Yesterday my 12th book went live, The Girl in the Comfortable Quiet. It coincided with me entering my 15th month as an Indie. So here's what I've learned: I've gotten very good at clipping coupons to save money and there are people in the world who think it's perfectly acceptable to pirate the book of an Indie Author. Don't get me wrong. I love being an Indie Author. I'm not whining about the cost and the return. I'm pleased with where I am today thanks to my wonderful readers. But I am not Bill Gates here. When you pirate me, I feel it. You make it harder for me to release my next book.
Every time I release a book, I go into my pocket to get it out there. Author economics is like the IRS. We all work 4-5 to pay our taxes before we get to keep any money we earn. Well, my books sell 3-4 months until I've covered the cost of releasing a book and I get to keep some of the money I've earned. That is the cold hard truth of the economics of my Indie World.
So, why am I bringing it up? I had an interesting series of direct messages on my Facebook page--on my freaking birthday, no less--from a girl whose picture I recognized as someone on the boards where book pirates meet and exchange pirated copies of books. What surprised me about the conversation, is not only her nerve, but that she is totally clueless that her behavior harms me and basically she is stealing my work every time she downloads a pirated version.
I'm posting the conversation. Maybe someone will read it, and realized, there is a person on the other end of the pirate world they are hurting every time they do an illegal download. The people they hurt in my world are my children and my grandson.
As ever I wish you Peace.
Every time I release a book, I go into my pocket to get it out there. Author economics is like the IRS. We all work 4-5 to pay our taxes before we get to keep any money we earn. Well, my books sell 3-4 months until I've covered the cost of releasing a book and I get to keep some of the money I've earned. That is the cold hard truth of the economics of my Indie World.
So, why am I bringing it up? I had an interesting series of direct messages on my Facebook page--on my freaking birthday, no less--from a girl whose picture I recognized as someone on the boards where book pirates meet and exchange pirated copies of books. What surprised me about the conversation, is not only her nerve, but that she is totally clueless that her behavior harms me and basically she is stealing my work every time she downloads a pirated version.
I'm posting the conversation. Maybe someone will read it, and realized, there is a person on the other end of the pirate world they are hurting every time they do an illegal download. The people they hurt in my world are my children and my grandson.
As ever I wish you Peace.
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