Hey all,
It's Friday and today's guest blogger has an important message for us all. It comes from an eXtasy books author, PJ Dean. A little more about her...
This author grew up in a household exclusively composed of adults, so she was a tad precocious. Her neighborhood, South Philly, was, and always has been, a mix of different cultures. She grew up hearing many languages and witnessing the customs of the immigrants who had settled there. Her love of other places led to a semester in France and a B. A. in French Civilization, with a minor in Spanish. Her interest in history and her penchant for romance novels directed her to write her first historical romance, "FAITHFUL". PJ Dean, lives with her very demanding cat, Bart.
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I want to make a short comment on a topic near and dear to me. Especially at this time of year.
Pirates are alive and well and living amongst us. No, not the one-legged ones with parrots on their shoulders sitting on Davey Jones locker. I'm talking about the "file sharing" ones who suck the life from a writer. How do I know this? 'Cuz not one, but two of my books are on file sharing websites. I guess I should be flattered that folks want to read my stuff. I want them to want to, but I would prefer that they buy a copy. Call me a money-grubbing capitalist but I'd like to make a living as a writer by selling my work, not giving it away illegally.
I just wanted to remind readers: please support the writers who desire to entertain you. We work very hard to create stories to carry you away to other worlds. Please buy our books, electronic or otherwise. When a writer discovers that their work has been or is being pirated, the process of getting it removed from such a website is excruciating. Annoying and time-consuming is the best way I can describe it. I could elaborate but yawning would ensue. With the holiday season upon us, books are on people’s lists to give and to get. If offered a pirated site to get downloads, please decline using the site. Buy your books from legitimate bookstores. Enjoy the season, buy some books and bypass these file sharing sites.
PJ DEAN
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Thanks, PJ. This is a problem faced by every author on the planet. I myself have lost thousands of dollars to pirates. Honestly, I can't understand it. It's stealing. Flat out. It's very different from a print book where there is only one copy. With E-books you can make as many as you want and sell or give them away and the author gets nothing. Trust me, most of us aren't making enough money to absorb the losses. I know of many who've had to go back to work because the pirates stole too much from them to keep on writing full time.
It is a horrible problem and one, like PJ said, where every reader CAN make a difference. Share the news. Please don't steal from authors, artists or musicians. If you want to read a story, buy the book. That's the bottom line.
Want to know more about PJ and her work? Check her out at the following places and read up on her latest story, “The Felig Chronicles” out at eXtasy books.
I'll see you next Monday as I share my thoughts about life in general. And don't forget to check out my FREE READ. Chantal and Mace have made contact. Let's see what happens now!
CJ England
Follow Your Dreams
http://cjengland.com/luckbealady/luckbealady.htm
6 comments:
It always amazes me when people do that and think nothing of it! It just boggles me that they don't think of it as stealing or they don't care.
With Print books I go so far as to not patronize second hand book stores unless I am looking for a book that is no longer in print or is in the public domain. I never go to browse.
I haven't bought many eBooks. I don't even let my wife read mine. She can buy her own if she wants.
You are against piracy because it limits your income. I am against it because when writers write less or give up I lose choices of what to read.
Ray
I know Phylis,
I just wish we could get that through their heads!
Ray,
While I personally am not against used book stores, I applaud your dedication.
But until the government catches up with the technology, we'll continue to have problems.
Thanks for all the positive comments. Yes, piracy does limit readers' choices. If a writer wants to live by writing alone, it is nearly impossible to do if your work is given away. Writers are then forced to go back to a 9 to 5 job full-time and quit writing all together to make ends meet. I just want a resolution to the prolem.
PJ DEAN
PJ,
As a full time writer, I find it incomprehensible that people think it's okay to steal just because it isn't a "real" book.
Well, I've written "real" books and I've written books that only come out in ebook format and I've got to tell you, the work is exactly the same.
So shouldn't the protection and compensation be the same as well???
Don't Steal!!!!!
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