Discussion: Avoiding E-Book Piracy.

Why would anyone do that? Why would they steal someone's hard work, only to share them for free with strangers? 



A few days ago, I was going through my feed on a social networking site, and I saw something that made me really sad. 

Someone had posted the epub files of a series by an Indie author. I knew she was an Indie author because I'd previously been in her review team. 

It made me so sad to see all of her hardwork being given out like that for free. I reported the post as well as mailed the author about it. (Though I'm not sure whether she'll be able to take action against it.)

Till now, I'd figured that only the 'famous' books were pirated, but now I know that that's not the case.

The question is, what can an author do? 

Indie authors spend out of their own pockets for everything from the cover to the editing. And most of the times, they won't have enough funds to take legal actions. 

So what should they do? 

I think the easiest way an e-copy gets out onto the internet is through the review copies. (Note: I think.) 

The author who's book I saw being pirated mails her ARCs to the readers in epub/mobi files. One of her readers might share the file with a friend, trusting them not to share, but the might and there! The book's being pirated! 🙁

I'm not saying that every reviewer does that. I delete the e-copies as soon as I mail them to my kindle. And I know most reviewers don't do this. But someone might. There's always a chance. 

So why not just ask the readers their kindle ID, and send them the book straight to their Kindles/Kindle Apps

I'm not saying that it will totally secure your book, but it may reduce the chances of piracy. 

Do you have any more ideas for the authors to safeguard their books? Let me know in the comments and I'll add it to my post! 

11 comments:

  1. The book piracy disturbs me, it makes all bloggers look bad. I don't mind giving authors my kindle addy and am shocked at how many still email me copies of their books in their initial introductory emails.

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    1. Oh, I know, right? That's why I decided to write this post. I hope atleast some authors will change their MO now. :)

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  2. It's sad but happens all the time. I've had to send out my fair share of DMCA notices in the past.

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  3. This is absolutely horrible! I know some tour hosts have been watermarking their copies or doing something so they can tell who is sharing them if pirated copies get out. I have never once shared and don't intend to. As an aspiring author and friend to many Indies, I know the struggles. Great post!

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  4. Ugh. It makes me sick, but it happens all the time. And I don’t know if it makes it better or worse, but often the files are riddled with malwar and viruses. There are so many free books out there legally, why do this?

    I personally only send file directly to Kindles. Anyone can download the Kindle app on just about any device.

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    1. I know, right? I've like 250 books I downloaded from kindle for free! I don't know why people choose to go the other way! :(

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  5. I agree, it is sad that this is still happening, especially thinking all the hardnwork that the author put into writing a book

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  6. I hate this so much--it's why people don't trust book bloggers. I know that, recently, a lot of copies NetGalley wants to send me are in protected PDF mode where you have to read them on 3 specific apps (no MOBIs) and have an expiration date.

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