Please.

Dear Readers: Please, please, please consider the impact that file sharing has on authors like me. We don’t charge very much for our work. Half the price of a cup of coffee. Two packs of gum. That’s it! And I charge this as entry fee into a completely different, wonderful world.
When you use sites that allow you to share your books with others or them to share theirs with you, you bypass one of the most vital aspects of the author-reader relationship. You neglect to support the author. When this happens enough, the author can no longer write. Why would she? What she’s doing isn’t working and it’s time to search other avenues.
It’s discouraging, this length that people will go to in order to get free books. We don’t fight this hard to steal tangible things. We don’t try so hard to take anything but intellectual property – which is unfortunate for people who make their living by thinking and being creative.
We don’t have shoe sharing sites and jacket sharing sites and purse sharing sites, and even if we did, borrowing a shoe or jacket is so much different than borrowing a book. Lending a shoe or jacket could see it ruined very quickly. When you borrow a book, it’s the same book it’s always been no matter how many people have read it.
You absorb it, you use it – it is consumed by you. You own it in your mind, and you got something for free. And while I definitely understand what it’s like to be poor and to want something for free, I have to tell you that I draw the line at stealing money from other people’s pockets and food from other people’s mouths.
Please think twice. Please think about what this does to people like me. PLEASE don’t support piracy sites. 🙁
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2 Responses to Please.

  1. Alyssa Susanna says:

    AMEN.

  2. Sue Small says:

    Totally agree Heather. I know people who download from these sites and think I’m crazy because I pay for my kindle books. They would never dream of walking into a bookstore and stealing a book so how is this any different? I have been a fan of your writing for some time and have read all of your books. Looking forward to the next books in all your series when your health improves, hope this is soon for you xx