There be pirates, matey!

Book piracy is on the rise...as if we didn't have enough to contend with from Amazon and such, right?

As the author of your book and the copyright holder, you are obliged to send the offending site who's giving away your book a DMCA Takedown Notice. It does not matter if you're self publishing or with a publisher, you are the author and the ultimate copyright holder so this is your responsibility.

Where are pirated books coming from? Well, mostly from Amazon! If you look at the page source for books, you'll see book covers are coming out of Amazon's images files, and the books are filed by the book's ASIN, which is ONLY available from Amazon.

Perhaps there are come consolations to pirated books:

1) Most pirated books which are being given away almost always have data mining viruses embedded in the book files. No one gains anything from giving away your book. But by embedding a virus to infiltrate the user's system, they can sell that information to the next group upstream. What are they looking for? Credit card and banking details...it's all about the money!

2) Maybe sites which give away your book are actually only giving away the same info that Amazon does...the first 20% of the book. Readers don't realize this until after they've downloaded the book and read to the cut off point. Meanwhile, those viruses have embedded themselves into the user's computer and are sending your personal details to the end user.

3) Sites which are selling your book without permission is another problem.

In either of these cases, as the author, you need to make contact with the DMCA Takedown Notice and get the ball rolling. Unfortunately, this is not a case of them proving they have the right to publish. It's your responsibility for proving they don't.

Welcome to the 21st century!

And authors, if you're sending unprotected ARCs for review, be SURE to keep good records on who you've sent your work to, and get a turn around date. Ask where they post their reviews, and check their previous book reviews and hosts to verify the reviewer is who they say they are. And if you're giving away copies of your books, give them as gifts through the 'give as gift' option at the booksellers rather than sending ecopies.

Protect yourself!

And familiarize yourself with the DMCA Takedown Notice.

Writing is a Team Sport by Addison Brae

You never know who you'll meet at a writers' event. Henry Winkler! Do you write alone? While most writers prefer to create in solitude, total isolation reflects in your writing. The world you’ve built reads exactly as you picture it in your imagination. You completely relate to your characters. You know what they want and how they’ll get it. The plot makes perfect sense to you. Will readers see things the way you do? Involving others in your writing process can expand your point of view. When you are more connected, you can become a better writer and also cheer others on along their journeys. Here are three ways to expand your point of view and find your team: 1. Create in your story’s environment to expand your perspective. Locate places that inspire you and write there. Much of my first two romantic suspense novels take place in pubs. I wrote many scenes sitting at bars to collect stories and observe to soak up the vibe. If you have a tough sce...

Adverbs or No Adverbs?

Welcome romance writer, Paula Martin, to Hearticles. She's guest posting about adverbs in our stories. Take it away, Paula. • • • ‘The road to hell is paved with adverbs.' - Stephen King In one sense, I agree with him. Adverbs can often indicate lazy writing. Recently I read a novel (by a best-selling author) which was littered with adverbs, especially after dialogue tags. On one Kindle page alone, there was: said truculently, said coldly, retorted sarcastically, said wearily, reiterated sullenly, said dourly - and when I got to 'she ejaculated hoarsely’ I nearly splurted my coffee in the middle of Starbucks! Yes, there are times when we should avoid adverbs, especially when they are redundant e.g. she whispered quietly or when the adverb can be replaced by a stronger verb, e.g he raced down the street instead of he walked quickly . Of course, you could tell your readers: The rain came down heavily, and the wind blew strongly against the side of the car ...

Marketing vs Promotion: Why You Need Both

Probably one of the most confusing parts of selling books, or any product, is marketing and promotion, but not many understand the difference in the terms. Before we begin, we must go back to the 5 Ws: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Marketing includes all of those things. Promotion is just part of it. In the simplest terms, Promotion tells a customer WHAT you have for sale. Marketing tells the customer WHY they need it. You can't have one without the other. And if your book is on sale, you can include your WHERE and WHEN to that. WHO? That's your audience. Let's break it down with a few examples -- Promotion -- what = the product: Just Desserts Cookbook Marketing -- why = you need this book because . . . It's full of dozens of seasonal recipes that can be used year-round. All recipes were written and donated by many Tirgearr authors. There are recipes for most occasions. The recipes are easy to make, so even beginners can make them. There are twi...

HEARTICLES: Articles with Heart

Search This Blog