THE Group for Authors! discussion

I just came across this website:
http://www.general-ebooks.com/
Does anyone know anything about this site? As far as I can tell, E-books are available for file sharing for free.

Free? Be careful.

I came across my E-book on this site. As it appeared to be a file sharing site, I navigated around and found hundreds of titles available to read for free on the site.
I immediately sent them an E-mail and received a message back saying all links to my book had been removed. Beneath my title on their site read the message: "Links removed due to copyright infringement." But I just rechecked a minute ago and that message was gone. Now it says: "Sorry, but we don't have links to this book;
Dear user, you can suggest a new link to this book. Help us to make General-Ebooks better!"

They're a well-known pirate site. Not much you can do other than ignore them.

I'm on there as well.
Just told my publisher.
Even more insulting is that my rating is only 3 stars--lower than my usual rating and there's only been one down load.
(head shake)

Mine too.

BTW, I realize not everyone will like my book. It just annoyed me that this stealing site (there's no other way to put it) has the gall to even let people leave reviews.

But I understand this is the way the world is now, and not everyone is a thief, right? :)

Remember your pen is mighty! If anyone knows of any names of those who run the site, well you know what to do! We could make a list on here of all the things our imagination runs to. Ooh...nasty.

Pirate's indeed! Modern day Robin Hood's they are not.

By sending out .pdf copies or .mobi files of your poetry or manuscripts to be reviewed is also potentially risky.

I have recently come across some pretty unscrupulous reviewers touting for business by agreeing to do free reviews and then effectively 'selling' works or passing them on to so-called unconnected third parties for resale.

The only way to really protect your work from copyright infringement is e.g. to select the DRM (Digital Rights Management) on Amazon KDP and to only do review swaps with other authors where a 'verified purchase status' not only ensures that your work has been paid for, but where it also contributes more validity to each review in the eyes of your readers.

Let's all be vigilant :-)

What about an 'Author Neighbourhood Watch' scheme ?

I have selected DRM on Amazon KDP yet my book still shows up on that site.

What you say happens, Alex, is awful.

Anyone got a boat with a large plank sticking out over a deep sea?

Anna wrote: "I have selected DRM on Amazon KDP yet my book still shows up on that site.

What you say happens, Alex, is awful.

Anyone got a boat with a large plank sticking out over a deep sea?"

Hi Anna,

Don't walk the plank yet and commit the unthinkable :)

Did you by chance either before or subsequent to releasing your book on KDP with DRM selected as an option, do any of the following:

a) Send out your manuscript to garner reviews in .pdf or .mobi format ?

b) Submit any of your work for a writing contest in .doc (Word) or similar ?

c) Use any platform to sell your eBook other than Amazon KDP ?

Alex

It's been said before, but it needs to be said again.

DRM doesn't do a thing to stop piracy.

It's easily removed by anyone who is the least bit technically inclined. It discourages casual sharing (ie, letting your mom read the book when you're done with it), but it doesn't slow large-scale piracy down at all. It also inconveniences legitimate customers.

Christa wrote: "It's been said before, but it needs to be said again.

DRM doesn't do a thing to stop piracy.

It's easily removed by anyone who is the least bit technically inclined. It discourages casual sharin..."

Hi Christa,

Are you saying that the DRM encryption that Amazon KDP offers authors is effectively useless ?

If that is the case, they are going to have some pretty irate authors knocking down their door and they will have to answer to a case of mis-selling !

Are we currently in a phase of DRM encryption needing to be beefed up or are you saying that the whole exercise is basically a lost cause ?

Alex

Alex wrote: "Hi Christa,

Are you saying that the DRM encryption that Amazon KDP offers authors is effectively useless ?

If that is the case, they are going to have some pretty irate authors knocking down their door and they will have to answer to a case of mis-selling !

Are we currently in a phase of DRM encryption needing to be beefed up or are you saying that the whole exercise is basically a lost cause ?

Alex "

No, it's not useless, and that isn't what I said. Despite what they say, the major publishers don't use DRM to combat piracy. They use it to stop small-scale sharing, because they know that that is where they've been losing sales since print books became available to the masses. DRM keeps you from passing a book to your sister after you've read it. DRM stops the used book exchange. It's quite effective at that, because most people don't delve into the technical areas of ebooks, don't even think of removing DRM, etc.

Beefed up DRM is only going to reduce customers, not piracy. The more you make it inconvenient for readers to use the books they bought, the less likely they are to buy them.

If you can read it, you can make a copy. This was just as true with printed books. DRM just raises the bar of difficulty.

I know it's a shock for a new author to run into their book on a site like that. It hurts. Believe me, I get that. But don't give it more power over you than it deserves. Issue DMCA takedown notices where you can, but push the scumbags out of your mind and focus on your actual customers and your future readers. Don't let the douchebags distract you because I guarantee you that the "lost sales" line that media companies have been crying about since internet piracy has existed is greatly exaggerated. Does anyone really believe that all the downloaders hoarding electronic files of all types would actually have bought any of it if they couldn't find it on the darknet?

I'd wager that trying to fight piracy has a higher cost than actual piracy. I'm not saying we shouldn't fight it, but that we need to maintain perspective.

Alex, thanks, in answer to your questions, on completing my second book (the one showing on the pirate site)I immediately uploaded to KDP and ticked DRM.

a) No, I have never sent it out to garner reviews in any format at all.

b) No, I have never submitted it for a writing contest.

c) I only use Amazon Kindle for sales. Although I have tentative plans for Create Space later this year but it will probably be through Amazon only at least for the immediate future.

So you see, I haven't done anything to bring my book to the attention of thieves. What I did notice was that shortly after I uploaded it, it was bought and returned within 24 hours.

I don't worry too much about the odd pirate site - if someone wants to read it, they can. It is like running a freebie on Amazon and only getting one or two downloads! Besides, they might find the theme applies to them. ;)

Rest assured, I am not contemplating walking the plank! I am dreaming of pirates plopping into deep waters.

A relatively recent paper on this:

The Effect of Piracy Protection in Book Publishing