I can understand it in bees. It’s called survival instinct.
I have less tolerance for humans who do that sort of thing. If you’ve tried to buy my e-books on Smashwords any time in the last two days, you’ll notice that they’re not there. What does this have to do with bees?
I’m glad you asked.
As I said, I can understand why bees would try to get away without paying for the honey they rob. But Smashwords.com has a policy of allowing anyone to download e-books with the understanding that they will be honorable and will pay for the books they download.
I was looking over my royalty statement from Smashwords and found that for every book someone bought (and they were only $3.99), between 50 and 80 people downloaded that same book without paying.
Now, I’m really happy that folks want to read my books, but why on earth would I want to put my books out there just for the few honest people who understand that writing is a job, one that supposedly supports the writer?
If you want to get my books for your non-Kindle, maybe there’s a way you’ll be able to find them, but until I can figure out a way to prevent the piracy, I’m going to leave my e-books off of Smashwords.
I’ll let you know if I solve this quandary.
BEEattitude for Day # 406:
Blessed are those who act in accordance with the highest thought, for they shall contribute to a better life for all._______________________________
The teeny details:BOOK SIGNINGS
Nov. 26 Wellspring Treasures, Kennesaw GA 1-4 p.m.
Dec. 3 Books for Less, Buford GA 1-3 p.m.
Dec. 10 Peerless Bookstore, Alpharetta GA 2-4 p.m.
my books: http://www.franstewart.com Please buy print books from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.
my eBooks for Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 
3 comments:
Holy crap! I'm so sorry to hear about the e-theft. It sounds like Amazon is a much safer option for you.
Cathy AJ
Do these people not have a conscience??? What are they thinking? This is wrong on so many levels; and I, too, am so sorry for the e-thefts of your long-anticipated book.
Thanks for the sympathy, Cathy and Petie.
I doubt the people who downloaded for free thought about it as theft -- but that makes it all the more insidious.
I doubt that any of these people would steal an item from an outside table when a merchant was having a sidewalk sale. But then again, if the merchant had a sign that said FREE--UNLESS YOU FEEL LIKE PAYING FOR IT, maybe that's too much temptation or just downright poor marketing technique.
The Gwinnett Choral Guild has concert coming up on December 3rd. The Christmas Concert has always been a big fundraiser for us. But we were notified 2 days ago by the Board of the church where we'll be singing (and where we've sung a lot in the past) that we're not allowed to charge for the tickets (which are already printed with a price of $15).
It's a little like the sidewalk sale. Here we are hoping that people will be willing to give a $15 "donation" when they walk in the door.
I'll let you know in a couple of weeks whether we make the expected $2,000 or if it turns out to $400.
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