I found out on Tuesday that a fabulous author whose book hasn't even been released yet has been pirated!
I was completely, utterly and disgustingly SHOCKED! I’ve heard of this type of thing happening before so I guess it shouldn’t shock me too much. But when it happens to an author I adore and to a book that I have watched move up the success ladder, it pissed me off more than I could have imagined!
Maybe it pissed me off so much because a few months ago I had one of my own reviews lifted. But the book probably took me only a couple of days to read and the review took only 30 minutes to maybe a couple hours to write. But even though I only put a few days into the entire book and review, when I discovered that someone lifted my review and claimed it as their own, I still felt violated and sick to my stomach.
Now I also see it through the eyes of one of my favorite authors. Authors put months or sometimes years of their time and emotion into writing a book. My measly stolen review doesn’t even amount to a small pile of beans compared to an author’s book being pirated. But what makes this case even worse is that this author’s book hasn’t even been published yet, and the copy that was pirated was an eARC version! So the book that was stolen and released (by websites that are now allowing people to download it for free) was actually stolen by someone who was originally approved by the publisher to review the book! That just pisses me the EFF off! How could someone do something so low? AND it sets a bad image for the bloggers who really do respect and appreciate receiving review copies from authors and publishers, and who honor the confidentiality of those copies!
The author I am speaking of is Jennifer Armentrout and the book that has been pirated is Half-Blood. I was given the privilege to review Half-Blood by Spencer Hill Press (see my review HERE) and I was thrilled with the book! I truly appreciate that I was given the opportunity to read and review Jennifer’s book! If you want to learn more about what had happened, Jennifer has blogged about it here: Half Blood and Pirates.To show my support to both Jennifer Armentrout and Spencer Hill Press, I am doing a giveaway for 3 copies of Half-Blood. They will be purchased through Book Depository, so this giveaway is open for **International Shipping*** (subject to availability from Book Depository.) And, if Half-Blood is no longer available from Book Depository, then you will have the option to wait until Half-Blood is available or choose another book of equal or lesser value. Giveaway will run from September 30th until October 4th EST. That is only 4 days to enter!
Purchase Half-Blood now:
Paperback on sale with Book Depository for less than $10 plus Free Shipping:
Half-Blood - Paperback with Book Depository
Pre-Order Pure - Paperback with Book Depository
eBooks are only $3.99!
Half-Blood - Kindle Book Amazon
Half-Blood - Nook Book BN.com
Do you have a blog and want to protest against Pirates? You can find fabulous blog buttons here: Anti-Piracy Buttons!
Ended!
It's not right to take someone's work for free unless they give you permission. I understand that people want to read the book but they need to get it legally not through any means possible. If you can't buy it then wait until you can get from the library. Piracy's just not right.
ReplyDeletetrue dat, liv in country where getting books is dificult/ get them them only if i win/psycal copies.
ReplyDeletedon't download /its just wrong
if i don't win any , means out of luck, probably wil nevr read it but hey there r a lot othr i can read given 4 reviews or won
BLOODY PIRATES!!
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Don't sell yourself short! Whether it takes you half an hour to write a review or a year to write a book- someone stealing it is just plain wrong!
ReplyDeleteStupid pirates. They should all go to.... Well, you know.
ReplyDeleteThat was such a super nice thing you did for Jennifer Armentrout. YAY!
And congratulations winners!
And I agree with Avery. Even if you spent 30 seconds writing something it's not someone else's to steal!
Congrats to the winners. Sorry someone stole your review. That sucks. If they can't write their own they shouldn't be reviewing. Piracy is low on whatever form it takes. Doesn't matter if it took you 30 minutes or 3 years, you took the time to write from your heart and mind. You did the research whether it is for a book or for a review, (reading for a review is research). If they thought your review was so awesome that they needed to reprint it they should have given you credit. It was cool showing your support for Jennifer this way. New follower. :) My blog is at http://www.alaskanbookcafe.com if you have time and you want to check it out. :)
ReplyDeleteI HATED that this happened to Jennifer! I'm so glad you're doing this post!! I plan on giving away her book as well!! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's been great how the bloggers have really shown such great support for a fabulous author. Great job!
ReplyDelete