Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

Spent the morning sending takedown notices for my short fiction to a massive pirate site, and informing my novel publishers of same. So that's time I'm not writing.

I made a story collection available for cheap, but apparently piracy is more fun? Yeah, why not, you're only hurting...oh wait, you're only hurting the writer, there. And everyone knows we a) make millions and b) live on fairydust and morning dew...

People who have publicly thanked the person who uploaded my story collection - which means they're in possession of stolen property, willfully and knowingly:

scottanderson13
sherany9512

That's of the 14 (so far) who have downloaded a pirated copy from the torrent feed -- just one feed. I know there are more.

I kept the price of this collection under $5 intentionally. I didn't think anyone should have to pay more than that. From the comments on all the e-book formats, it seemed like a more-than-fair price.

3.99 x 14 = $55.86. In less than a week. Straight out of my pocket. Not a publishers' -- mine.

I don't expect any of these people to send me the $3.99 they owe me. That, after all, would require them to acknowledge that someone actually put work the stories they're so enjoying [both the writing and the production thereof]. If you know them, tho, you might suggest that they take a fiver and send it to their local food bank. That way, they can still feel the thrill of getting something for free, but actually do something good to even out their karma.

Pirates will upload. That's how they get their thrills. We make a decision to download... or not.

[I'm not going to suggest the person who uploaded it do anything, because clearly they don't give a fuck about anything other than doing something they're not supposed to. And if you don't outgrow that by the time you're ten, you're never going to actually get a clue.]


If you are interested in buying a copy legally, it's available via Smashwords. If you can't manage it, or like hardcopy, some of the stories are available in anthologies you can find via your local library, no additional cost to you.