ePiracy and what it means to me.

As an author, I honestly don’t make much money at all.  On average, most authors don’t.  Writing sometime feels more like a hobby than a paying job.

As such, for someone to post my work without my permission does more than just take the few dollars out of my pocket, it also doesn’t give me credit for the sales.  Sales translate to opportunity in the publishing world.  The more sales you have, the more opportunities that are presented.  While I’m flatter in some ways that readers like my book enough to share, if I don’t get the “sales numbers” I may not be able to continue my craft, my series or have the opportunities to write more books.

I had an eye opening experience with my debut novel.  It was posted on several e-sites for free.  One of which said it had been downloaded over 150 times before it was finally removed.  That’s 150 downloads, that might have pushed my ranking higher on Amazon and/ or Barnes and Nobel, giving me more exposure to potential readers.  I’ll never get that missed opportunity back.

I do understand that many of my readers don’t have the ability to buy my book because maybe a parent holds the purse strings.  Contact me through my website.  I’ve been known to be generous and give my books out to those who ask.

Lastly, if you do read a pirated copy of my book, I can make no guarantee about the quality you get.  So if you’ve landed a pirated beta copy or an unedited copy, please don’t write a review citing poor editing.  I can’t control what’s posted on the web.

Again, it’s illegal to post an author’s work without their permission despite some readers’ views on sharing.  So please be considerate.  It’s almost as bad as if someone took your diary and posted on Facebook without your permission.  You wrote it, yet someone took that control out of your hands to allow others to read without your knowledge.  Again, I say almost.  For me, I felt robbed.

But being the generous soul that I am, I’m going to post another POV before the weekend is over.  So check back.