the moment but she wants to read all the great books I'm constantly going on about. This privilege comes with 2 draw backs for her.
1) All arcs sent to me are downloaded to my kindle and my kindle only.
2) If the book is gifted from amazon then the next time I see her I delete it from her device.
If I feel she'll enjoy the book I'll buy a copy from Amazon. Yes even if it was gifted from there as I feel that the gift was for an honest review. My sister is not a reviewer she reads for entertainment so if she wants to read it I buy a copy. I try to support the authors as much as I can.
I am not rich, my bank account is constantly empty but I will not reduce myself to stealing. People that do it think that they wont be caught. Well this blogger is fed up with it and is taking a stand. I'm fed up of people trying to ruin something I have worked so hard to achieve. Blogging is not something that can be done in a few minutes every night. I need to find the time to read the book, type up the review and post it on several sites, and then make the blog post. But wait that's not the end of it, I do posts for cover reveals and tours, I make facebook posts about sales and freebies. I interact with the authors, go to author take overs, I'm apart of several street teams and although I haven't done many I have been trusted with beta reads. This is all done for free, I don't ask for anything in return. I haven't had a review copy of every author I have come into contact with. I don't demand things just to make a little post for a sale. I do this because I ENJOY IT, I like helping the authors, even if I didn't enjoy the book one of my followers might.
If you win an ebook in a give away there are two main ways your will receive the book. This is through email from the author, very rarely but in one or two cases an email from the blogger or as a gift from amazon. If a blogger asks you for anything other then an email address then be wary. Some of you might have been given a bad copy and not even known about it.
If you do feel that you have a bad copy then please contact the author and see if they know of the give away. The only way to stop this is to let people know who is doing it. We need to stand up and protect the community. Many of these author are full time writers, they rely on the sale of their work to pay bills, to keep a roof over their children's head, to put food on the table. I can not afford for someone to take food away from my son so why do I want to take food away from someone's else's child.
With so many freebies and sales you don't need to steal. The price of these books are less then a cup of coffee and last longer. There is no excuse for this. If you think you have inadvertently been given a bad ebook but you don't want to cause trouble so to say then get in contact with me and I'll do all the leg work. I am not ashamed or scared to help authors get rid of these thieves.
If you think someone is giving away bad copies or a blogger is advertising a piracy site then let me know either pm me on facebook Mummy's Naughty Corner or email me at charlieg13@me.com. This is becoming a big problem and one in which I don't mind taking the time to stop. If someone tells me a blog is doing something dodgy then I wont post it all over the web I'll look into it, talk to all concerned privately and find out all of the facts first I'm not going on a witch hunt. I will only take action if me and the authors concerned feel that they are doing something wrong. These bloggers are giving people like me a bad name and I'm not standing for it any more. These authors have spent months writing a book for our enjoyment. They have spent money on the cover, editing and all the goodies you can get like bookmarks and key rings. They pay for the signed books you can win and spend a fortune posting everything out for you. They don't stop as soon as the book is out, they spend many hours advertising, interacting with readers and trying to get their books known. They put in more hours then they would in a 9-5 job. Authors are people with families, they have pets. They sit next to you on the bus. They use the same shops as you. You wouldn't steal the bag of the little old lady next to you so why steal from authors.
<3 Thank you
ReplyDeleteMJ