A special (concerned) note

To all my readers and readers everywhere:

Technology is an incredible medium. We can read, draw, learn, speak and see so much thanks to the advances of modern technology. The basic computer and keyboard. However, in the instance of authors, it's also becoming a means to lose our very livelihood. We write, and those written words are being stolen. By the billions, if not trillions, of words. This has been happening for years and is a growing concern. A hugely growing concern.

There is no excuse for theft, yet pirate sites are appearing out of the blue like any other source of information. They may be innocuous to start, but once the first book is posted, uploaded, downloaded, read, it is done. That author has lost revenue. And not just the author, but every person in the production chain. Just because it is on a site, does not make it legal. Car theft, identity theft, downloading copyrighted material. They are equal. They are all theft. (Public domain books [Shakespeare etc.] are a different explanation.)

Please purchase books only through reputable stores and sites. If you see any book from any author on a forum, a database, or a sharing site, please do not download that book. Report the site to the author directly. Most authors have free reads, full books, chapters, all sorts of reading material readily available to the public. Many run contests, or give away free reads. Almost any book can be found in a library, a bookstore or through a used bookstore.

Theft is still theft, no matter the excuse. Respect any author's right to earn a living.

~~~~

 

A special note:

E-piracy hurts writers
and is punishable by a $250,000 fine and up
to five years in jail.
Please don't do
business with e-pirates
for both of our sakes.
http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/