Pirating is Theft - end of.

Dear Travis McCrea of Ebook Bike

It’s not often that I blog now as there never seem to be enough hours in the day when you earn an honest living but this particular post needs to get out my system before I self-combust.

Working as an Indie writer is an incredibly tough job and, in the past, was a worthwhile career.  The way that Amazon has changed how they pay us has made it increasingly difficult to earn a living and so I really don't need any spanners in the works.

So, with a constant battle on my hands to get my books seen, talked about, sold and reviewed, imagine my fury when it came to light that you are stealing my work and giving it away for free.  Your opening line on your FAQ page is:

Imagine a world where authors can make money by giving digital versions of their books away to their reader.

This makes NO SENSE TO ME!  HOW?!  How can the theft of my books be making me any money?  Do you have a stash of cash owing to me?  I don’t think so somehow.  I’ve asked you this many times on Twitter and you choose not to answer.  I wonder why.

The truth of the matter is, every book you give away is taking hard earned cash from my hands.  So all the years, months, weeks and hours of blood sweat and tears that I pour into my work are given away, without my permission, for nothing.

And how do you justify this?  Oh, it gets better and better!  You set yourself up as a Reverend of:

Missionary Church of Kopimism

The followers of the religion are called Kopimists from copy me. A "Kopimist" or "Kopimist intellectual" is a person who has the philosophical belief that all information should be freely distributed and unrestricted. This philosophy opposes the monopolization of knowledge in all its forms, such as copyright, and encourages file sharing of all types of media including music, movies, TV shows, and software.

So you are somehow trying to justify your act of theft.  Unbelievable!

It doesn’t end there though.  Your girlfriend @malkarii_ is a charity fundraiser for St Jude’s Hospital, Memphis.  No, no, no!  Sorry, but this doesn’t sit well with me.  You @travisvancouver boast about the plane that you’ve bought and the yacht trips that you’ve taken with MY money - because your ‘religion’ doesn’t believe in copyrighting and you’re under the misguided impression that it’s your right to share my work for your gain.  You can’t expect us to believe that your girlfriend doesn’t enjoy that illegal lifestyle to some extent.

I too raise funds for charity and I know that my reputation needs to be whiter than white.  I’ve watched her video on Twitch and I feel for her but she openly admits that what you are doing is ‘shady’ and has asked you to take the website down.  Any connection with you and your dodgy deals will not show @malkarii_ in a good light - she needs to be rethinking her life choices and who she keeps company with if you continue to ignore her requests and she wants to maintain her credibility and integrity.

And you need to own up to the fact that you are a thief and a liar.  On your interview with BBC Radio, you claimed that Ebook Bike was set up with and for writers.  I’d like just ONE writer to come forward and agree with this statement.  Who are these writers who helped to set it up and how do they gain financially from it?  The only writers I’ve heard voice an opinion, are those who are being ripped-off.

I thought long and hard before writing this.  There are two trains of thought.  Some authors are keeping quiet as they don’t want to give you oxygen to grow, others are livid and doing everything they can to bring you down.  Indies are the ones who are particularly disgruntled as we don’t get an advance to keep us going - but what the traditionally published authors need to realise is that, if their books continue to be given away without their permission, their publishers will see a fall in sales and may not re-sign them.  It affects us all.  I won’t be silenced, especially when I read that a sixth of ebooks that were downloaded in 2017 were pirated because of the likes of you.  Why should I keep quiet?  If you crept into my house while I was sleeping and stole all of my worldly goods I wouldn’t let you get away with it - this theft is no different.

I don’t have a plane or fancy yacht trips around the English Bay of Vancouver and you know why?  Because I’m helping to pay for you to enjoy those privileges.

Shame on you.  Enjoy the publicity while you can but I don’t think it will last for long.  Time to get your thinking cap on and come up with a new scam.

May you get your just desserts in heaven Reverend McCrea.

PS: To those authors and publishers who choose to keep quiet, I respect your opinion but I’m choosing to speak out for the underdog.  I don’t believe that by writing this I will encourage more people to pirate books - honest people don’t - but I do feel that it needs to be talked about.  This isn’t just affecting Indies.  It’s affecting traditionally published authors and will go on to affect the publishing world, just as it did with pirated music, unless people make a noise.  I don’t believe that this is a time for anyone to sit on their laurels, hope that it will go away and leave other people to do the dirty work and deal with it on their behalf.

FUNKY FRIDAY - with reader and blogger Colette Cooper

Welcome to FUNKY FRIDAY once again.  Today I'm delighted to welcome Colette Cooper (@Colly4  on Twitter). She's always been a huge supporter of my books (and other Indies) and so I was very happy to welcome her here for a chat.  You can follow her blog here.

As an avid reader and blogger at The Wonderful World, what made you start on your journey?

Twitter opened new avenues for me in the world of reading/writing. There was so much talent out there in the way of Indie books, Kindle freebies and topical blogs that I wanted to share this beyond Twitter and into mainstream to help others reading the great stuff I was.

I have always loved writing too so starting a blog was a perfect way of doing this. The more I write, the more I want to write! It's simple!

What books will keep you up all night and which types will have you throwing them at the wall?

Thrillers, sagas and biographies have me gripped. Whilst chick lit fills the gaps in between. I cannot stand erotic fiction, yucky romance or predictable chick lit. Books that keep you guessing and tell the story from different perspectives will always keep me interested.

Would you ever be tempted to write a novel and what genre would it be?

Yes, this is on my bucket list! I don't think I would be smart enough to write a thriller, or have the patience to research anything too topical, so it would have to be based loosely on my life with my experiences exaggerated for effect! I have always wanted to write something autobiographical in terms of the main character, but set in a fictional life I would have liked to have lived. That said I work better under I instruction, so if someone was to give me a subject or genre I would give it a go!

You've been invited on Big Brother - Readers' and Bloggers' Special! Do you accept?

Never! I could never be that exposed. I like to be behind my writing and not in the spotlight. I would like to think if I ever became published I would do so under an alias so that my private life could be kept as that.

Is there one book you could read over and over again?

Every single Harry Potter book. I am a huge fan but up until 2 years ago I had not read any of them or watched a film. I spent 3 months reading my way through them and watching the films and was gutted to get to the end of the story. I surprised myself as normally fantasy is not my thing, but the quality of the writing, the underlying meanings and how the story unfolds is pure genius.

Can you remember the book that started you off as a reader?

I used to steal my mum's reading material from a very young age and worked my way through Virginia Andrews' Flowers In The Attic and the continued saga whilst I was still in primary school. I was still reading them over and over whilst I was at college. But as a child of the 80's Roald Dahl was my biggest influence.

*****

Thanks so much for joining me on FUNKY FRIDAY, Collette - I wish you well in writing that book and staying 'anon'!

 ***** NEWSFLASH *****

My new novel is powering ahead and I'm feeling very excited about each new writing day.  A June release is on the cards ...

'Diary of a Mummy Misfit' is currently powering up the charts in the FREE section on Amazon for Kindle. UK here and .com here.  Grab it while you can!  But don't forget to get the sequel.

Facing the Critics

I learnt in the week that there are some writers who never read their reviews.  I find that really odd!

Now I can see that if you avoid looking at them, you never get upset by the people who don't like your offerings but then you'd never get to see the praise from those who do, would you?

As a writer, I love to know that someone has enjoyed one of my books or that I've made them laugh or cry - it makes my job worthwhile and never fails to bring a smile to my face.  I'm fortunate enough to only have received a handful of bad reviews (so far - touch wood and all that malarkey!) and I have to admit they hurt for a little while but then I go on to remind myself that they are in the minority and you can't please everyone.

A couple of my funniest have been from someone who insists on buying all of my books and then slating them - why?  Give up on me! I'm clearly not writing the stuff that you want, so move on.  To call the characters in 'Stilettos and Stubble' bizarre, is just ... well, bizarre!  It's set in a drag club!  Would you have preferred nuns?!

Then we had the only ever 1* review for 'Diary of a Mummy Misfit', stating:

Plastic dummy
Sorry, I found this lady empty and rather sad, could not get into the story, I just wanted to redirect the girl into more important things! 

Erm ... it's chicklit!  It's about a mother at a school, finding her feet and making friends and enemies along the way.  Had I wanted to write about Mother Theresa and a pitiful orphanage or saving the rainforests, I would have done!

But enough about my reviews, I also spend a lot of time reading other authors' reviews too - it's part of the job and helps me to see what chicklit readers like and dislike. I can assure you, there are some truly nasty people out there.  Let me share some of my findings with you (without revealing the authors' or reviewers' names)

*  there are a good number of readers who will download a book when it's free - knowing full well that it's not their usual genre - and then give it a 1* review because it's 'chicklit'.  Rude!  Very, very rude!

* Then we have the ones who loathe a book so much they have to give the whole plot away to spoil it for any future readers.  Amazon insist that no spoilers are given but they will turn a blind eye and ignore anyone who complains to them.  I once spent many hours on the phone and writing emails to try to get a friend's spoiler review removed  - to no avail.

* An odd category here - the readers who purchase a book and then give it 1* saying, 'Haven't had time to read but I'm sure I will enjoy this book.'  What the?  With one fleeting sentence, you've brought a writer's ratings down because of your stupidity.

* People will also get on their high horse about prices of celebrity books.  I've seen many 1* reviews for books that were 'Far too pricey to buy. Not lining their pockets!'  OK, I agree celebs are flooding the market with overpriced tat but it's the publishers who set the price and to leave a review based on that is just wrong.

* I once saw a review for a book that had obviously been purchased second hand on Amazon and the buyer gave the author a 1* because the book 'was bent and smelly'!  Had I been that author I would have had to leave a comment or at least found where the person lived and slapped them with a frozen lettuce.

* There is one charming young lady on Amazon who only EVER leaves 1* reviews.  Clearly the right book has never been written for her!  Frustrated writer, maybe?

* Many readers will happily download free or affordable Indie works and then write review after review about how much the book needed a 'good editor'.  Do they ever stop and think why they're getting a bargain read?  Indies have to price their books to sell - we are swimming in a sea of anonymity and we need to do everything in our power to get our books flying from the virtual shelves.  That means a realistic price which doesn't allow for the luxury of a professional editor.  Capish?  Yes, mistakes can slip through but nobody's perfect - not even the top publishing houses.

So there you go, my thoughts and findings on reviews and reviewers.  If you're an avid reader and have loved a book, do you leave glowing reviews?  If you've read a book that you hate, do you just keep quiet? (like me! - I hate to diss somebody's baby)

Next time you read a book that you love, leave a few lines at Amazon.  It makes us writers smile and as I always say, 'Your words help to sell mine.'

How to Lose Readers and Alienate People

Bonus blog this week as I need to get something off my chest ...

Last night, after editing, I was idly looking through my Twitter feed reading peoples' thoughts on Britain's Got Talent or The Voice (boy, does England need some summer so that we can all get our TV bums outside!) and I came across a conversation between a reader and one of my (now ex!) favourite traditionally published authors.

The author (who shall remain nameless) told the reader that (and I have to be very careful with my words here or it's easy for readers to search Twitter and find out who she is) she wasn't a fan of the less expensively priced books available on Kindle.  Well, laaa - dee - da!

This could be a case of 'tweeting before thinking' but it's just wrong on so many levels.  Let me give you my thoughts and see if you agree:

*Does this mean that we should judge the quality of a book by its price tag?  A ten pound book is immediately a 5* review because it must be top-notch?  Or a book that has the umbrella of a big publishing house over it is guaranteed to be a massive success?  [cough cough]  Pippa Middleton?  Oops!

* Indies have to keep their books reasonably priced or no one would take a chance on them.  Personally, I think upwards of £7 for a Kindle book is just rude but if you're being dictated to by your publisher I also see that you have no choice.  See, I respect you - please treat me in the same way.

*  I think this author should stop and think, 'There but for the grace of God ...'  Ok, so you hit the big time, bagged an agent and publisher but please don't put down those who have decided to take another route - for whatever reason.

*  Indies do everything themselves - editing, proof reading, book cover design, promoting - they don't have the luxury (or added cost) of people working on their behalf.  So my 'cheap books' mean that, with the amount of hours hubbie and I put in, I'm probably on slave labour wage.  Dear said Author, you managed to slag that off with one fleeting statement.

* I have to wonder if our stable of 'big chicklit writers' - ie: the ones who were signed in the early days (pre eBooks) when business was booming and it was a new genre- would have had the grit and determination to follow their dream on the Indie path if they hadn't had their lucky break.  It's not for the lazy or easily disheartened - would they have had the staying power?  Or would they have thought 'That wouldn't make me a real writer' ?

I don't want this blog to sound like sour grapes - I'm happy as an Indie writer and I earn just about enough to keep the roof over my head - but I was deeply offended by this writer's comment.  So much so, she has now lost a very loyal reader - why should I line her pockets when she has no respect for what I'm doing?

And, at the end of the day, are we not all doing the same thing?  Living our dream, creating characters and plots our readers love and earning a crust.

It just happens that your crust is bigger than mine!

Motivating the Misfit

OK, own up.  Who likes a deadline?

Are you one of those people who quake in their boots if they know they have to deliver on a certain date or do you love the thrill and adrenalin rush of pushing it to the limit?

I LOVE a deadline and personally there's no quaking but lots of dancing about in my little boots (new, if I might add - suede, ankle, wedge and trendy) if I know I'm up against it.

As an Indie I have no one telling me when, where or why.  If  I choose to sit back and pick my nose for a year, I can.  But I don't.  I actually give self-imposed deadlines and, let me tell you, I get pretty cranky with myself if I don't deliver - which rarely happens.

You see, I'm a hard task-master and I think to make a go of it as an Indie writer, you have to be.  There's no point in talking about being a writer, you have to do it and that means many hours of blood, sweat and tears.  And hissy fits, in my case - but that's just the way I roll, they're not compulsory.

So for me to get from Chapter One to The End, I have to give myself a finish date and a reward at the end of it - usually something as simple as a dinner with friends - but something  to work towards.  I relish the buzz of forcing myself onwards and upwards, pushing to the point where I can say, 'YES! The first draft is complete'.

Of course that doesn't mean that it's all over - oh no, far from it.  That's when all the really hard work begins but at least I can say, as I pat myself on the head, 'You go girl, you did it!'

Then come the next set of deadlines - rewrtites, edits, corrections, editing with hubbie, (grrrr!), divorce proceedings, marriage guidance, first read off to friend, more edits and corrections.  On it goes until the big release day and then it starts all over again with a time frame for the next book.

Yes, without a deadline, I'd be sunk.  In fact, I reckon I'd be a publisher's dream (bit of blowing my own trumpet there, but if I don't no one else will!)

Book Six (now entitled 'Lottie's Luck') is over half way there and I've given myself until March 16th to bash out that first draft - I've even got a Twitter lunch and dinner with friends booked as an incentive.  Yes it's possible to dangle your own carrot!

There will be no umming, aahing or procrastination - it WILL be done.  Because I'm the boss and what I say goes.

So watch this space, as 'Lottie's Luck' will hit the shelves at the end of June - and if by some chance it  doesn't, I'll be taking myself into my office for a jolly good talking to.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have a word target to meet ...

Reader Appreciation Award Nomination

It’s a week of short, sharp, snappy answers as I’ve been tagged by three Twitter friends and want to cover them all.

First up is my friend Michelle Betham (whose books and blog can be found here) who nominated me for a 'Reader Appreciation Award'. 

Michelle asks:

What’s your favourite book/books of all time?

I can’t say I have a favourite book, but my fave writers are Maeve Binchy and Lisa Jewell.  I love their wonderfully unravelling plots and character development. 

What time of day do you prefer to write?  Do you have a routine?

When it’s not the school holidays I write from about 8.30 until 4, Monday to Friday.  If a plot’s really powering along I’ll also write at the weekend and in the evenings.  My only routine is to crack on!

Who or what inspired you to pick up a pen and write?

I’ve always loved writing and have done so for as long as I can remember - I blame Enid Blyton and Noel Streatfield, the authors I grew up on.

How do you get the inspiration to create characters for your books?

I really don’t know!  They come from nowhere - a bit spooky really.  Oh, and I love to ‘people watch’ - that helps.

Random one here … Favourite TV programme.  Have you got one?

From the past, ‘The Good Life’ and the present, ‘Come Dine With Me.’

If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you'd buy?

I’d clear my debts and buy an instant ticket to get my hubbie to Oz to share the weekend with his family.

What makes you nervous and why?

Everything!  I’m a Nervous Nelly, as my hubbie calls me.

Have you ever bought anything from a home shopping channel, and if you have, what was it?

I haven’t, no.  If funds allowed, I could quite easily be a shopaholic so I think buying from the comfort of my sofa could be dangerous.  eBay is too tempting already!

And finally ... bath or shower?  Which do you prefer?

Easy, peasy - huge bubble bath EVERY night - the perfect way to end my day and dream up new plots.

Thanks for those Michelle.

Next up is a set of questions from writer friend Tucker @JamieTDougan.  His blog and books can be found here.

Where do you do most of your writing/blogging?

I vary between the kitchen table and the sofa upstairs in the living room but just this last week I picked up a gorgeous old school teacher’s desk in a charity shop.  This is where I can be found now - with a soppy grin on my face.

Favourite book or books from your childhood?

As mentioned before all the Blyton and Streatfield books - my first introduction to ‘chicklit’ - stories for girls.

Who is your favourite fictional character?

Elvira from Noel Coward’s play ‘Blythe Spirit’ - she’s such a flirt and so mischievous.  I always wanted to play her in my thespian days but sadly, never did.

Have you ever Googled yourself and been shocked at what you found?

I now know that I have to Google myself every day (sounds rude) as, after I’d finished my free promo for the Diary, we realised that pirate sites had got hold of it and were continuing to give it away for nothing.  We keep a daily check on them now and get them to remove them.

What's your favourite time of the day and why?

I love early evening - time for a glass of wine, a chat with my mum and to reflect on the work I’ve achieved that day.

Who would play you in the movie of your life?

Meryl Streep - I think she’s an amazing actress and can literally become anyone - she’s a witch, I tell you!  Hubbie would prefer Kylie.

One material possession that you absolutely could not live without?

My car.  It’s essential every single day for my mum and son.  Without it, our lives would fall apart.

Have you ever been naked in public?

No!  And anyone that tells you otherwise is lying!

What is your dream car?

Ah!  *runs off to Google for the umpteenth time to have a sneaky look* The Bentley Continental Convertible.  Might need to sell a few more books though!

 I’ve also been nominated by my friend Donna Trinder at ‘Room ForReading’ and I need to give five random facts about myself.  As I’ve been tagged on this subject in the past, I’ve had to try to dig a little deeper.  So, here we go …

1. I love to read while I’m cooking - stir, stir, chop, chop, read, read.
2. My oldest friend of over thirty years suffers from Tourette’s.
3. I love lists.  I make a list for everything.  This indulges my passion for fancy notebooks!
4. I never have naked nails - they are always painted.
5. My dad and I promised that we’d meet in heaven - and we will.

As part of the rules of Michelle and Tucker’s nomination, I need to devise questions and pass on the award to a fellow blogger.  These questions go to Donna.

What is your strength?

What is your weakness?

You have two gorgeous sons.  Would you have liked a daughter and, if so, what would you have called her?

Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

If you could have ANYTHING for Christmas, what would it be?

If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be?

What would be your dream fancy dress costume?

Phew!  Hope you made it through all of those and thanks to Michelle, Tucker and Donna for giving me food for thought.

Don’t forget my latest novel ‘Stilettos & Stubble’ will be released on Kindle and at Lulu on 28^th November - ‘It’s what’s inside that counts!’