World, Writing, Wealth discussion

Every now and then I hear from fellow authors about pirate sites, where their books are offered for free download. And yes, I can usually find my stuff on the sites they mention..
As I understand, pirates usually try to steal trendy stuff and offer it for free or with a remarkable discount. That's why somebody tries to record a new movie on a premiere show. But can the piracy have a reverse effect of making the stolen stuff popular?

Usually not. The promise of a free download almost always leads to a paid ad or some form of spam. There is seldom an actual download available. The books don't even have covers sometimes. The attempt, however, may say something favorable about your book's rising reputation.

Nik wrote: "Every now and then I hear from fellow authors about pirate sites, where their books are offered for free download. And yes, I can usually find my stuff on the sites they mention..."

I've also found my book on some pirate sites. At first I was upset but then I saw they rated me quite high!! :) Those sites seem to only be operational for a few days before they're pulled down. In the interim I look at it as free advertising...if a book is good enough to pirate then it must be worth reading.

There are some long-running pirate sites which seem to have escaped being closed down. Even Demonoid returned from the dead.

However, this landed in my inbox yesterday:

http://ipkitten.blogspot.co.uk/2016/0...

I, too, find myself thinking that to have one's book pirated is a bit of a compliment. At least somebody cares! (It's kind of like paying taxes for the first time - you feel all grown up and rich. Briefly...)

Edited to add: the link is to an intellectual property blog. Although there are also cat pictures.

T. K. Elliott wrote: "However, this landed in my inbox yesterday: http://ipkitten.blogspot.c..."

Yep, the title of the blog sounds about right:

“Obscurity is a greater threat than piracy”

If we're talking these one-off sites "read for free," then honestly how would anyone find your book on their site unless they specifically Google it? Not to mention the general consensus is that these sites are nothing more than scam sites trying to get your credit card number or infect your computer with some sort of malware.

Yet it's the torrent sites that people should think more about. Where you get legitimate files and instead of one-off books, someone will upload "May's Amazon releases" or something similar in one batch.

Not sure if I'm remembering someone suggesting it a while back, but if you're looking to distribute a free book to get added promotion, it might be worth considering distribution through one of the bittorrent sites. Doubtful if the crowd frequenting those sites will go to Amazon or the iStore to buy other books in your catalog, but it might give you additional exposure.

J.J. wrote: "If we're talking these one-off sites "read for free," then honestly how would anyone find your book on their site unless they specifically Google it? Not to mention the general consensus is that th..."

What we need is an equivalent of "Editors and Preditors" to sort out the scam sites from those that are genuine, and sort them from the ones that might actually achieve something. The latter may well be the empty set.

Since the issue of piracy rose on another thread, I thought people might have more opinions on this topic -:)

I admit I'm one who occasionally Googles my book titles to see where they end up. Publishing through Smashwords, my books show up on a lot of smaller platforms you wouldn't know in the States. What's more is SW places books on dozens of lists, each one with an address that doesn't look like a SW address. So I see my title on a Google search associated with an address that looks like something a scammer or pirate might use, but when I click it, I find myself on one of those SW lists. What's more, you encounter people who set themselves up as affiliates. You'll see your books show up on their sites and you might initially think they're pirates, but ultimately their links take you to a seller. A lot of authors are quick to complain that their books show up on "all these pirate sites," because they turn up in unexpected places in a search. While many of them likely are phishing sites, it is important to remember that some of those links are also legitimate and not attempts at piracy or phishing.

J.J. wrote: "While many of them likely are phishing sites, it is important to remember that some of those links are also legitimate and not attempts at piracy or phishing...."

Yeah, I guess it's worthwhile to google one's books and name every once in a while to check what's up. Glad to hear that your own search returned with some valid links...