Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Hello,

I just googled my books and found that they have been added to some "free" sites that I never gave permission to do. Has this happened to any of you? Should I try to fight it or just let them stay out there for free?

Beth Green
The Green Author

You've been pirated. It happens. What you do about it is up to you. Some people leave them alone in the hope giving away free books will gain them an audience they might not have otherwise found. Others send cease and desist notices to get them taken off the site as they don't want to be associated with scammers.

At the bottom of the site there should be a 'report this' link. I forgot what they call it. It's three initials. You report it to them and they have it taken down immediately. It's happened to me several times.

One of these sites wouldn't happen to be Wattpad would it? They're notorious for it.

I have a question:

Where are they going to get the free book from since you're the only one who has the authority to send them out? Thank-you!

Groovy wrote: "I have a question:

Where are they going to get the free book from since you're the only one who has the authority to send them out? Thank-you!"

Sometimes, they buy 1 copy then upload it on the pirate sites for free

Thank you all for the advice. It's not Wattpad-- just some other small sites. They must have purchased the book then posted it??? No idea how they got it otherwise.

Zee wrote: "Groovy wrote: "I have a question:

Where are they going to get the free book from since you're the only one who has the authority to send them out? Thank-you!"

Sometimes, they buy 1 copy then uplo..."

Oh. My. Goodness!! I didn't think of that. Maybe we should all Google our books. And this really makes no sense. Like most authors, all a reader has to do is ask, and we'll gladly send them a book for free. Seriously!

Thanks, Zee:)

It happens to many writers. I think just about all my books have been pirated. One thing you shouldn't do is mention the site directly on social media like Facebook and Twitter. That's just giving them free advertisement right there.

Groovy wrote: "Zee wrote: "Groovy wrote: "I have a question:

Where are they going to get the free book from since you're the only one who has the authority to send them out? Thank-you!"

Sometimes, they buy 1 co..."

I've found quite a few of mine on free sites - set up a Google Alert for your title and it will let you know when and where it pops up. I've had this when I've posted books for reviews on Netgalley (some other authors told me it was a den for pirates!). But I prefer to see it as a freebie - the ones getting pirated copies would not have bought, anyway, but they can through word of mouth talk of your books and get the buzz going.

I've had a google alert set up for a while, and I've had quite a few alerts from sites offering my book for free. Often this is as a PDF, a format I have never uploaded. I start by sending this email:
My book, "The Clouds Still Hang" is offered here completely illegally and in violation of international copyright laws. It may be legitimately purchased for download, print or audio and the links are at http://www.thecloudsstillhang.com Authors don't write for nothing, especially as this one was 20 years in the making!
Patrick C Notchtree
Sometimes I get a reply saying they'll remove it, others direct me to a web page where there's a form, rarely there's no reply at all.
It's all very well saying regard it as a free book promotion, the problem with that is that when I look on these sites to see how many times the book has been downloaded (most have a counter), it's far more than I have ever sold, which is very galling.

Patrick wrote: "I've had a google alert set up for a while, and I've had quite a few alerts from sites offering my book for free. Often this is as a PDF, a format I have never uploaded. I start by sending this ema..."

Thanks for the advice! It's sad that this sort of thing happens, but at least there are some ways to keep tabs on it.

Thanks for the info. The pirating thing is something I hadn't considered before, Duh!

There's very little you can do about piracy. Yes you can play whack-a-mole sending take down notices, and it will be back up within hours most probably. Some sites don't have the book, they are just phising for credit card details. My books are usually on pirate sites by the end of release day, people buy it, download the file and return for a refund and then upload to torrent sites etc.
Personally I don't bother about it anymore. Chasing pirated copies is a time suck when the far bigger problem most authors have is obscurity.

I have to agree with A.W. and what others have said. What really can you do but look at it as free promotion. I would really love to sell more than is given away though. This is why I'm not a fan of the PDF format. But without it you could turn some potential readers away.

How can you tell if your book(s) has been pirated to one of these sites, and which sites they are? Since my books are occasionally put on a promotion sale for 99 cents to acquire readers for the series, I tend to agree with those who said it actually increases your readership list. Plus, I can understand the comments about the amount of time necessary to fight it being better spent.

John wrote: "How can you tell if your book(s) has been pirated to one of these sites, and which sites they are? Since my books are occasionally put on a promotion sale for 99 cents to acquire readers for the se..."

The easiest way I've found is to create a Google Alert for your book. That way, wherever it pops up online, you get a notification

I use Google Alerts, too. And I think of piracy as a library with malware.

Funny I just commented about book pirating in another thread. There's good news and bad news about your book being pirated..

The Bad News: Your book has been pirated. Someone has placed your book on their site without your permission in hopes to make a profit.

The Good News: You can kindly ask them to remove it and state they could get into serious hot water if they keep it up. You can also say meh..because if it's hard enough for you to sell your books or your books are selling then the book pirates were very likely not be selling your books, will not be making anything and will have no traffic to their site because any buyer will buy your book from Amazon or other known site.