Support for Indie Authors discussion

Today Google sent me an email about one of my books being on a website. I know those pirate sites are shady at best but having Norton Anti virus, which has never failed me, I decided to check it out for other authors who may not be as lucky.

As I had guessed, the book was offered seemingly for free. Free preview and free download. Without registering those links didn't work for me. I hit the contact button, and what it gives is a page asking my name, my email, and the URL of the book I want removed.

I did it for kicks. On the right site there was supposed to be an anti robot thing to check validity of the poster. Of course like the rest, that thing didn't work BUT after clicking submit, my anti virus warned me about an intrusion blocked.

PLEASE, don't fall for their tricks. The odds they actually have your books is zero to none. They're are just fishing to scam/hack you.

Thanks for this information!

Thank you for sharing this

Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks GG.

Yes, you can jump through hoops with popups and adverts, virus etc. They don't even have the book, just a scam!

Anthony wrote: "Thanks GG.

Yes, you can jump through hoops with popups and adverts, virus etc. They don't even have the book, just a scam!"

We're living in a world of internet scams.

Thanks GG. There seems to be more and more of this sort of thing. Crazy.

Thank you, GG

Thank you.

thank you :)

G.G. wrote: "Today Google sent me an email about one of my books being on a website. I know those pirate sites are shady at best but having Norton Anti virus, which has never failed me, I decided to check it ou..."

That hapened to me last week with The In-Ko-Pah Spirit. I appreciate thoise google alerts. You just have to realize that a lot of people want to get inside your computer.

Thanks for the heads up, G.G.

Thank you for the information. :) Good to know.

this is really good to know, knowing how prone i am to clicking random crap...bad habits

G.G. wrote: "Today Google sent me an email about one of my books being on a website. I know those pirate sites are shady at best but having Norton Anti virus, which has never failed me, I decided to check it ou..."

Wow, thanks for letting us know, I had no idea that things like this went on!!

thank you!

Thank you so much for the warning!

Has anyone heard of bol.com?? Someone tweeted https://twitter.com/raym0nd83/status/...

I then messaged him and asked what store this is... He said bol.com (a dutch store)??

Danielle wrote: "Has anyone heard of bol.com?? Someone tweeted https://twitter.com/raym0nd83/status/...

I then messaged him and asked what store this is... He said bol.com (a dutch store)??"

My books are there, too, through Smashwords distribution. It seems to be legit, in the Netherlands.

Ken wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Has anyone heard of bol.com?? Someone tweeted https://twitter.com/raym0nd83/status/...

I then messaged him and asked what store this is... He said bol.com (a dutch..."

Ok phew...thank you x

I am wondering about another type of pirating. My book was released for sale on April 16 and I have only sold 50 copies and mostly to friends and family. Yesterday I noticed copies available from 3 sites: hippo_books, Infinite Media Express and brouhaha_inc as used copies. My guesses are that I sent a pdf to Reader's Choice as a pdf (then later read that pirates often offer to do reviews here so never send a pdf-how do I add copyright in light print at the bottom of each page? to help in the future and what is the safest format to submit for reviews and book contests?) and that was pirated or I have put some copies in Little Libraries and people are selling those. However, I think the first may be more likely because 3 places listed at once. Any ideas?

The used copies are probably from expanded distribution and do not actually mean used. If they sell, you should see royalties from it eventually, unless someone who bought one of your 50 copies is reselling it. I would guess it is the first possibility, though.

Thanks for your reply. I blocked expanded distribution because I am eventually putting it on Ingram. If it is the first one of piracy from Reader's Choice, should I contact the three companies listed and Reader's Choice?

Jennifer wrote: "pirates often offer to do reviews here so never send a pdf-how do I add copyright in light print at the bottom of each page?"

Geez! I had no idea about this. Thanks for the intel, Miss Jennifer!! Oh, and you can add a copyright to the footer of your manuscript before it gets converted into PDF format :)

Follow up question for y'all: Is sending ePub/mobi safer than PDF? Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't any format be easily converted to PDF?

Hope everyone's having a Happy Hump day too!! :D

Thanks for warning. Also stay clear of MOUNER CLOUD LIBRARY which means do not ever exchange proprietary files via smart phones or cheap mobile devices. Work with a desktop when exchanging beta-read services or networking with publishers. Use a safe browser like Edge, even if it limits the number of websites you visit or discover. MOUNER CLOUD LIBRARY has links to TZARMEDIA.COM, a notorious pirate of intellectual properties.

thank you!

Annie wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "pirates often offer to do reviews here so never send a pdf-how do I add copyright in light print at the bottom of each page?"

Geez! I had no idea about this. Thanks for the intel..."

Annie as I understand it, the epub or mobi formats can be converted to PDF using various programs such as Calibre. And they are only forms of HTML file anyway, though I get the impression epub is easier to 'read' - at least, you can see the source code easily with Calibre or Sigil. So it is very difficult to protect against piracy.

Of course, a lot of sites that say they have a book have just ripped off the description etc and advertise 'free' books to steal credit card details and/or download malware to people's computers as GG said in her original post.