Empress of Dorsa Update
Total words today: 197 (but I’m about to have a writing date with a friend, so that total will go up!)
Manuscript total: 25,099
This post is directed at people who have read my work without paying for it. And I don’t mean KindleUnlimited, and I don’t mean people who borrowed it from someone else who did pay for it.
When you download a PDF of my book for free, you’re stealing from me.
I found a review on Amazon today for Princess of Dorsa in which the reviewer admitted to reading it for free.
This led me to Google “princess of dorsa free,” and Google suggested I also look for “princess of dorsa free pdf.”
Thanks a lot, Google.
I’ll admit it: In the mid-90s, when Napster first came out (remember Napster?!) and people started sharing music, I downloaded a s**-ton of music for free.
Then I realized it was stealing, and I stopped doing it.
But something about the Internet has all of us loosey-goosey with our personal moral compass these days.
So let me ask you…
Would you walk into Barnes & Noble, take my book off the shelf, and leave without paying?
No, you f-ing wouldn’t.
So why do you think it’s okay to download a free PDF version of the same material *that I did not authorize*?
The craziest thing I found as I was searching for sites that offer my titles for free was a Lesbian Book Club thread on Reddit in which someone posted the link and someone else commented that they “might as well read it for free because you already paid for it with your taxes.”
WTF??!
In what universe do your taxes, which pay for roads, schools, parks, health care, the military, and other essential services, also PAY ME FOR MY WRITING?
IN NO UNIVERSE! And if you knew how much I owed in taxes right now after a tough financial year, you would realize how ironic that statement is.
I am not Simon & Schuster.
Some people take a Robin Hood approach when it comes to pirated content on the Internet — take from big, greedy corporations and give to “little guys” who are being financially exploited.
I don’t agree with that premise, but even if it were true, I am not published by some big company like Simon & Schuster, getting a five or six figure advance for each book I publish.
I am an independent publisher who depends upon the income I make from my books to put food on my table and keep a roof over my head. Although now I have a full-time job and am not as reliant upon my book income as I have been in the past, last year as I went through graduate school, my books were the only source of income I had.
I’ve written on this blog about my financial struggles on multiple occasions, including here, here, and here.
If you’re someone who’s been reading my book(s) for free, I want you to let that sink in.
I am a real person, and your actions have a direct impact on my life.
Don’t participate in piracy.
Almost all the television and movies my roommate consumes come from pirating sites.
Over the nearly three years we have lived together, I have resisted his offers of “Hey, you want to watch X? I have it on my computer.”
In his generation, pirating movies and TV has been normalized. Kind of like when I was in college and Napster was new — “everyone is doing it” so you find a way to justify or rationalize downloading content for free.
But I admit that on a few rare occasions, with movies I haven’t been able to find anywhere else, I’ve caved and said to my roommate, “Okay.”
I’m telling you this in the interest of being fully transparent, to acknowledge how easy it is to take something for free that you should really pay for. There are several layers between you and the person (or people) on the other end who are being affected, so it feels like a “victimless crime.”
But I’m not going to do that anymore — from now on, I’m going back to my original response whenever my roommate offered me something for free and do a Nancy Reagan and Just Say No.
I’m asking the rest of you to do that, too. With all copyrighted work, but ESPECIALLY with independent artists like myself.
Consuming creative work for free when the creator asked you to pay is wrong.
Full stop.
10 Comments
Annette Mori · July 21, 2020 at 6:01 pm
Ugh…I used to try to send e-mails to have my books removed from those sites, but it was like playing wack-a-mole. I gave up. It is frustrating!
The Real Person!
Yes, totally Annette. I’m sure that there’s more out there that I’m not aware of; I suppose a part of me knew it was probably happening, but I just didn’t want to think about it or deal with it.
Jen · July 21, 2020 at 6:19 pm
I read it for free on kindle unlimited and bought them both afterward. I can’t remember what order that all happened in, but I paid. Lord. If people want someone who is doing something they love to keep being able to write, then PAY THEM omg. I can’t even imagine how much work it takes. It’s overwhelming to think about.
It really sucks that people do this. Hopefully they are super poor or something and not just being an asshole, and will eventually be someone who pays for books.
Do they think you are just sitting there laughing at your keyboard like those memes of women eating salads? People think that’s what painters do. Like artists don’t need money. So bad.
The Real Person!
Thanks for the support, Jen. It is super frustrating.
Jes · July 22, 2020 at 11:40 am
I completely get where you are coming from. I love your work and have purchased both physical copies of Princess and Soldier as well as digital. I’ve also purchased the audio book for Princess and will for the rest of them. Your story line in the world of Dorsa is amazing. I think you’re a very talented author and I look forward to supporting you further.
The Real Person!
Thanks, Jes. People like you restore my faith in humanity. 🙂
Mary · July 22, 2020 at 9:33 pm
Hi Eliza: You’re so justified to remind us of your rights as an author! I spent the whole of my academic career as a humanities prof trying to teach my students not to plagiarize, and discovering that the internet has made it so much easier to do, but also so much slipperier to define. Back in the 80s students would copy a classmate’s work, or present material without crediting the source. Really “bad” plagiarism might entail deliberately concealing the source. (So, outright theft). Since the early 2000s, the varieties of “quasi-plagiarism” (inadvertently concealing a source; cutting-and-pasting correctly credited sources; citing Wikipedia without verifying its sources . . .) have multiplied, as has the proportion of students deeply confused about what is “common knowledge,” and what is “proprietary” information. Worse yet when creative sources are cited. I think it does not help that the copyright laws fail to discriminate between active producers of knowledge and entertainment, and institutional copyright holders whose legal right to certain materials is given longer and longer expiration terms. (Ironically, I find myself scouring the internet for pirated copies of classic sources in my discipline which, though still protected by copyright, are out of print, rare and unobtainable). And, of course, online fanfic has taught us all terrible habits of consumption (and production, though even there some rare jewels have been secreted along with the dreck). So it’s a struggle for a single author’s livelihood to be acknowledged.
Lili · July 22, 2020 at 8:19 pm
Did they at least rate it 5 stars 🗿
In all honestly though as a digital artist I constantly fear my work being stolen, thankfully I can use water marks. But how can you?
Ale · March 11, 2023 at 4:00 am
Funny story. I’m from Cuba you see, to be able to pay for your work i would need an actual credit card wich i’m not allowed to get. Whay i usually do with books is to get a free pdf, see if is worth it and then buying a physical copy of it via anyone who’s travelling overseas (that’s how people in my country usually get stuff). I’ve just found out about your book and thought it look interesting, was in the middle of trying to get a free sample of it (wasn’t able to, obviously) then i came across this beautiful post and now i wanna thank you for helping me decide if i want it or not.
Ps: i found a copy of your book for sale in a whatsapp group in Cuba for 50 usd. Thats double the monthly salary of a cuban doctor. Needless to say i didn’t buy it, nor anyone else apparently, the owner said he’s been trying to sell it since 2020.
Adventures in Distance Learning, Part 2 – Author Eliza Andrews · August 31, 2020 at 1:30 pm
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